Tivoli Off The Beaten Path

The Canopus refers to an artificial canal that connected the Egyptian city of Canopus in the Nile delta with Alexandria. The city Canopus was famous for its Temple of Serapis - the temple at the end of the lake. The Canopus was built before Hadrian's first journey to Egypt, so it is not a reconstruction of something he had seen on this travels as purported to be so.

I was so excited when I took this view from the hill above and saw all the reflections...I could hardly contain myself and rushed down to snap away. Hence the next few pics will show these reflections!

The Villa Hadriana became the imperial residence. The villa was located just outside ancient Tibur, modern Tivoli, some 28 km E. of Rome. It stood on a hillside, surrounded by two minor tributaries to the Aniene, which flows into the Tiber just N. of Rome. Tivoli, and hence the villa, was easily reached from Rome by land via the Via Tiburtina and by boat on the Aniene, being navigable at the time.

Villa D'Este in the Town of Tivoli outside Rome.
Take the train from Roma Termini Station to Tivoli.
It is 40 km outside of Rome into the mountains. It will cost you about $7.- a person to get a return ticket with the train. It takes about 1 hour to get there. It is a nice little old town with a beautiful villa with gardens.

The entrance costs you about $3.- for the gardens and the villa.

This estate was constructed in the 16th Century by Cardinal Ippolito D'Este, son of Lucrezia Borgia. The Villa is most known for its terracegardens and fountains.
Inspite of the fact the gardens arfe a bit neglected through the ages, it still offers a good impression how it must have been.

Also known as the sea theatre -even a reflection here, although not very condusive to relaxing now - the water was quite murky and stagnant :-(

Actually this is really a great nymphaeum in the shape of a stadium and has a portico fed by two canals which run the entire length of the complex.

This part of the complex was used for formal occassions. It has a variety of architectural styles to enjoy and you could spend some time browsing this part of the villa.

On the way out have a look at the temple of Venus. This small round temple is purported to be an impression of the area 'Vale of Tempe' in Thessaly northern Greece.

The Pecile was a vast quadrilateral portico (232m x 97m) with curved short sides and a central garden with ornamental pool.