Domenica 01 Ottobre 2017

Tivoli and surroundings

Beautiful town founded in 1215 BC and defined by the poet Virgil "Tibur Superbum" (Aeneid, Lib. VII), a title that still stands in the arms cittadino.Questa town is best known for its sulfur springs of mineral waters used since ancient times . Still there are many tourists who go to Tivoli to enjoy the benefits of the many termali.Tuttavia facilities, Tivoli is also famous for the presence of two villas now UNESCO World Heritage Site Hadrian's Villa and Villa d'Este.

• VILLA ADRIANA: Built by Emperor Hadrian as imperial residence, it was accessed through two streets (Via Tiburtina, Via Prenestina) or by navigating the Aniene river. In the villa the emperor wanted to reproduce those monuments that during his many travels, especially in Greece, had fascinated him: Pecile, Canopus, Academy, High School. The Pecile is a huge garden surrounded by a porch with a central pool and used for summer walks and invernali.Attraverso a number of spa buildings is reached at Canopus (the name of an ancient town in Alexandria connected by a navigable channel): it is a long basin of water decorated with columns and statues that culminates with a temple topped by a cupola into wedges. n axis with the Canopus valley rise the remains of two spas: The Great Baths and the Small Baths. These were equipped with open-air ice rooms and a round room with a coffered dome where it opened five large windows. Decorated with precious stucco, these buildings were dedicated to the imperial family and its guests.The Grandi Terme, reserved to personnel Villa, they had a heating system located under the floor and an imposing circular room used sudatio. Note: the large cross vault of the central hall still in perfect balance, despite the collapse of one of the four points appoggio.Indubbiamente places to visit within the villa are many and among them include the Academy, Stadium, the imperial Palace, the Hall of philosophers, the greek theater and the oro.Quest'ultima Square is a majestic structure that had features of "representation" and contemplated a large peristyle enriched with very fine stucco. Finally, among the noble buildings, it is worth visiting the beautiful Maritime Theater: a kind of island with an Ionic colonnade surrounded by a canal. Inside there was the private retreat of the emperor which is accessed through a mobile pontoons system.
• VILLA D'ESTE: The construction of Villa d'Este was commissioned by cardinale Ippolito II d'Este, Tivoli governor since 1550, who wanted to revive the glories of this villa courts of Ferrara, Rome and Fointanebleau.L'impressionante concentration of fountains, grottoes and fountains, he was a much-copied model for European gardens in the mannerist and barocco.Di particular interest are the rooms on the first floor of the palace decorated and painted by a large group of artists of the late Roman mannerism. an important place occupies the beautiful garden of Villa d'Este, designed by the painter and architect Pirro Ligorio. Divided between terraces, stairways, paths and slopes, the garden reminiscent of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, while the water conveyance system, an aqueduct and a tunnel under the city, commemorates the engineering wisdom of romani.Di sure visual impact is one hundred fountains that line the boulevard along one hundred meters. To the left of the avenue is dell'Ovato Fountain, the Baroque villa, given the extraordinary effect given by the rocks, the ornamental boulders and the water flows representing Tiburtini mountains, predecessors of the three rivers, the Aniene, Erculaneo and Albuneo.Al below the Viale delle Cento Fontane, meets the scenic Fountain of the Dragons that for its central position, appears to be the heart of the park. The legend says that this fountain was built in one night in September 1572 as a tribute to Pope Gregory XIII, who was a guest of the villa. In the lower part of the garden is the Rotunda of the Cypresses: a square surrounded by giant cypress secolari.Sicuramente the most imposing and iconic fountain of Villa d'Este is the Fountain of Neptune, originally designed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini and restored in the twentieth century . Given its beauty, she became a model for numerous eighteenth-century fountains. Rounding out the set on top of the Neptune Fountain was built the Organ Fountain. This work owes its name instead of water mechanism inside and still generates organ reasons audible from visitors