Tom`s travels: February 2022

After leaving Rome in the early morning, I then reached the town of Tivoli in about one hour by train, heading northeast of the capital. Here I got off the train and then walked in the direction of the old town nearby. I then crossed the Ponte Gregoriano, a scenic bridge built by Pope Gregory XVI around 1834 with a view over the Aniene river flowing through the town and the nice waterfalls it forms there. I then entered the old town proper and walked along the narrow streets, eventually reaching the Cathedral. It features a Baroque facade from 1650, sided by a beautiful 45m high Romanesque bell tower, and a rather bland baroque interior. Continuing on I then passed by the nice Romanesque church of San Pietro alla Carità which was unfortunately closed at that moment. A little further up I then reached and entered the church of Santa Maria Maggiore. It features a beautiful Gothic facade with a large central rose window and a renaissance bell tower, while the interior was remade in the following centuries and looks rather bland apart from the impressive Cosmatesque floor from the 13th century. Next to the church, I then entered the most famous attraction in town, the Villa D'Este, inscribed in the Unesco World Heritage List. This 16th-century villa, commissioned by Cardinal Ippolito II d'Este is one of the symbols of the Italian Renaissance famous throughout the world for its terraced hillside Italian Renaissance garden and the profusion of fountains, considered as the most beautiful Italian garden. After purchasing the ticket, I followed the tour direction, entering first the nice central courtyard which once belonged to the adjoining monastery and was incorporated into the villa when it was first constructed. Then I walked through a series of rooms known as the Apartments of the Cardinal, cause this is where Ippolito II d'Este used to reside during his time in Tivoli. I passed through the large salon, used for receptions, featuring a spectacular view of the garden below and countryside beyond, and then the cardinal's bedroom, antechamber, and private chapel. This part of the villa suffered damage during WWII, as Tivoli was located along an important line connecting Rome to the Adriatic Sea, and thus many frescoes and decorations were partly lost. From that floor, I then descended down to the lower floor. Here are a series of highly decorated rooms, each with a specific theme, all connected to nature, mythology, and water. The rooms are less formal than those of the apartment above; they were used for private moments in the life of the Cardinal; listening to music or poetry; conversation, reading, and religious reflection. I particularly enjoyed two specific rooms, in the beautiful succession, the Hall of the Fountain, which features a wall fountain from 1568, covered with multicolored ceramics and sculpture, encrusted with pieces of glass, seashells, and precious stones, and crowned by the white eagle of the d'Este family, and the Hall of the Hunt, created later than the other rooms, at the beginning the 17th century, and features hunting scenes, and rural landscapes. From the lower floor, I then came out into the magnificent garden, consisting of fifty-one fountains and nymphaeums, 398 spouts, 364 water jets, 64 waterfalls, and 220 basins, fed by 875 meters of canals, channels, and cascades, and all working entirely by the force of gravity, without pumps. I toured the large sloping garden, covered in all kinds of trees, many of which provide a refreshing spot in the shade, and admired the beautiful fountains and water games all over. What I also enjoyed was that, despite the summer season and notoriety of the site, because of the pandemic, there were barely any visitors, and the sunny day and warm weather made it ideal to visit. Among the many different fountains, I particularly enjoyed the Cento Fontane, an avenue of nearly three hundred spouts in the form of grotesque masks fed by three parallel canals, one above the other, and the Fountain of Neptune, created in the 20th century to replace a garden landmark which had deteriorated and the only to feature pumps spraying water up in a scenic way. Above it, I then headed to see the beautiful Fountain of the Organ, which is one of the most famous features of the garden and was described and imitated throughout Europe. The fountain, through a hydraulic mechanism that uses the flow of water to release air through the pipes of the organ, produces a melody that can still be enjoyed today at specific hours of the day. This system was the first of its kind, and astonished everyone who heard it; when Pope Gregory XIII visited the villa in 1572, accompanied by his court of cardinals and princes, he insisted on inspecting the interior of the fountain, to learn if someone wasn't concealed inside making the music. After witnessing the nice little natural concert it was time to head out. Walking further into town I then passed by the Anfiteatro di Bleso, the 2nd-century ancient roman amphitheater that could once host about 2000 spectators. Right next to it is the Rocca Pia, a 15th-century castle built by Pope Pius II Piccolomini. Both were closed so I continued on walking back through the old town and by two minor closed churches, that of San Vincenzo in Sant'Andrea and that of San Biagio. I then reached the northern edge of town where the beautiful Temple of Vesta is located. Once the ancient acropolis stood here, and now among the medieval houses, there is this 1st century B.C. ancient temple dedicated to Vesta, still standing. It is one of the most known ancient temples and had been studied and imitated all around Europe. Right next to it is another ancient temple, that of the Sybil, partly in ruins and dating to the 2nd century B.C. The two temples overlook the falls of the Aniene river on a spectacular gorge that now forms the park of the Villa Gregoriana, a scenic landscape garden commissioned by Pope Gregory XVI in 1835 featuring a large waterfall and smaller ones around. It fell into ruins by the end of the 20th century but was reopened to the public in 2005 thanks to a major landscape recovery project managed by Fondo Ambiente Italiano (FAI), the National Trust of Italy. I decided not to visit the park as it would take quite a bit and was rather expensive and instead headed back through the old town passing by the well preserved medieval neighborhood where the Gothic House, a late medieval house dating back to the thirteenth century is located. Nearby I then found the church of San Silvestro open and visited its interior which featured a romanesque plan and some beautiful frescoes dating back to the twelfth century in the apse, one depicting Christ handing the scroll of the law to St. Peter and the other some scenes from the life of St. Sylvester related to the conversion of Emperor Constantine. A little further down the street I then passed by the Sanctuary of Hercules the Victorius, an ancient roman sanctuary built on a sloping hill and covering an area of about 3.000 square meters. The site was unfortunately closed and could only be visited during the weekend by booking only. I then decided to continue on but first stopped at a supermarket to grab some food and eat it on the way. I had a sandwich with porchetta, coppiette di suino (dried pig meat) bell pepper, and peaches. I left the town heading southwards through the countryside until I reached then another Unesco World Heritage Site, the incredible and huge Villa Adriana. It consists of the ruins and archaeological remains of a vast villa complex built between 118 and 138 A.D by Roman Emperor Hadrian and extending for about 120 hectares. Hadrian's Villa is a vast area of land with many pools, baths, fountains, and classical Greek and Roman architecture set in what would have been a mixture of landscaped gardens, wilderness areas, and cultivated farmlands. Due to Hadrian's travels, the Villa contains many structures from different cultures relating back to places Emperor Hadrian visited during his reign. After getting the ticket at the ticket office, I headed inside the large park and followed the direction of the tour which brought me to the first building, the Pecile. This was a huge pool surrounded by a garden and arches, and a reconstruction of the Stoa Poikile, or Painted Porcha, which Hadrian saw in the agora of Athens. The pool measure 232 by 97 meters and was originally surrounded by four walls with a colonnaded interior. After walking around the large building I continued along the path, sided by some ruins on one side and the thermal baths on the other which I would see later. I then reached the Canopus, named after the Egyptian city, and featuring a long, stately reflecting pool, representing the Nile, which was lined with copies of famous works of sculpture and colonnades. The large exedra at the end of the pool had the imperial triclinium where banquets were held, made even more spectacular thanks to special water effects, the floating shows, and jets that surrounded the diners. Walking onwards I then passed through the Large Thermal Baths and the Small ones, the former for the staff of the villa and the latter, decorated with great richness and refinement for distinguished guests and the imperial family. Around the large baths were a series of small buildings and rooms believed to be intended for the accommodation of the imperial guard. Nearby I then passed by the Nymphaeum, once believed to be a small stadium, and then up to reach the villa proper where the living quarters used to be. I saw a large building known as the Piazza d'Oro, which consisted of an open central courtyard sided by cryptoporticoes, and closed on the ends by buildings topped by cupolas. Next up were the main rooms of the villa where Hadrian lived, however interestingly they are the ones most in ruins (probably due to the fact they held the best sculptures and objects and were stripped the most from them). Nearby I then walked through the Hospitalia, the place where Roman soldiers kept guard duty, and that still features some well-preserved mosaic pavements. Then I passed what were once the libraries, the Greek and Latin ones, places of study and knowledge, and reached one of the most important and unique buildings of the complex, the Maritime Theatre. It consists of a round portico enclosing a ring-shaped pool with an island at its center. It is a very singular complex, with only one floor, and no relation to the usual form of a Roman theater. In fact, on the island is a small Roman house complete with an atrium, a library, a triclinium, and small baths and thus was probably used by the emperor as a retreat from the busy life at the court. From there I then followed a path through the trees which eventually brought me to the northern and last part of the complex, where the temple of Venus and the small greek theatre, intended only for private shows, are located. It was finally time for me to leave the archaeological site as I had toured all around the place. From there I then walked for nearly an hour through some smaller modern towns and past a large quarry until I reached the Bagni di Tivoli train station from where I took the next train into Rome. Once there I bought my dinner at the supermarket, salad, tomatoes, chickpeas, mozzarella, and melon but had to wait a couple of hours as the flatmates were all out till later. Once they were back I had dinner with them and then went to sleep, ready to start my long pilgrimage to the end of Puglia the following day.