Page 474 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Italy

472  ROME AND LAZIO

Alexandria. There are also ruins
of two bath complexes, a Latin
and a Greek library, a Greek
theatre, and a private study
on a little island known as the
Teatro Marittimo.
Today the rambling ruins, full
of shady nooks and hidden
corners, make a lovely place to
relax, picnic or explore.

P Villa d’Este
Piazza Trento 1. Tel 0774 33 29 20. Open
Tue–Sun. Closed 1 Jan, 25 Dec. &
Tivoli, a favourite place to escape the heat of the Roman summer P Villa Gregoriana
q Tivoli country residence created in the Largo Sant’Angelo. Tel 0774 33 26 50.
Open daily. Closed Nov–Mar: Mon.
16th century by Pirro Ligorio
Roma. * 57,000. V @ n Piazzale T Hadrian’s Villa
Nazioni Unite (0774 313 35 36). ( Wed. for Cardinal Ippolito d’Este from Tel 0774 53 02 03. Closed pub hols. &
the shell of a Benedictine
Hill-town Tivoli, a popular monastery. It is known primarily
excursion from Rome, was once for its gardens, steeply raked
a favoured resort of the ancient on terraces, and studded with
Romans, attracted by its fresh spectacular, if somewhat faded
water and sulphur springs, and and moss-hung, fountains.
beautiful countryside. The Although suffering from
temples that once covered reduced water pressure and
Tivoli’s hilltop are still visible in polluted water due to centuries
places. Some are half buried in of neglect, the gardens give a
medieval buildings, others, such vivid impression of the frivolous
as the temples of Sibyl and luxury enjoyed by the papal
Vesta, inside the gardens of the families. Highlights include the Mosaic fragment of Nile in flood, Museo
Sibilla restaurant (on Via Sibilla), Viale delle Cento Fontane and Nazionale Prenestino, Palestrina
are relatively intact. the Fontana dell’Organo
The town’s most famous sight Idraulico, which, thanks to a w Palestrina
is the Villa d’Este, a sumptuous hydraulic system, can play Roma. * 18,000. @ ( Sat.
music. At the other end of town,
the Villa Gregoriana, now a Medieval Palestrina grew up
hotel, is set in a lush wooded over the terraces of a huge
valley where paths wind down temple dedicated to the
into a deep ravine. goddess Fortuna Primigenia,
the mother of all gods. The
Environs temple, founded in the 8th
About 5 km (3 miles) west of century BC and rebuilt in the
Tivoli are the ruins of Hadrian’s 2nd century BC by Sulla, housed
Villa. Easily seen in conjunction one of the most im portant
with a visit to the town, this is oracles of ancient times.
one of the largest and most The terraces of the sanctuary,
spectacular villas ever built in littered with fragments of
the Roman Empire (it once columns and porticoes, lead
covered an area greater than the up to the curved Palazzo
centre of Imperial Rome). Barberini. Built over the site of
Hadrian was an inveterate a circular temple, the Palazzo
traveller and his aim in creating now houses the Museo
the villa was to reproduce some Nazionale Prenestino, best
of the wonders he had seen known for a 1st-century-BC
around the world. The Stoa mosaic of the Nile in flood.
Poikile, for example, a walkway This museum also boasts
around a rectangular pool and a famous sculpture of the
garden, recalls the painted Capitoline Triad.
colonnade of the Stoic
philosophers in Athens, while E Museo Nazionale Prenestino
Splendours from around the world the Canopus evokes the grand Via Barberini. Tel 06 953 81 00. Open
reproduced in Hadrian’s Villa sanctuary of Serapis in daily. Closed 1 Jan, 1 May, 25 Dec. &
For hotels and restaurants in this region see pp573–6 and pp596–600

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Eyewitness Travel LAYERS PRINTED:
Catalogue template “UK” LAYER
(Source v2)
Date 14th November 2012
Size 125mm x 217mm