Villa d'Este

Villa d'Este stands in Tivoli, a short distance east of Rome, and ranks among the finest examples of Italian Renaissance garden design in the world. Commissioned in the sixteenth century by Cardinal Ippolito II d'Este and laid out by the architect Pirro Ligorio, the villa and its terraced gardens were inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2001. The estate is celebrated above all for its extraordinary hydraulic engineering: hundreds of fountains, cascades, and water features draw on a system of channels and aqueducts that has operated, largely unchanged, for more than four centuries. The Oval Fountain, the Avenue of a Hundred Fountains, and the Organ Fountain remain among the most photographed sights in the Lazio region.

Visitors today can explore the frescoed rooms of the villa itself, which retain much of their original decorative programme, before descending through the terraced gardens. Skip-the-line tickets are available, allowing direct entry without queuing at the gate.