Hadrian's Villa and Villa D’Este

About 40 KM from Rome is the small town of Tivoli and besides being the home of olive groves that produce some of the best olive oil in the world it is also the location of two amazing places to visit – the ruins of Hadrian’s Villa and Villa D’Este .

Hadrian’s Villa

Hadrian was the second Spanish born emperor of Rome and is most famous for his attempts to unite the provinces of the Roman Empire so they would all feel equally part of the vast empire. He also loved architecture and built structures around the world that still exist today – Hadrian’s Wall, structures in Athens and Rome and he rebuilt London in 122 AD, sixty years after the fire. His love for Greek culture is evident in this Villa overlooking Tivoli. The ruins are only about 1/5^th of three hundred hectares the site originally occupied. The Canopus is the best of the remaining ruins and with a little imagination it is easy to see and feel what a spectacular place this was. The area was also filled with art via frescos and sculptures. Most have been destroyed and the ones that remained have been excavated and moved to major museums around the world. There were living quarters for servants and slaves, guest housing, two large baths – one free for anyone to use and one for private use by Hadrian and invited guests only.

The Canopus was built to be similar to an Egyptian settlement which was celebrated at the time for its magnificence. For Hadrian, the site remained sadly linked to the memory of his beloved Antinoos, who mysteriously drowned in the Nile. The sculptured portraits of beautiful, effeminate youth reflect in the water recalling the mythological Narcissus, also a symbol of an inextricable, tragic combination of beauty, youth and death . The current statues are copies of the originals which are housed in a museum on the site. It is currently closed but you can see the statues through the door and they are incredible.

Villa d’Este

Modern by comparison this villa was built between 1509 and 1572 by Cardinal of Ferrara and the son of the famous Lucretia Borgia and Alfonso d’Este. The Villa was built to be a pleasant rustic retreat suitable for long private meetings. He had an enormous number of artists and craftsmen at his disposal because of his esteemed position and the entire estate was built at an amazing pace. Sadly he died in 1572 so spent little time enjoying this place. The Villa was bequeathed to the d’Este family and many of them resided there over the centuries. It eventually passed to the Hapsburgs who owned it until 1918. It then suffered long periods of neglect due to high costs of its upkeep. After WWI, it became the property of the Italian state and was completely restored.

The Villa has fabulous ruins decorated with ornate ceilings and frescoed walls and balconies over the gardens that provide amazing views of not just the gardens but also of the surrounding hills and valleys.

The gardens have lots of fountains of all shapes and sized all flowing with water from the nearby Tiber and powered by the natural force of the water. Visiting in winter is lovely. I imagine visiting in spring when flowers are blooming would be spectacular.