GLOBAL SPOTLIGHT
The Villa d’Este - a masterclass in design
By Brett Marlin
The Villa d’Este is a 16th-century villa in Tivoli, near Rome, famous for its
terraced hillside Italian Renaissance garden and its magnificent fountains. It is
now an Italian state museum and is listed as a UNESCO world heritage site.
Brett Marlin includes The Villa d’Este as one of the highlights of his trip to Rome.
Tanya and I were lucky enough to spend a week in Rome over Easter.
Rome really is spectacular from the point of architecture, art and culture,
but is sadly overrun by tourists like ourselves. We visited all the normal
tourist traps which were very interesting but really spoilt by the volume
of people. To try and get away from the crowds, we decided to take
separate trips to Villa d’Este, better known as Tivoli Gardens, and
Pompeii. So much has been written about all the other sites in Italy but
honestly, these two were truly the highlight of our trip.
Just a brief train or bus ride from Rome, Villa d’Este was originally
commissioned by Cardinal Ippolito II d’Este (Governor of Tivoli in
1550). The Cardinal, disappointed that he was not elected pontiff,
wished to bring to Villa d’Este the luxury of the Ferrarese, Roman and
French Courts and, above all, to match the luxury found in Hadrian’s
Villa. Tivoli was a popular summer residential area since ancient Roman
times due to its altitude, cooler temperatures and its proximity to the
summer residence of the Emperor Hadrian.
The original building on the site was built in the 9th century on the site
of an old Roman villa. Between 1563 and 1565, a huge amount of
earth was excavated and used to construct the garden. Defined by
terraces, staircases, grand slopes and promenades, the garden evokes
the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, while the water transport system, with
an aqueduct and a tunnel under the city, resembles the highly-advanced
engineering of the Romans.
The nearby river Aniene was diverted to provide water for the complex
system of pools, water jets, channels, fountains and cascades. The steep
slope of the garden; more than 45 metres from top to bottom, posed
special challenges but also made the construction of the fountains possible.
The gardens are truly spectacular with 51 fountains and grottos, 398
spouts, 364 water jets, 64 waterfalls and 220 basins, fed by 875
metres of canals, channels and cascades, all working entirely by the
force of gravity, without pumps.
The most spectacular features in the garden are:
THE OVAL FOUNTAIN
The Oval Fountain was one of the first fountains
completed in the garden and among the most famous.
It was designed as a water theatre, spraying water in a
variety of forms. It was begun in 1565 and finished in
1570. A massive stone basin against the semicircular
back wall cascades water into the fountain, and sprays
it into the air, while water jets into the basin from vases
in the hands of statues of Nereids, and also sprays in
fan shapes from vases in niches in the semi-circular wall
behind the fountain. An artificial mountain rises above
the fountain, symbolising the Tiburtine landscape; the
mountain is pierced by three grottos each pouring forth
water and is decorated with statues representing the Sibyl
Albunesa with her son Melicerte.
12
ISSUE 34 - JUNE 2018