Villa d'Este - Tivoli

Leaving Rome we headed 28 kms east to the ancient hillside town of Tivoli.  Historically Tivoli was a popular holiday destinations for wealthy Romans as it was an easily accessible two hour ride by horse.

We arrived around 11:30am and were lucky enough to be able to check into our gorgeous B&B “Villa d’Este” early.  Villa d’Este the B&B is right opposite Villa d’Este the tourist attraction.  The main motivation for coming to Tivoli was to see Villa Adriana – the ruins of the palatial second-century retreat of Emperor Hadrian.  Villa d’Este – a classic Italian style garden, sculpted into the steep Tivoli hillside and adorned with no less than 500 pressure driven water fountains - was to be an added bonus.

 

After dumping our luggage and waiting for the worst of the heat to be over we headed out of the front door and all of about 40 metres to the garden entrance.  Nothing of the garden was revealed until you passed through the residence of original owner Cardinal Ippolito d'Este, itself a grand house with huge rooms and elaborately painted walls.  Once out the back door the true splendour of the gardens of Villa d’Este became apparent. 

The gardens are terraced and symmetrical and stretch over the side of a steep hill. 

Water features, ponds, grottos and fountains feature throughout.  100 gargoyles stand in a row, spouting jets of water into a communal trough.  

Huge cascades and decorative pools link the garden terraces.  Elaborately sculpted frescoes enhance the fountains.

All of the fountains at Villa d’este are powered by gravity and rely on the extensive water supply buried deep underground at Tivoli.  

Beautiful!

At the time Villa d’este was constructed in the 16^th century, gardens and in particular fountains were a sign of wealth.  By these standards Cardianl d”Este must have been a modern day billionaire – a Rupert Murdoch or a Richard Branson or a Warren Buffet. 

Retribution!  Steve did this to Daniel while he was looking at fishies in the pool and this was he and Jem’s payback.

That water was cold!

The water in the fountains was cold, far colder than expected given the 38 heat.  It was also drinkable and splashable, so we managed to stay cool during our visit.

Just as we were leaving the couple were having their wedding photos taken in the courtyard of the villa residence.  Not a bed setting J.

Villa d’este was beautiful and inspiring and we’ve already started thinking if there’s anywhere in our garden we could squeeze in a small fountain (or two) J.