Villa Adriana - Tivoli - Villa de Este

Route: Rome - Villa Adriana - Tivoli - Villa de Este - Rome
Duration: 5 h
During this tour we will discover the city Tivoli and its villas like Hadrian’s Villa and Villa d'Este. The city of Tivoli is situated at the foot of the Simbruini Hills - a wonderful landscape of extensive valleys.The beauty of this city and of its area led to its inclusion in the Grand Tour made by artists and young rich European aristocrats starting from the 17th century in order to complete their knowledge. Firstly we will visit to Hadrian's Villa (Villa Adriana) bears witness to the grandeur of the Roman Empire. It is one of the best kept and most visited archaeological sites in Italy listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The villa was built by Roman Emperor Hadrian at the foot of the Tiburtine Hills between 118 and 138 AD. The vast residential complex extended over an area of about 120 hectares and looked very much like an ancient Roman city. The site included buildings, baths, temples, barracks, theatres, gardens, fountains and nymphaeums. The villa itself was designed on two levels: the upper floor, quiet and welcoming, was reserved for the emperors official use, while the lower floor was noisy and bustled with the work of slaves. Some parts were explicitly commissioned by Hadrian to represent the empire's many provinces that he had visited himself. There you will see the Vestibule, which connected the Great and Small Baths, the Canopus,a long canal lined by columns of caryatids in homage to the ancient Egyptian city of the same name, the Maritime Theatre, a portico which contained a round pool representing the sea, the Pecile a long covered portico once used for panoramic strolls, the Great and Small Baths, places where endless days would be spent on wellness, the Greek Theatre, a small court theatre reserved to only a few guests, the Greek Library and Latin Library. Next we will visit to Villa D'Este which is one of the symbols of the Italian Renaissance and is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Situated in Tivoli, near Rome, the villa is a gem of architectural and landscape splendor. The extraordinary complex is famous all over the world for its splendid fountains characterized by wonderful and suggestive water displays and for being the most beautiful example of the Italian Renaissance garden in Europe.The villa was commissioned by Cardinal Ippolito II d'Este, a former governor of Tivoli and son of Lucrezia Borgia, and the work was carried out by the ingenious architect Pirro Logorio. The works, which started in 1550 and lasted for about 20 years, had to overcome many difficulties. The water gushing from the many fountains, which can still be appreciated today in their great splendor, comes directly from the River Aniene through a 600-meter underground channel. The whole complex extends for 4 hectares and includes a residential palace (the Palazzo d'Este), a garden adorned with tree- and hedge-lined avenues and around a hundred fountains which are real works of art. The Palazzo d'Este is characterized by an elegant façade opened by the so-called Vialone or great avenue, bounded by the Grand Loggia and the Fountain of Europe. Once through the main entrance we reach a stairway leading up to a great ceremonial hall. From here we can go directly to the frescoes of the Appartamento Nobile (Noble Apartment). Just under the two-order double loggia there is an ancient nymphaeum which used to contain the Fountain of Leda, today housed in the Galleria Borghese in Rome. The buildings three floors also contain other extraordinary rooms like the Appartamento Vecchio or Superiore (the Old or Upper Apartment), the Sala delle Storie di Salomone (Hall of Solomon's Stories) and the Appartamento Inferiore (Lower Apartment), characterized by the Hall of the Fontanina (little fountain) and the fresco of Ercole Sassano (Hercules Saxanus). After we return to Rome.
Price: per person