THE GARDKXS Of' ITALY. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

 THE VILLA TORLONIA. 



TWO stone piers crowned with eagles give access to a long avenue running direct to 

 the grey mass of the villa at the far end whose brown roofs are spotted with golden 

 lichen (Fig. 155). On the right the tree-planted avenue is held up by walls and over- 

 hangs the hill slopes, while on the left the vast and complicated staircases and carriage- 

 ways give access to a mighty upper terrace, from which the great cascade and features of the 

 gardens at the higher levels are reached. It is this immense provision, as it were, for a great 

 outdoor reception that captivates the mind at the Torlonia. 



It seems as if u all Rome ' might drive out and ascend these stairways and approaches 

 for an uncrowded reception al fresco. Besides the double sloping roadways there are two 

 great stairways, each forty feet in width, and two of half that width. Each ascent is in three 

 flights of thirteen, eleven and ten steps, with broad landings between. The steps are eighteen 

 inches by six inches. The great terrace at the top is, say, two hundred yards by twenty- 

 one yards wide ; all dimensions of an extraordinary stateliness. The great cascade is 

 centred upon one of these great stairways, being approached by an avenue seventeen yards wide 

 running through a plantation, which is cut by cross roads with fountains at the intersections. 



1:55. THE APPROACH. 



