What to see in Tivoli, one-day itinerary including the main historical monuments and places of interest, including Villa d’Este, Sanctuary of Hercules Victor, Temple of Vesta and Waterfalls.
Tourist information
Located in Lazio in the province of Rome, from which it is 32 km away, Tivoli is a renowned tourist resort, in the past a holiday resort chosen by Roman patricians and emperors who built magnificent residences, including the Villa di Adriano.
The Church of Santa Maria Maggiore, dating back to the fifth century and rebuilt in the thirteenth, includes a bell tower from the 1600s outside, while inside three naves there are interesting floor remains and fourteenth-century frescoes.
The Villa d'Este was built on the site of a Roman villa, subsequently transformed first into a monastery and then into a government building in 1550.
From the cloister belonging to the ancient convent you enter the villa, of which you can visit the Cardinal's apartment, with its ten halls, and the representative apartment.
Passing through the loggia you enter the Italian garden, characterized by the presence of many ancient trees and a few hundred fountains, including the Bicchierone Fountain and the Dragons Fountain, as well as the Fountain of the Hydraulic Organ including the statues of Apollo and Orpheus.
The Church of San Pietro alla Carità, dating back to the fifth century but later altered several times, contains fourteenth-century frescoes inside.
What see
The twelfth-century Church of San Silvestro, equipped with a tiny sailing bell tower, has a frescoed interior.
Beyond the Porta del Colle there are the Sanctuary of Ercole Vincitore, dating back to the first century BC, and the ruins of a theater.
The Duomo, built in 1600 over the remains of an older building, has a twelfth century bell tower.
In the interior with three naves there are a remarkable wooden Deposition made in the thirteenth century and a triptych with Byzantine references.
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The Temple of Vesta, which constitutes one of the two temples of the acropolis dating back to the first century BC, has preserved a portion of the external colonnade, as well as a frieze on the architrave and the circular cell.
Next to it is the Tiburtina Sibyl Temple, built in the second century BC.
The large park of the Villa Gregoriana develops along the stretch of the Aniene river where the famous waterfalls are formed, characterized by a jump of 160 meters.
Rocca Pia is a fifteenth-century fortress, with cylindrical towers placed at the corners and next to the remains of a Roman amphitheater.
