THE VILLA D’ ESTE, TIVOLI 
PLATES 113, 114, 115, 116, 117 
all Italy there are no more stately gardens nor any nobler cypress-trees 
than at Villa d’ Este, at Tivoli. ‘ In the spring, by the straight smooth 
ways under the ilexes and cypresses, all day the golden gloom is made 
rosy, where ever and anon red Judas-trees shower down their bloom. Marble 
stairs lead up through terraced heights to paved walks under the palazzo 
walls. The lofty spires of ancient cypresses reach up above the topmost 
terrace; far below in the garden, between their dark ranks, sparkle the 
upspringing fountains. Beyond, above the tallest cypresses, rise brown crumbling walls of the 
old town. To the west rolls out the ocean of the wide Campagna, undulating far away where 
Rome is lost in the sunset.’ This charming description, by the Hon. Mrs. Boyle, well portrays 
the grandeur of the wonderful situation of the Villa d’ Este, perhaps the most beautiful site of 
any garden in Italy. 
It was in 1549 that Ippolito d’ Este, Cardinal of Ferrara, having been appointed governor 
of Tivoli by Pope Paul III., first decided to take up his residence here; to pull down the 
ancient castello, and erect the sumptuous villa that now exists. He called to his aid Pirro 
Ligorio, the architect of the charming little Villa Pia, in the garden of the Vatican, and pupil of 
Vignola. 
Much of the land had to be acquired from the municipality to lay out the garden— 
a gigantic task, and one which only the opulence of a prince of the Church could undertake. 
According to Uberto Faglietta, writing in 1629, a considerable part of the village had to be 
demolished, and the ground upon the eastern side of the garden considerably excavated. The 
earth thus obtained went to extend the boundary upon the western side, where a huge retaining 
wall was constructed. 
The villa was intended only as a summer residence, and we see it to-day in an incomplete 
state, void of all architectural embellishment—a barrack-like structure planned to house a 
Cardinal and his suite, numbering, it is said, as many as two hundred and fifty persons. Though 
the casino was never entirely completed, no effort was spared in the laying out of the grounds, 
which were the joint design of Pirro Ligorio, Giacomo della Porta, and the famous hydraulic 
engineer, Orazio Olivieri, whose work we have also seen at the Villa Aldobrandini, Frascati. 
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