Duration: one full day
Archeological sites of di Villa Adriana, Villa d’Este and Villa Gregoriana (Tivoli)
His villa at Tibur was marvellously constructed, and he actually gave to parts of it the names of provinces and places of the greatest renown, calling them, for instance, Lyceum, Academia, Prytaneum, Canopus, Poikile, and Tempe. And in order not to omit anything, he even made a Hades.
Villa Adriana, an imperial residence outside the city, was built in the 2nd century by the Emperor Hadrian (76-138 A.D.). The chosen site was in the Tivoli district (the ancient Tibur). With its opulent character and huge expanse (120 hectares), it can well be considered a Versailles of ancient Rome, and its splendour and complex layout reflect the innovative ideas of the Emperor regarding architecture. He wished to reproduce in his villa the places and monuments that impressed him during his journeys through the imperial provinces. So the Pecile is a reproduction of the Stoà Poikile in the agora in Athens, a favourite of Hadrian during his many visits to the city. Then the Canopus evokes a branch of the River Nile with its estuary, which connected the town of Canopus, site of a famous temple of Serapis, to Alexandria on the Nile Delta. And there’s the Valley of the Temples: one of the favourite places of Apollo and the Greek Muses. Even more remarkable was the elaborate nature of the architectural and sculptural decoration in the villa, which has been the subject of intensive study from the Renaissance onwards. The systematic removal of the marble decorations has resulted in such a widespread dispersal that nearly all the principal museums and collections in Rome and the rest of Italy, as well as those of Europe, include items from the Villa Adriana among their exhibits.
In 1999, Villa Adriana was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site, and walking around it is like reliving Roman history.
Another jewel in the Tivoli district is the Villa d’Este, a masterpiece of architectural design, colours and sounds. The constant noise of water, gushing through the dozens of fountains at the villa, makes this place a true earthly paradise, especially in spring and summer. The villa is one of the great creations of the Italian Renaissance, constructed by Cardinal Ippolito d’Este on a site already occupied by a Roman villa. The wonderful garden, the work of the talented Pirro Ligorio, is spread over terraces and slopes and decorated with monumental fountains which astound the visitor. Indeed, in the past, these fountains with their charming water-play, and the lush trees and plants of many species, made the garden at Villa d’Este one of the finest and most famous in existence, to the extent that it became a model for many successive garden designs.
The day will be crowned with yet more wonder when we visit the last of the Tivoli treasures, the Villa Gregoriana, famous for the great waterfall which has amazed visitors and scholars over the centuries and made this garden one of the most romantic and popular of all time. This was one of the essential stops on the Grand Tour, as we can see by the mementos of famous visitors on display in the old inn on the acropolis, now a restaurant.