The Fountains of the Villa d'Este at Tivoli

The hill town of Tivoli and the fountains of the Villa d'Este are short bus ride from Rome. It makes a perfect day trip.

John and I knew we were almost there when our bus began climbing a steep hill. That's Mount Tiburtini in the distance.

The entrance courtyard of the Villa d'Este incorporates a cloister from a Benedictine monastery. The present villa was built by Lucretia Borgia's son in 1550.

We passed through delightfully frescoed rooms of the period

to reach the belvedere

overlooking the famous gardens and the landscape below.

Paths led us into a maze of gardens, fountains and courtyards.

A grotto forms a passage behind the basin of the Oval Fountain

and a goddess peaks out above the crest of the water.

Next door, the Fountain of the Hydraulic Organ

is an ornate example of 16th century decoration,

graced with delightful sea sprites bearing fish-head water spouts.

The Fountain of Neptune. Feeling refreshed yet?

The alley of the Hundred Fountains is one of the high points of the garden,

 not to be missed,

with its eagles (heraldic emblems of the D'Este family)

and 100 grotesque fountain heads.

It stretches across the entire width of the property.

The Fountain of the Dragons is best approached from the lowest level of the gardens

Looking up one can appreciate the scale of the garden architecture.

These dragons spit water.

The lowest level also presents us with views of 

fish tanks surrounded by potted plants and pine and cypress trees

that look across at the Fountains of Neptune and the Fountain of the Organ above it.

At the farthest reach of the gardens we arrived at the Fountain of Diana of Ephesus;

also called the Fountain of Mother Nature -- a romantic climax to a sublime garden.

Then it was back to the town of Tivoli with its ancient streets to look for lunch.

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