Tuesday July 10

Today we travel to Tivoli!  This requires a bus trip, a subway trip, and then another bus ride!  This is an experience that I will save description of for a later time…

Our first stop is The Villa D’ Este. The D’ Este family was an important political family in the mid 16^th century. Almost becoming Pope, Ippolito D’ Este was given the Cardinalship of Tivoli and commissioned the site of a former monastery to be transformed into his villa.  This huge villa and its elaborate gardens and fountains are quite an extreme to the life in the city. Although the villa was the living quarters of a cardinal, its art and iconography is a celebration of antiquity, whimsy and leisure. The art provides moral symbolic messages, but is not heavily based on religious themes.  The ceiling frescoes convey messages of high status and power of the D’Este family.

Both the interior and exterior of the Villa has water as a main feature. Interior fountains were located in many of the rooms and the room of Venus even has an entrance to a secret garden.  The exterior gardens are a series of terraced lawns, accentuated with fountains and pools and waterfalls, each more spectacular than the one before. The Fontana del Bicchierone was added to the gardens in 1661 and is a Bernini fountain.  

Our next stop will provide a completely different experience for the day… The ruins of Hadrian’s Villa. 

Hadrian became the Emperor in 117 and proceeded to build the biggest Imperial villa of the Roman Empire. Taking just 10 years to complete, this massive complex was sprawled over what would be approximately 300 acres in U.S. terms. There were 4 main structures, the Pecile, the Imperial palace, the Canopus and the Accademia. The entire complex however was made up of more than 30 buildings, gardens and piazzas. Built on land owned by his wife, the Empress Sabina, the buildings were inspired by monuments that Hadrian had seen in his travels.  There are elements of Greek and Egyptian architecture throughout the complex. Hadrian who ruled from 117-138 loved to spend time alone reading, and many parts of the villa were created for him to have privacy. 

A sculpture display honoring Antinous, Hadrian’s lover, is located in the museum near the Canopus. The Canopus is a pool surrounded by columns and sculptures in the Greek style, and is a recreation of the canal in Egypt. It is thought that the pool may have been built in honor of Antinous. It is a very peaceful space that was once used as a grand dinning area.

 

Throughout the years the villa was pillaged, items stolen to decorate other palaces or villas, and its masonry reused for other buildings. It was not until the 16^th century that excavation work began at the site. Excavation still continues to this day.