EJ · Tivoli & Villa d’Este Tour

This tour takes you out of Rome driving along the highway and through the old Roman road “Tiburtina”, passing near the ancient sulfur baths and quarries of travertine stone which were used to build the great monuments of Rome. Tivoli, the destination, is nowadays a small town that used to be a huge holiday resort from the Roman period through the Renaissance. Known as “Tibur” during Roman times, Tivoli came under Roman control in the 4th century BC and it was then that a Sibyl prophesied the coming of Jesus Christ to the Emperor Augustus. This splendid era is testified through one of the most majestuous preserved Renaissance mansions in Italy, Villa d’Este. In the 16th century, Cardinal Ippolito d’Este (Lucretia Borgia’s son), Governor of Tivoli appointed Pirro Lagorio, a great Italian architect, to convert the former Benedictine convent into a pleasant country seat. You will enjoy to see the simple architecture of the Villa contrasts with the elaborate terraced gardens rich in statues, pools and fountains to enhance the natural beauty of the grace of the Mannerist style.