"Up in the hills........" a Tivoli Travel Page by leics

I would have visited Tiivoli eventually, to see the Villa Adriana (Hadrian's Villa). In Roman times this was where the wealthy went to escape the city's summer heat, and where they built their 'retirement' villas. The same thing happened later on during the Renaissance.

But I visited this time because my friend wanted to see the gardens, so the Roman aspects will have to wait.

There are two Renaissance villas in central Tivoli: the Villa d'Este and the Villa Gregoriana. The former was a convent but was transformed in 1550 into a villa for Cardinal Ippolito d'Este. The Villa Gregoriana was created in 1831, when Pope Gregory XVI decided to assuage the town's flooding problems by diverting the river.

The Villa Gregoriana isn't open in March, so our focus was the Villa d'Este. Although the day was drizzly and chilly, and the fountains switched off for the winter, it was still a fascinating place to explore. Such luxury underlines, for me, the wealth of the Mediavla church and the way it was utilised.

I've made travelogues of various aspects: the gardens are beautiful, of course, but there are many interesting bits in the villa itself which others might overlook (including a glimpse into the underlying Roman building).

The Villa d'Este itself

The gardens

The stonework

Tivoli itself is a rather nice little town. It still has a thriving business in the produvction of travertine stone (from which so much of Rome was built) and which is now exported all over the world.

The people are paricularly friendly, I found, and its byways repay an exploration: plenty of evidence here of what once was, the centuries melding together to create a pleasing architectural mish-mash. I'd like to have seen inside some of the churches too.

It's really easy to get to Tivoli from Rome (Metro to Ponte Mammolo, bus to Tivoli from there..see tips). There's no need to pay for an organised tour, especially as both the Villa d'Este and the Villa Adriana deserve several hours each to explore. I see no point in visiting either place for just a couple of hours, to be honest: better to make a daytrip to see each one properly.

So, next time I'm in Rome, I'll visit the Villa Adriana.