Discover Villa Gregoriana
On this page, you will find introductory texts, videos and podcasts that will accompany you throughout your visit
You can either start to learn at home all about the property you're planning to visit, or you can access this page once you're here and read it on your smartphone as you make your way along the visitor route.
See here for more information on your visit.
The videos, slideshows and map of the itineraries were created thanks to the contribution of Lazio Region for the project titled “Villa Gregoriana Complex: new technologies for sustainable conservation, enhancement, management and utilisation” under the public notice “DTC2: Research and development of technologies for the exploitation of the cultural heritage”.
Myths and Legends of Ancient Tibur
Tivoli is a special place: here, Nature manifested itself to people in extraordinary forms that, for the ancients, were indicative of its status as a sacred place. History and nature became fused with myths – from that of the origins of the city through to the cult of Hercules and the Sibyl – to such an extent as to be immortalised in the cycle of frescoes in the “Tiburtine Halls” at Villa d’Este, which dates from the Renaissance and is today a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The Temples of the Ancient Acropolis
Of the acropolis of ancient Tibur, built on top of a natural fortification, there remain two, almost complete temples, dating from the 2nd-1st century B.C. Until the 19th century, they fascinated artists and travellers thanks to their location, as if suspended over the River Aniene, which came rushing with a thunderous waterfall down into the so-called Valley of Hell, below.
The “legend” of Tivoli, a key stage on the Grand Tour
From the late 17th century onwards, Tivoli became – alongside Rome, Florence and Venice – an essential stop-off on the Grand Tour, the educational journey through Italy taken by young European aristocrats. Attracted by the spellbinding horror of wild nature, fused here with evocations of myth and testaments to history, the area was visited by artists, intellectuals, princes and rulers.
The Tiburtine landscape before the deviation of the River Aniene
Until the 19th century, on reaching Tivoli the River Aniene rushed down into a deep gorge under the temples of the acropolis, giving rise to a veritable Romantic landscape characterised by caves, waterfalls and precipices, depicted and described by numerous artists and writers. Having made our way round the spur on which the town was built, the Roman countryside would then appear before our eyes.
The creation of the Gregorian Tunnels, the birth of Villa Gregoriana
After the devastating flood of the Aniene in 1826, work began on the impressive hydraulic-engineering project to deviate the river away from the conurbation of Tivoli. In 1835, with Pope Gregory XVI in attendance, the Gregorian Tunnels and Villa Gregoriana were inaugurated.
The importance of water for the development of Tivoli
As far back as the 3rd century B.C., the value of the abundant water of the River Aniene had already been discerned, and so it began to be exploited, with not just simple infrastructure for water catchment but also levees, dams, basins, deviations, crossings and canals. Through the Aniene Aqueducts, the water was channelled to guarantee aqua publica for the citizens of Rome; from the Middle Ages, the water was used to power mills, paper factories and other industries; and from the mid-19th century it was utilised for the generation of electrical energy.
Surrounding attractions
Click on the link and access the map to find out all about FAI's recommended itineraries, which can be enjoyed on foot, by bike or by car, and to discover local places of interest that are very much worth visiting .
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