Last weekend, I traveled with friends to Tivoli to see Hadrian’s Villa and the Villa d’Este. We got to see two examples of the villa: the imperial Rome version, and the Renaissance’s idea of the Roman villa, as imagined by powerful noble families. After sprinting to our train from the Porta Portese flea market with more speed and intensity than I believed any two people could possess, and a short half hour train ride later, we were in Tivoli. Then, after one bus-related misadventure and a short taxi ride, we bought our tickets and began walking up to Hadrian’s Villa. The villa complex was built around 120 AD by Emperor Hadrian as a rural retreat. The first thing that struck me was the height and grandeur of the ruins, as well as the interesting architecture of the buildings.
My favorite ruin was an artificial lake/moat that Hadrian used to swim in, with a small island in the middle with a little house on it. In our time, it was a ring of broken columns surrounded by a moat of scuzzy green water, but I really was able to imagine it as a glamorous swimming pool with a fabulous domus in the middle.
Water turned out to be a very important element in both villas. However, the way it was used here, as a circular swimming pool around what was basically a miniature villa, was something I hadn’t seen before in Ostia Antica or Pompeii. The natural beauty of the area and the excellent views of Tivoli afforded by the area were also notable, especially since the Villa d’Este also had similar characteristics. It began to rain and we decided to hightail it to Villa d’Este. It was built in the 16th century after a d’Este family member was appointed governor of Tivoli by the pope as a gesture of thanks, and found the accommodations given to him small and uncomfortable. The frescoes within Villa d’Este were beautiful, and touched on Tivoli’s mythical founding, hunting scenes, and the d’Este family legacy.
But the truly impressive part of the villa was the gardens and network of fountains outside the villa. The gardens were composed of lush green hedges, large reflecting pools, and elaborate fountains enhanced by the fact that it was pouring rain for most of the time we were walking through the area.
The gardens also had a panoramic view of the city below, just like Hadrian’s Villa. I found that the two villas had some similar sensibilities, like a focus on inventive water features and natural spaces. However, overall the architecture of Hadrian’s Villa was far more unique and varied than that of the many rectangular frescoed rooms from the Renaissance period at Villa d’Este.