On the rails again: By train to the southern-most point of Italy (7)

RV 12760 to Tivoli: Dreams of the rich and powerful

The month of May has passed. It starts to get hot in Rome. This was the season when the rich of the Roman elite left for their countryside villas in the mountains or at the sea. Already the Romans had started to built Villas to escape the summer heat, foul smell and fevers of the capital. The rich families waiting in the Papal state for their turn to play their role as cardinals or popes followed. One of those places popular for retreats was Tivoli.

Roma Tiburtina station

For the last time I take one of those red city busses rumbling through the streets of Rome. Most of the trains to Tivoli leave from Roma Tiburtina station. Although it is a big station it is much quieter there. From a machine I draw a ticket to Tivoli for 3 €. It takes RV12760 1 hour and 5 minutes to cover the 45 km from Roma Tiburtina.

The Regionale to Tivoli

Of course I am too early for the departure. The modern station building of Roma Tiburtina is bridging the tracks. To access the platforms you have to take escalators up. There is surprisingly little business here. No places to buy a new shirt, tooth brush or condoms like in most of the other big stations. Just a place offering snacks and a coffee. I take a seat at one of the tables surrounded by litter. My train is on track 24. Strangely enough this track shares a platform with track 17. 18 to 23 are missing. There is no access control here like in Roma Termini. You just take the escalator down and wait until the doors of the train, which originates from here and is waiting at the platform, finally open for the passengers waiting in the heat.

Cafe in Roma Tiburtina station

It takes the train a long time to leave the bleak suburbs of Rome. All the magnificence of Rome’s antique, medieval, Renaissance and Baroque architecture is lost as soon as you leave the perimeter of the old Aurelian walls. It is as if the modern architects responsible for the planning and construction of these suburbs have never set foot in the historic parts of town. Not only is the architecture without any appeal, it also seems as if they have built without any prior town planning here. The scenery only changes when the train leaves the Lazio plane to climb up the slopes of the Sabine hills.

Oncoming train to Rome of the regional Abruzzi rail company

Tivoli station

That is the point when travelers should take care to sit on the right side in direction of travel. While climbing up the train offers a spectacular view of the Lazio plain and the town of Tivoli on its prominent position on a rocky outcrop above the valley. The station is right after a tunnel on a narrow stretch the slope and the valley floor with the old town of Tivoli above the other bank.

Ponte Gregoriana giving access to the old town of Tivoli across the Aniene river

The town was found at the left bank of the Aniene river where it drops down to meet the plain. Already when Tivoli received Roman citizenship in 90 BC it was popular as a summer retreat famed for its beauty and its good water. Many wealthy Romans like Horace, Publius Quinctilius Varus Minor or Manlio Volpisco owned villas here.

Circular temple of Vesta in Tivoli

Quite a number of buildings from the Roman era are preserved in Tivoli. Others remain hidden in the foundations of the old town. The two most famous temples are seen from far away on the cliff above the valley: the round Temple of Vesta and the rectangular Temple of the Sybil date back to the second century BC. In the same period the Sanctuary of Hercules the Victor, the Temple and a forum were built. Now they are covered by the Piazza del Duomo and the Cathedral of St. Lawrence. In the second century AC Marcus Tullius Blesus sponsored the construction of the amphitheatre (so called amphitheatre of Bleso) at the other end of town.

Temple of Sybil

The combination of a dramatic landscape with steep slopes and water falls and the antique ruins attracted the first tourists on their grand tour and inspired the romantic painters. Carl Blechem, Arnold Böcklin and Johann Christian Clausen Dahl painted compositions which seemed to have sprung from their fantasy. However, the landscape around Tivoli proofs that fantasy can get reality. Johann Wilhelm Schirmer painted “Tivoli mit dem Sybillentempel”, Ernst Fries “Der Sybillentempel von Tivoli und der Ponte Lupo” and Johann Martin von Rohden “die Wasserfälle von Tivoli” in the first half of the 19. century. It is all still there.

Water fountain with a view

The grandest of all villae was built by an emperor. In the second century AD emperor Hadrian, who loved arts and architecture, had himself built a modest countryside retreat at the base of the Sabine mountains. The 30 different buildings of the villa occupied an area of 40 ha: several different baths, libraries, theaters, administrative buildings, barracks and of course a palace. Everything is set in an exquisite garden with pools which would be an attraction by itself.

Parts of Tivoli hang precariously above the precipice

The question is, again, how to get there. It is around 5 km from the B&B close to the station where I stay. The owner recommended to ask at the Tabacchi cafe where they also sell tickets for the bus. I am also longing for a morning coffee and a decent sandwich. My residence and in particular the breakfast part is not imperial at all. My tiny room came with sealed packages of zwieback, pastry and cookies. One of each per day. There is a water cooker and a coffee machine with the usual assortment of tea bags and coffee cartridges in the common area which has no space to sit. No fruit or anything fresh. The old British idea of a bed and breakfast is completely lost here. Instead of a family home renting out a couple of rooms and offering a sumptuous breakfast in good company I am here in an anonymous, empty apartment. I never see any of the other lodgers and communication with the host is by Whatsapp.

Cafe in Tivoli

I had been to the cafe yesterday and the attendant had reassured me that there would be a bus approximately every hour. However, today is the national holiday and when I arrive at the cafe it is closed. There is a bus stop with a waiting booth at the entrance to the old town of Tivoli. One sign shows that the regional CoTral busses stop here. After the adventure in Cerveteri I don’t look forward to use those again. Another sign is for CAT, the city bus line of Tivoli, which should bring me to the entrance of Hadrian’s villa directly. The information building is closed, there are no timetables anywhere and at least the CAT busses are unknown to Google.

Bus stop in Tivoli

But at least the CoTral bus to Rome should depart from here every half an hour. I sit at the stop but there is no bus. The site, however, is a popular meeting point, in particular for motorcyclists, who greet each other like heroes on their way to a battle. Engines roaring, to be ready for the enemies’ attack. Other people come and go, drop luggage and park their car in the neighboring parking structure. This goes with lengthy discussions while the men lean on the open door of the car, engine and air conditioning running.

The Sabine mountains across the gorge at Tivoli

At 9.30, 40 minutes after my arrival, two chatty women arrive. They reassure me that there should be a bus some time between 9.20 and 10. And indeed, at 9.50, after 1 hour of waiting, a CoTral bus to Rome arrives. With the help of the two old women I make the driver clear where I want to go. The women don’t even take the bus but stay back and continue their chat on the waiting bench of the bus stop.

View of the Villa Hadriana from Tivoli

The bus is full. Nobody asks for a ticket. And indeed, after the twisting descend into the plain the driver stops and with a loud “mister” tells me to get off. According to Google maps it is one stop too early and so I have the pleasure to walk through residential suburban Tivoli for half an hour in the heat until I find the entrance of Hadrian’s villa. The streets are deserted. The terrain of the villa is enormous and it is unclear where exactly the entrance is. Signs cater for the automobilist and don’t show the shortest route, but the access to the enormous parking lots. So I am glad that I pass by a strange Roman theme park mixed with a Western bow and arrow shooting range, Bavarian beer garden and loud South-American salsa music. They show me the way.

Model of the Villa Hadriana

Since it is the National holiday the entrance to all the national monuments is free today. That does not mean that I can avoid standing in a line. For the benefit of bureaucrazy everybody has to get a free ticket and even that leads to protracted discussions. The free ticket is scanned at the gate and then most dispose it in a bin.

View of Tivoli from the palace of the Villa Hadriana

Imagining the life of Roman emperors was a fruitful source for novels. Robert Ranke Graves wrote “I, Claudius, the God”, Gore Vidal wrote about “Julian”, John Williams about “Augustus”, Margaret George wrote the “The Confessions of Young Nero and The Splendor Before the Dark” and Marguerite Yourcenar about Hadrian. “Memoirs of Hadrian” is a fictional letter from the aging emperor to his successor. Hadrian, 117-138 AC, not only is counted as one of those “five good emperors” in the history of imperial Rome but also one who those who left behind a particularly large legacy of buildings allover the empire.

The summer palace

The hall with the Doric pillows in the palace

In the novel, the emperor paces around his enormous villa at night, admiring mosaics and determining further details of decoration. Statues appear as white ghosts which he can use for philosophical interrogations. In his mind, they turn alive with elusive smiles and distorted countenances. Setting a statue at the right spot inspires the thought of the moment.

The fish pond in the winter palace

Hadrian had ample choice for his nocturnal wanderings. Should he pace around the palace at the golden square tonight, or the winter palace, the Canopus, the philosopher’s hall or the hall with the Doric pillars? Should he consult the scrolls in the Biblioteca Latina or in the Biblioteca Greca? Or should he relax in one of the baths or stroll around one of the ponds, open like the Pecile or, in a night of foul weather, under a roof at the Maritime Theater?

The great bath

In my role as emperor I would use a beautiful night full of stars to walk from my palace to the Serapeum. In the buildings, at night, the unsteady light of the torches flickering in the wind would bring life to the colorful friezes decorated with horsemen or wild animals. Upon leaving the hall with the Doric columns the centurion of the Praetorian guard on watch would stand to attention without uttering a sound. He knows that the emperor appreciates the tranquility of the palace at night and is careful not to disturb. I would pass the fishpond in my winter palace. Its quiet surface would come to life when I throw some bread crumbs into the water. A bit further, from the balcony I can appreciate the view of the two baths built for the pleasure of my people, now quiet and dark.

The Canopus

The passage between the larger baths and the magnificent courthouse would bring me to the Canopus. I sit down on the statue of a fierce looking crocodile to enjoy the quiet water of the grand pool which reflects the rows of columns and the statues with their cool marble flesh.

Statues found during the excavation of the villa

Was it a good idea to built a structure so much remiscient of my beloved Egypt with the pool as a symbol for the grand river Nile? Maybe I should tear down this reminder to the floods which swallowed my beloved Antinous? Each time I come here I have to fight the tears, and unwise is it for an emperor to show any weakness.

The Canopus with the Serapeum in the background

I walk to the Serapeum at the far end of the pool to consult the cold shiny white goddess. Like so many times before, even I, the world’s most powerful emperor, is not worth her answer. Maybe I should consider moving to my villa in Baiae were it would be easier to forget.

The Serapeum

While walking along the long road I pass the southern facade of the baths. Steam arises from the gutters and chimneys. The halls and the water are kept hot all the time. Have I seen those wicked old olive trees before? They appear like ghosts stretching their arms to swallow the living. I cannot remember that I gave the order to plant them here. Whoever did had the right idea.

The smaller baths

I walk into the hall with the three exedra. They guessed that I would walk into this magic space tonight. Somebody has lit the torches and their light makes the shadows of columns and statues dance. But they stay mute and silent. Are they reproaching me for removing all those who were in my way? I had my good intentions, but too many had different ideas.

The hall with three exedra

Also the surface of the Pecile is smooth tonight. But morning is approaching. I hear sounds from underneath, from the grand belly of the building. To support such a big surface of water I had a substructure constructed of several stories high to obtain a level plain for the pond and the building with its long promenade of columns. Its many rooms are occupied by my slaves. Thousands are ready to serve me. Morning is approaching after another sleepless night. Down there in the underworld they are busy with the preparations for a new day.

The Pecile

The wall that remains of the colonnades that surrounded the Pecile

I walk along the long gallery of columns to this other favorite of mine. The fools call it the maritime theater. It was my idea alone. Surrounding the little miniature villa inside this palace with a circular moat gives me peace even during the busiest time of the day. The guard is instructed not to let anybody pass over the only bridge. Who will be here when I am gone? Will Antonius Pius, who soon will be the next emperor, appreciate this space?

The maritime theater

Such a lot that I have built here and so little time I had to appreciate it. All my travels have kept me away from studying in my libraries, one for my collection of Greek, the other for my collection of Latin scripts. My wars in Syria and Palestine, quenching revolts in Britannia and Mauretania, negotiating myself with the Parthians, my trip to Anatolia where I met Antinous. And of course Greece and Egypt. I was curious, I wanted to see all my empire by myself. Half of my reign I spent abroad for the benefit of the my people.

The villa surrounded by water and colonnades

Back at the palace Hadrian would stand at the perimeter wall for a view to see the faint glow of the little light the town of Tivoli would have produced on its hill across the valley in his time. What would he have expected to happen with his villa after his death? His mosaics carried away to musea allover the world, his marble statues hacked to pieces to fit into the lime kilns, his library burnt, his palaces used as cattle barns and his gardens to grow vegetables and feed the pigs.

The old olive trees in the villa

Much of Hadrian’s villa was only discovered and excavated after world war II. Sculptures were found on dumps of marble, collected to be burned to lime. There were some earlier buildings from the time of Republican Rome on the terrain. Hadrian started building around 118 AD, rather early in his reign. Construction continued during his many absences. However, the court and administration would have used the buildings also when the emperor was not there. Most of the buildings were completed when he finally moved in by 130 AD. That left him 6 years to enjoy his residence. After Hadrian, the villa was used by his successors Antoninus Pius (138–161), Marcus Aurelius (161–180), Lucius Verus (161–169), Septimius Severus and Caracalla and even restored by Diocletian end of the third century. After Emperor Constantine I founding Constantinople in 330, decay began. Statues, high-quality marble, decorations and furnishings were gradually removed. It would not have helped that the complex served as a military camp during the Gothic War (535–554) between the Ostrogoths and Byzantines. In the 15th century the villa was rediscovered just to remove even more of the statues and decorations for the Villa d’Este nearby. Today art from Hadrian’s villa are in many musea in- outside of Italy, like the Vatican museum, the Capitoline museum, the Altes Museum in Berlin, the Louvre, the Hermitage and the Pergamon museum. In 1999 the villa was declared a UNESCO monument. Shortly before an entire new part, previously unknown, was rediscovered. It probably was dedicated to Hadrian’s beloved Antinous.

The winter palace

The status of UNESCO monument includes a perimeter area where construction should be limited. That did not prevent the city of Tivoli of planning a waste dump or a housing complex inside the perimeter. So far it did not happen. The inside of the park and the perimeter are remarkable free of commerce. Except a restaurant at the road to the entrance there are no restaurants, souvenir shops and not even a refreshment stand inside the park. The access road is free of the usual souvenir shops. There is not even a food truck.

Hadrian's libraries

Mosaic in the Hospitalia, the quarters of the Praetorian guard

I have spent an entire day wandering around the villa Hadriana. When I leave I discover the CAT bus stop. There is an old timetable, faded by sun and weather and barely readable. It is clear that no bus departs here today. I have to walk back to the main road. On the way I am happy to discover an ice-cream parlor in a chaotic residential neighborhood. I arrive at the main road just a couple of minutes before according Google a bus is scheduled to leave.

The temple of the Venus

Next to the bus stop is a Tobacco store annex cafe. They are supposed to sell bus tickets, but when I ask they appear to be out of supply. When the bus finally arrives from Rome and I want to pay for a ticket the bus driver waves me through. He even is friendly enough to point out the right way to the old town after I have left the bus at the main square.

Playground cage at the fair in Tivoli

The National holiday is also celebrated in Tivoli. There is a little fair at the square at the foot of the old town. A band plays and the mayor holds a speech. Everything is low key and old fashioned. Mothers watch their toddlers play in a cage called a playground. The only excitement comes from a very simple roundabout for little children. A stand sells local cheese, another huge carnivorous plants ready to chew away your pinky when you dare to put it inside. But the fair is popular. People come and sit together to do what they like most in Italy. Chat vividly with their neighbors.

Minimal roundabout

After the Roman rule had disappeared Tivoli became an independent commune governed by elected consuls, one of so many in the fragmented political landscape of post-Roman Italy. Space was scarce on the rocky outcrop where the town is located. Buildings are tightly packed together and passages are narrow and connected with plenty of stairways. The crumbling old houses support each other, some stretch an arm across the narrow street to prevent the facing wall from collapsing.

Houses forming the walls above the precipice in Tivoli

Times were turbulent and protection was sought by building fortified tower houses. After holy Roman emperor Otto III had conquered Tivoli in 1001 it became part of the papal state. However, the relation between pope and his city were tense. The pope installed a count to govern the city together with the local council. Eventually Pius II built the massive Rocca Pia castle to get a grip on the resistant population.

San Martino bridge to the oldest part of Tivoli

The towers of the patricians of Tivoli

Via della Sibilla

The looks of the old city hardly has changed since that time. The Via della Sibilla connects the oldest part of town, the former Roman acropolis where the round temple of Vesta or Sibilla and the temple of Tiburna, built in the second century BC, still overlook the valley of hell, the gorge where the Aniene river drops down into valley. The small, quiet neighborhood around the church of San Giorgio was easy to defend since it was surrounded by the river gorge on three sides. The ancient houses cling precariously above the precipice. Still today the Via Sibilla passes the narrow San Martino bridge and a medieval gate with a tower from the 13th century to get to the other medieval part of the town.

The medieval houses of Tivoli

After crossing the bridge and stumbling up and down the narrow alleys with towering blotchy gray brown walls on both sides it is difficult to maintain the orientation. The Cathedral di San Lorenzo was built on the site of the former forum. While the Roman buildings mostly have been torn down some of their elements have survived. A column here or a piece of marble ornament there still appear in the walls of the medieval buildings. At the square the mensa ponderaria was the place where the Romans kept the weights for the scales at the forum. Close by is one of the old wash houses. An inscription denies access for men because there are women inside.

The arches bridging the narrow alleys of the old town

Campitelli street has preserved the oldest buildings in the town. The gothic house has an external entrance stairway across an arch. Heavy doors under mighty arches give access to the towering old buildings. The ground floor windows are secured with rusty grilles. Like everywhere in Italy, on the windows of the upper floors all the shutters are closed. Inside their apartments people live in a constant twilight.

The medieval lanes of Tivoli

But there is life behind the shutters. Sounds from radio or television, clattering of kitchen utensils and of course loud conversations of tenants who all seem to have a hearing problem. Cables for electricity and communication crisscross the walls and the external sewage pipes are testimony that these houses have got their toilets and bathrooms long after their construction. The rain water drainage pipes end right above the street. A strong downpour turns the steep streets and stairways into cascades. And when the weather is dry the droplets come from the laundry which is suspended on lines between the houses.

For the narrow alleys the Piaggos are the ideal truck

Old women take the time to chat in front of their doors. Some put water or food out for their feline friends. Like in many Italian towns they have put little shelters for the wild cats in abandoned corners. I hope they rather eat mice and rats than the birds in the few trees. Many of the houses have vacation apartments. The famous villas of Tivoli attract plenty of visitors.

Shelters for cats

I arrive at the piazza del Trento. Here is the present visitor entrance to the Villa d’Este, the most important monument of Renaissance architecture and garden design in Tivoli.

The street to the river

In 1550, the pope appointed Ippolito II d'Este (1509-1572), the cardinal of Ferrara, governor of Tivoli. He first stayed in the Benedictine convent near Santa Maria Maggiore but started expropriating land and houses. After 1560 he started the radical renovation of the palace and garden. This was not to everybody’s taste. In 1568 local residents filed twelve different lawsuits against the Cardinal. It did not deter him from his project. Pirro Ligorio, a Neapolitan antiquarian and architect, and Alberto Galvani, an architect from Ferrara were responsible for the building works, the layout of the garden and the complex iconographic program. Tommaso Ghinucci was responsible for the hydraulic system and water features. Ligorio had been the cardinal's consultant for the collection of antiquities since 1550 and had carried out excavation campaigns and surveys in the Tiburtine area, in particular at Hadrian's Villa. The original cloister of the convent was preserved in the Courtyard of the Villa.

The former cloister of the monastery is the central courtyard of the Villa dÉste

To provide the numerous fountains with water, a 280-metre tunnel was dug in 1564 to reach the River Aniene. The villa brought together the great palace and grandiose gardens in a unique scenic arrangement. Architecture, nature, ancient artifacts and contemporary decorations gave life to a topography representing the myth of Hercules. The Villa d'Este was presented as a new ideal of the Garden of the Hesperides.

The Vialone, the grand terrace of the villa

The larger fountains are veritable 'water theatres' and became models that were often replicated in later periods. Also the gardens of the Villa were renovated, enlarged and additional fountains were added in 1605 by Cardinal Alessandro d'Este (1568-1624) and in 1660 and 1661 by Cardinal Rinaldo I d'Este.

The gardens of the villa with Tivoli and the Sabine mountains in the background

With the end of the 17th century the Este family ran out of money. There were not enough funds to maintain a villa and garden which did not produce any income. In the 18th century the Villa was abandoned for a significant period of time and its collection of antiquities was dispersed among musea across Europe. In the 19th century, the complex passed over to the Habsburgs and then after 1851 to Cardinal Gustav Hohenlohe (1823-1896), who carried out restoration work and introduced many religious themes. After the First World War, Villa d'Este became the property of the Italian State.

The fountain of the Dragons

The Hungarian musician Franz Liszt (1811-1886) had a special relationship with Villa d'Este. Thanks to his friendship with the Bavarian cardinal Gustav Adolf von Hohenlohe-SchiIlingsfürst (1823-1896) Liszt had the privilege of living in the Villa for long periods between 1864 and 1885 while the Bavarian cardinal had leased the property. Liszt stayed at Villa d'Este, drawing great inspiration from the garden, the fountains, the exceptional panoramic views and the peace and serenity

The decorated halls of the Villa

Battles and Italian landscapes

On the first floor Liszt had an apartment of a bedroom, a small dining room, a music room and an open loggia leading to the terrace. Some of the titles composed here refer to the villa, such as Aux cypres de la Villa d'Este or Les jeux d'eau å la Villa d'Este.

The Rometta fountain, a miniature of ancient Rome

All the rooms in the Villa are lavishly decorated with frescoes. The walls display romantic Italian landscapes. The vaults of the ceiling are painted with battle scenes framed by ornaments linked by nude little putti. The grottoes outside the palace are decorated with statues and colorful mosaics which are more resistant against humidity than the frescoes inside.

The fountain of Neptune

While today’s visitor enters the villa by an entrance next to the Church of Santa-Maria Maggiore at the highest level, visitors in the time of Ippolito d'Este arrived at the bottom of the gardens, and ascended, step by step, to the villa, viewing the fountains and statuary. There are fifty-one fountains and nymphaeums, 398 spouts, 364 water jets, 64 waterfalls, and 220 basins, fed by 875 metres of canals, channels and cascades. Everything works entirely by the force of gravity, without pumps.

Neptune himself

A large terrace, 200 m long, called the Vialone, lies between the Villa and the gardens, with a panoramic view of the countryside and gardens. From here the “water theatre” could be observed. There is a fountain of the Owl, a fountain of the dragons, the Fontana dell'Ovato ("Oval Fountain"), the fountain of Diana of Ephesus, the fountain of Pegasus and many more. Many of the fountains have lost their original statues and playful features. Dry as they are they now can be found in the Louvre, the Villa Borghese or the Vatican museum.

The central alley of the garden

All the fountains are part of an iconographic program. The one hundred fountains represent an aqueduct. Now they are overgrown to such a degree that most of the decoration is lost. The Rometta fountain is a symbol of the city of Rome. Below the statue of Rome Triumphant is a boat carrying an obelisk mast symbolizing the Tiburtina island in the Tiber. The fountain of the organ above the fountain of Neptune is particularly interesting. The mechanism was innovative and was a model for similar fountains allover the world. After a renovation and modernization with up to date materials today 144 organ pipes can be played from a central keyboard.

The fountain of the organ

It is questionable whether Liszt still would find his peace and serenity in the Villa d’Este today. There are plenty of bus groups shuffling around the premises, and in particular the big fountains are popular selfie spots. It is difficult to find a quiet seat to enjoy the garden. When I come back the next day there are less visitors, but many of the spectacular fountains of the “water theater” are turned off.

The fish ponds

The garden suffers from a certain degree of neglect. The pavement is patchy, steps of the stairs are broken, pebbles in the mosaics are missing and weeds are growing uninhibited. Some of the pathways are closed for safety reasons. Many of the big fountains are overgrown with ferns and moss. It is clear that some have not been spouting their water for a while. However, when Carl Blechem painted the garden in 1830, neglect was much more advanced. This of course appealed to the Romantic painter, who preferred ruins to perfection.

The fish ponds

In the evening, long before closing hour, one after the other of the fountains collapse and dry out. But the garden even is spectacular without a fountain. It drops 45 m from the top to the lowest part. The location offers a sweeping view of the countryside which must be even more spectacular in the upper floors of the mansion.

The spouts of the hundred fountains

Ippolito II d'Este applied five times for the nomination as pope. He did not get it. However, the position as governor in Tivoli gave him ample time to dedicate for his passions, gardening and the collection of antiquities. While most of the antiquities are gone from the villa, the gardens are still exceptional. The certain degree of neglect adds to the attraction.

One of the many little fountains

The water for the Villa d’Este is diverted from the Aniene river. Since ancient times the river formed a wide loop around the Acropolis before falling from the limestone base toward the plain. The constant flow of water and occasional floods have continuously eroded the bed. Already Pliny the Younger describes a flood in 105 AD which destroyed houses, villas, and monuments. Others had occurred in 1688 and 1689. Already the Romans had taken hydraulic measures to reduce the danger and use the water.

The abandoned former hotel on the cliff above the water falls

The situation in the 18th and early 19th century was well documented by the early tourists and romantic painters on their grand Tour. Until 1826 most of the water dropped down into the valley in four cascades. On November 16th and 17th, 1826 torrential rains caused another serious flood. A whirlpool formed which undermined the retaining walls causing the collapse of parts of the low lying parts old town near the Piazza Rivarola. The bed of the river was lowered by some 8 m. Fortunately the flood occurred in the afternoon and the citizens had enough time to get away. Nobody was killed. A horrific loss of life would have occurred if the disaster had struck at night.

Ponte Gregoriana

However, dozens of houses in the oldest, lowest-lying historic district of Tivoli were completely swept away. A massive landslide triggered by the flood choked the old riverbed and left the town's highly sophisticated canal system completely dry. 48 industrial buildings lost their water supply. Local mills, factories, and workshops that drove Tivoli's economy were paralyzed. The water system feeding public and private fountains, laundry basins, the irrigation of the surrounding orchards and the water supply for the Villa d’Este was utterly ruined.

The bridge and one of the bypass canals

When you visit Italy rain is not the first word which comes to your mind. However, annually there are days of biblical deluges which not only flood roads, railways, main streets and basements and cause power shutdowns but also regularly cost the human lives. How hard the rain can hit Tivoli I can appreciate the next morning. There is no way to get out of my cramped room. I have arranged to change to a bigger room for the next night and the cleaner is ready to clean the old room after I get out at 10. But at that time the water comes down in buckets. Thunder rumbles above the mountains. On the road below my window the traffic is an endless congestion. In the middle, blocked like the others, the Cotral busses. The trains run without delay. But the rain leaves as quickly as it came. In the afternoon the sun is back again.

The tempel of Vesta on the other side of the gorge

At the time Tivoli was still part of the papal state. The flood forced Pope Leo XII to take radical action to secure the town's future. Two tunnels were blasted into the surrounding mountains to divert the water. New retaining walls were built. The old river bed only serves as overflow to get rid of excess water.

The trail to the great cascade

It took until 1835 and two more popes until the works were finished in 1835. The tunnel mouths open into the gorge creating a series of new water falls with a drop of 130 m. The abundance of water from different sources was a motivation for Pope Gregory XVI to create a park in the wild natural area of the chasm below the town. Although there is no villa as such the park was called Villa Gregoriana in memory of the overgrown ruins of the 2nd century villa of Manlius Vopiscus at the site.

The platform at the upper end of the great cascade

Pope Gregory also had built the Ponte Gregoriano, which links the old town with the station area and offers a spectacular view of the valley. The entrance to the park is close by. New trees were planted in the park and paths, walkways, stairways, and service areas were added. The walking paths descend 95 m into the chasm called Valle dell'Inferno.

The mouth of the double tunnel of the diversion chanal

The modern tunnel of about 300 m long built after 1826 has two parallel troughs, separated by a narrow spine of rock. The water can be shut off from one of them, whenever there is need of examination and repair. A short detour leads to a terrace next to the great waterfall where the water from the tunnels falls down into the valley.

The great cascade

Remains of the ruins of the buildings of the Roman villa were integrated into the garden. Brickwork walls, concrete foundation platforms and rooms cut into the walls of the ravine can be seen.

The ruins of the former Roman villa

Hidden in the shadow of the gorge there is a Grotto of Neptune and of the Sirens. The karst limestone rocks are covered with dense vegetation. At the bottom the view goes high up to the bridge and the esplanade with the temples of Tiburno and of Vesta in the old acropolis.

The original cascades

Everywhere along the route there are traces of the former route of the river which cascaded along limestone concretions, washed out caves and cut tunnels into the gorge.

The town of Tivoli above the abyss

The Park of the Villa Gregoriana fell into disrepair and was closed for security reasons for a long time. Meanwhile the entire path was restored and was reopened to the public in 2005.

The reservoir above the cascades

Tivoli’s water has been used since antiquity as motive power for mills and led to the development of a manufacturing district. The water also was used for agriculture and for extraction and working of travertine, the stone which was so important for the decorations in Roman architecture. With the building of a dam in 1882 electricity production started and Tivoli was the first city in Italy to use electricity for illumination. Soon electricity could be provided to a part of Rome.

One of the many pipes to divert water into a power station

A modern dam was built just above the Gregorian bridge to divert the water into the numerous pipes which can be seen running down the slopes of the acropolis to lead to the turbines of power stations. Paper and travertine works now could be operated electrically. The diversion and use of water for industrial purposes and for producing electricity caused a reduced flow for the parks of the Villa d’Este and Villa Gregoriana. Maybe this is the reason why the water theatre in the Villa d’Este ends early to leave enough water to power the turbines in the high demand period at the end of the day.

The ruins of the cartiera de Tivoli

After the 1960s the economic miracle was over. The industrial structure on which the city depended disintegrated. Today, abandoned industrial ruins not only shape the landscape around the city, but also hang dangerously over the abyss in a part of the old town. From hered the view is even better than from the Villa d’Este. This enormous complex was the cartiera de Tivoli, a paper factory, which was closed around 1980. Afterwards most of the machinery was removed. In 2009 an enormous rumble shook the brave inhabitants of the town from their beds. The central part of the factory had collapsed and disappeared in the depth of the valley.

The inner courtyard of the factory

Meanwhile the town is eager to find a new use. A rather boring viewing platform has been built. The bleak spot with a spectacular view surrounded by decay is now called belvedere di Tivoli. Another plan is for an event center. An urbex video on youtube shows how the remaining parts of the ruin look from inside.

The ruins are fenced off with pictures of the original works

Like Tarquinia before, Tivoli is a relaxed, welcoming little town. The noise and stress of neighboring Rome doesn’t bear this far. At night, when the bus tourists have disappeared, restaurants and cafes open their terraces in the area between the Piazza Rivarola and the Piazza Palatina which suffered in the big flood of 1826. The locals stroll up and down the street with their kids and their irritant little yappers to be seen and meet friends and neighbors for a chat. The little kids stay up late here and roam freely. Traffic is restricted and cars have to be left in the parking structure at the other side of the bridge. I sit down for a beer in the craft brewery and drink craft beer which tastes like craft beer. To my right a young family with baby and grandmother. The mother feeds the baby, the baby swallows quietly, the grandmother smiles happily. To my left a young couple in a serious conversation. The guy in black, the attractive, sun-tanned tattooed girl with long shiny black hair scarcely dressed. It is fun to watch. I order another beer. They trust a stranger here. Nobody asks for immediate payment.