Tivoli … an ancient Villa and some Gardens

October 14th

A lovely morning, hearty breakfast of eggs, etc. and we are off to Tivoli….it is a short drive and we are parked and are good to go before 10:00. Today we are visiting Adrian’s Villa (Hadrian’s Villa) and the weather is ideal for our sightseeing tour.

To add some context: Hadrian was Emperor during the height of Roman power. He had this “villa” built at the foot of the Tiburtine Hills between 118 and 138 AD. The vast residential complex extended over an area of about 120 hectares (about 300 acres) and looked very much like an ancient Roman city. The site included buildings, baths, temples, barracks, theatres, gardens, fountains, and nymphaeums.  Listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1999, we can now see “only” 40 hectares which fortunately still attest to the magnificence and significance of this complex. His goal was to replicate the best of the best from places he had traveled to and conquered in the Roman Empire.

A long avenue leads uphill to the northern boundary wall of the villa. There is a small building that has a model of the entire area, which we look at to get a sense of this huge site (although as we walked the site it was still quite confusing). Following are some of the structures we saw, inter alia:

Behind it is the Pecile with a long covered portico once used for panoramic strolls;

Garden with stage…from which there is a good view of the Heliocaminus Bath

Heliocaminus Bath >  A dome-shaped building that served as a bath house. It was equipped with floor and wall heating.

In the Maritime Theatre, the portico contained a round pool representing the sea. The result was a villa within a villa, a private retreat for the emperor.

The Great and Small Baths, archeologists theorize that the Small Bath was reserved for the emperor since it was designed considerably more elaborately than the Great Bath.

The Canopus is a stylized Egyptian channel. Built to resemble the channel that connects Alexandria with the Nile, which Hadrian had seen during his trip to Egypt. It is complemented by the Serapeium ( a grotto with a half dome, a semi-circular grandstand on which one could recline and enjoy the pool while the water cascaded behind you) …

We could have spent several more hours but there was more to see in the Tivoli area so after a quick sandwich on the grounds, we drove to another site called Villa d’Este.

The Villa dates back to the 16th century, famous for its terraced hillside Italian Renaissance garden and especially for its profusion of fountains.  It is now an Italian state museum and is listed as a Unesco World Heritage Site. Without going into the long history of the d’Este family the Villa was commissioned by Cardinal Ippolito II d’Este (1509–1572). Although fabulously wealthy he spent more quickly than he earned. He tried to become pope five times in the course of which he became governor of Tivoli and decided to create a grand estate featuring water gardens and fountains. The dramatic twists and turns in his life make for fascinating reading but here I am focusing on the end result…

The Villa itself is largely open to the public and we went through a number of the rooms in his “apartment” which were quite interesting but it was the frescoes that caught our attention…

Our main interest however was in the gardens and we set off to tour same:

The Oval Fountain was one of the first fountains in the garden and among the most famous. It was designed by Pirro Ligorio, the architect of the villa, as a water theater, spraying water in a variety of forms. It was begun in 1565 and finished in 1570…

The Hundred Fountains are actually nearly three hundred spouts fed by three parallel canals, one above the other. Along the edge of the upper canal there are spouts in the form of lilies, the emblem of France, alternating with the d’Este eagle, boats, and obelisks; all spraying water in a fan shape. The water is captured by the second canal, which feeds it into spouts in the form of masks, from which it reaches the lower canal.

 

The Fountain of Rometta is located at the opposite end of the Hundred Fountains from the Oval Fountain. It is an important piece of the symbolic story told by the upper gardens; the waters of the Tiber River emerge in the Tiburtina Mountains, symbolized by the Oval Fountain, run through the valley (The Hundred Fountains), and arrive at the gates of Rome; the Rometta Fountain is Ancient Rome in miniature; the real city was visible in the distance behind the Fountain.

The Fountain of the Dragons was also designed by Pirro Ligorio to illustrate the story of Hercules fulfilling one of his labors by stealing the golden apples of the garden of the Hesperides, which were guarded by the dragon Ladon.

The Fountain of Neptune and the fishponds that originally served  to provide fresh fish, duck, and swan for the table of the Cardinal:

 

We enjoyed this day which profited from the lack of crowds …it boggles the mind that such treasures are somewhat ignored in such a beautiful setting complete with solid infrastructure, parking, bathrooms, eateries, etc. it was well worth it take the advice of Ivano who strongly recommended we visit these sites!