While on holiday in Rome it seemed like a good idea to escape the city heat and visit the Villa D’Este, in the hope of shade and fountains. We found both. The countryside alongside the roads between Rome and Tivoli this July showed signs of fires at intervals; grass was everywhere brown and parched. Some 500 years ago however, a river was diverted to feed a garden of fountains and this is one of the things for which Tivoli is famous. (The others are Hadrian’s villa, and travertine quarrying, with travertine being a type of limestone used by the ancient Romans and by us for decorative purposes.)
In this World Heritage Site which is the Villa d’Este, each fountain works thanks to the exploitation of the force of the flow of river water downhill under gravity; no pumps are used. Not quite every fountain was working while we were there, although plenty were (we did not feel at all deprived) and I do not know whether this was a response to the dryness of the weather or the well-managed maintenance schedule of very old fountains. It did not matter: we were completely delighted anyway. This garden is well worth a visit and was appreciated by all of us.
I tried to take notice of the planting: there were a variety of Citrus in pots. Hedges, various sizes, of bay and a tough-looking box. Beds of roses and peonies (not in flower in July). Hibiscus in full flower, well ahead of ours at home in England. Many trees which unfortunately I cannot identify in addition to the very characteristic form of the cypress, and other flowers too which are nameless to me. An unfamiliar variety of wisteria adorned the balustrade of the terrace just outside the Villa itself.
Bibliography:
Official site – http://www.villadestetivoli.info/indexe.htm
UNESCO site including a short video – http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1025
Limestone Garden 