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<h5>European Route of Historic Gardens Association</h5>
G-55267553 Lloret de Mar Town Hall Plaça de la Vila s/n 117310 Lloret de Mar (Girona)

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The European Route of Historic Gardens

Villa d’Este

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General information 

The Historic Garden of Villa d’Este is generally considered within the larger –and altogether extraordinary- context of Tivoli itself: its landscape, art and history which includes the important ruins of ancient villas as well as a zone rich in caves and waterfalls displaying the unending battle between water and stone.
The area where Tivoli sits has always been a great place for settlement, due to its favourable climate, as well as its strategic outlook, being at the crossing between the Aniene river and via Tiburtina. Its archeological attractions and its beauty made of Tivoli an essential stop on the Grand Tour of numerous poets and artists from the early 17th century.

Natural environment

It is worth noting that within Villa d’Este and Tivoli’s historical landscape there is Villa Adriana, the prestigious remains of an ancient villa built by the emperor Hadrian (Publius Aelius Hadrianus) between 118 and 138 AD.
Looking for a greener and water-rich territory, the emperor Hadrian moved his residence to Tivoli, 28 kms away from Rome. Here, on the tuff-rich banks of the river Aniene, at the foot of the Tiburtini Mountains, and on a plateau between two ditches, Villa Adriana was built, covering an area of nearly 120 hectares.
<h3>The Sanctuary of Ercole Vincitore</h3>
Another important monument within the garden in Villa d’Este’s landscape is the Sanctuary of Ercole Vincitore. Built during the 2nd century BC, it was one of the major sacred complexes of Roman architecture in the Republican era. It is an imposing structure, built with a series of terraces, overlooking the river Aniene developed along an ancient cattle route, later formalised as via Tiburtina.
Following its decline as place of worship, for centuries it was used used as a shelter, a convent, a foundry, a hydroelectric power station and ultimately paper factory. In the Middle Ages, Cardinal Ippolito II d’Este, Governor of Tivoli, had his villa built in a borough of the city named the Valle Gaudente. Here, he employed teams of master builders to remodel the sloping landscape to make a terraced garden.

Historical background

Villa d’Este, a masterpiece of the Italian Garden, is included in the UNESCO world heritage list. With its impressive concentration of fountains, nymphs, grottoes, plays of water, and music, it constitutes a much-copied model for European gardens in the mannerist and baroque styles.
The imposing constructions and the series of terraces above terraces bring to mind the hanging gardens of Babylon, one of the wonders of the ancient world. The addition of water, including an aqueduct tunnelling beneath the city, evokes the engineering skill of the Romans themselves.
<h3>Valle Gaudente</h3>
Cardinal Ippolito II d’Este, after the disappointment of a failed bid for the papacy, brought back to life here the splendour of the courts of Ferrara, Rome and Fontainebleau and revived the magnificence of Villa Adriana. Governor of Tivoli from 1550, he immediately nurtured the idea of realising a garden in the hanging cliffs of the “Valle Gaudente”, but it was only after 1560 that his architectural and iconographic programme became clear—brainchild of the painter-architect-archeologist Pirro Ligorio and realised by court architect Alberto Galvani.
The rooms of the Palace were decorated under the tutelage of the stars of the late Roman Mannerism, such as Livio Agresti, Federico Zuccari, Durante Alberti, Girolamo Muziano, Cesare Nebbia and Antonio Tempesta. The work was almost complete at the time of the Cardinal’s death (1572).
<h3>Programme of interventions</h3>
From 1605 Cardinal Alessandro d’Este gave the go-ahead to a new programme of interventions not only to restore and repair the vegetation and the waterworks, but also to create a new series of innovations to the layout of the garden and the decorations of the fountains. Other works were carried out from 1660 – 70; these involved no less a figure than Gianlorenzo Bernini.
In the 18th century the lack of maintenance led to the decay of the complex, which was aggravated by the property’s passage to the House of Hapsburg. The garden was slowly abandoned, the water works- no longer used- fell into ruin, and the collection of ancient statues, enlarged under Cardinal Ippolito, was disassembled and scattered.
<h3>A cultural point of reference</h3>
This state of decay continued without interruption until the middle of the XIXth century, when Gustav Adolf von Hohenlohe, who obtained in enfiteusi the villa from the Dukes of Modena in 1851, launched a series of works to pull the complex back from its state of ruin. Between 1867 and 1882 the Villa once again became a cultural point of reference, with the Cardinal frequently hosting the musician Franz Liszt (1811 – 1886), who composed Giochi d’acqua a Villa d’Este for piano while a guest here, and who in 1879 gave one of his final concerts.
At the outbreak of the First World War, the villa became a property of the Italian State, and during the 1920s it was restored and opened to the public. Another, radical restoration was carried out immediately after the Second World War to repair the damage caused by the bombing of 1944. Due to particularly unfavourable environmental conditions, the restorations have continued practically without interruption during the past twenty years (among these it is worth noting the recent cleaning of the Organ Fountain and also the “Birdsong.”)

Description

<ul>
<li>1550 Ippolito II d’Este is appointed Governor of Tivoli. The Cardinal buys land and dwellings of the medieval quarter that occupied the so-called “Valle Gaudente” in order to realize the Villa under the project of Pirro Ligorio. Transformation of the Benedictine convent for the construction of the Villa. Excavation and construction of garden wall substructures.</li>
<li>1564-65 Construction of the so-called “Canale d’Este” for feeding fountains from the Aniene river.</li>
<li>1565-72 Period of intense activity under the direction of Giovanni Alberto Galvani. From 1565 to 1572 most of the Villa’s fountains are built</li>
<li>1572 Ippolito II d’Este died. Luigi d’Este succeeds his uncle. From 1572 to 1585 the works for the villa continue under the direction of Giovanni Alberto Galvani;</li>
<li>1586-1605 After the death of Luigi d’Este the Villa passed to the Dean of the sacred college of cardinals.</li>
<li>1605-1624 Cardinal Alessandro d’Este is appointed governor of Tivoli. Some artifacts are restored and innovations are made in the Garden.</li>
<li>1624-1658 Francesco I, Duke of Modena and Reggio, carries out some restorations and maintenance works. The “rotonda dei Cipressi” is built to replace the lost wooden pavilion.</li>
<li>1658-1672 Cardinal Rinaldo I d’Este commissioned Gian Lorenzo Bernini to realize the “Fontana del Bicchierone” and the waterfall under the Piazzale dell’Organo;</li>
<li>1672-1802 The dukes of Modena and Reggio succeed one another. significant interventions are not carried out in the garden.</li>
<li>1803-1814 The villa is inherited from Maria Beatrice d’Este, daughter of Ercole III and wife of Ferdinando I of Asburgo. Various interventions are carried out at the garden and at the trees.</li>
<li>1814-1851 There are no particular maintenance interventions.</li>
<li>1851-1896 The villa was given in emphyteusis to Cardinal Gustav Von Hohenlohe who carried out restoration works to remove the villa from a state of decay.</li>
<li>1896-1922 The villa is still owned by the Asburgo-Este and no works are carried out. From 1922 the villa becomes the property of the Italian government</li>
<li>1927-1929 The “Fontana di Nettuno“ is realized by changing the original cascata made by Bernini.</li>
<li>1929 – Today Numerous restoration interventions and garden maintenance operations have taken place.</li>
<li>2001 The villa becomes a UNESCO heritage site.</li>
</ul>

Chronology

General

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Park of Montserrate

Lloret de Mar Town Council

Aranjuez Real Sitio y Villa

Aranjuez Cultural Landscape Foundation

Ayuntamiento de Orihuela

Junta de Castill y Leon

Ayuntamiento de Bejar

Consell de Mallorca

Museum of King Jan III’s Palace at Wilanów

Parc Samà

Storico Giardino Garzoni Collodi

Royal Palace of Gödöllő

José do Canto Botanical Garden

Zugdidi Botanical Garden

Van Buuren Museum & Garden

Giardino di Boboli

Villae Tivoli

Museo Storico e il Parco del Castello di Miramare

Hungarian garden heritage foundation

Gardens of the Royal Castle in Warsaw

Herrenhauser Gardens

Reggia di Caserta

Direzione regionale musei della Toscana

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Galicia

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Gardens Of The Royal Castle In Warsaw

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Municipal Park of Naoussa Balcony

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Municipal Park of Naoussa - Winter

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Palace garden in Nieborów, aerial view of the palace and the forecourt, Sylwester Cichal,

Palace garden in Nieborów, aerial view of the linden alley and the regular garden, Sylwester Cichal

Palace garden in Nieborów, boxwood mazes, Sylwester Cichal

Palace garden in Nieborów, Monika Antczak

Palace garden in Nieborów, aerial view of the linden alley, Sylwester Cichal

Palace garden in Nieborów, the linden alley, Dariusz Piwowarski

Hornbeam espalier in the garden in Nieborów, Monika Bajkowska

Palace and garden complex in Nieborów, Dariusz Bógdał

Palace garden in Nieborów, view of the palace from the linden alley, Sylwester Cichal

Palace garden in Nieborów, ornamental parterres, Sylwester Cichal

Palace garden in Nieborów, ornamental parterres and boxwood mazes, Sylwester Cichal

Old orangery in Nieborów, aerial view, Dariusz Bógdał

Old orangery in Nieborów, Dariusz Piwowarski

Garden cabinets in the regular garden in Nieborów, Katarzyna Piotrowska

Kitchen garden in Nieborów, Katarzyna Piotrowska

Vineyard in the kitchen garden in Nieborów, Agnieszka Chmielewska

Linden alley in Nieborów, Monika Antczak

Garden cabinet with the eagle column, garden in Nieborów, Dariusz Piwowarski

Garden canal in Nieborów, Monika Antczak

Alley by the canal in Nieborów, Monika Antczak,

Canal in the garden in Nieborów, Monika Bajkowsk

Plane trees in the palace garden in Nieborów, Xenia Modrzejewska-Mrozowska

Old orchard in Nieborów, Katarzyna Żak-Zatorska

Orchard in winter, Nieborów, Sylwester Borusiak vel Boruta

Exhibition: conservation works in the Nieborów palace garden, Sylwester Cichal

Nieborów palace garden

Palace Garden in Nieborów

Burgrave’s House in Arkadia, Monika Antczak

 Temple of Diana in Arkadia, view across the pond, Włodzimierz Pietrzyk

Greek Arc in Arkadia, Sylwia Salamądra

Gothic House in Arkadia, Dariusz Piwowarski

Sentimental garden in Arkadia, aerial view, Dariusz Bógdał

Sphinx sculpture by the Temple of Diana in Arkadia, Włodzimierz Pietrzyk

Sentimental Park in Arcadia

High Priest’s Shrine in Arkadia, Xenia Modrzejewska-Mrozowska

Gothic House and the Sybil’s Grotto in Arkadia, Dariusz Piwowarski

Temple of Diana in Arkadia, aerial view, Dariusz Bógdał

Aqueduct in Arkadia, Monika Antczak

Greek Arc in Arkadia, Dariusz Piwowarski

Tomb on Poplar Island in Arkadia, Sylwester Cichal

Pond in Arkadia, Xenia Modrzejewska-Mrozowska

Pond with an island in Arkadia, Dariusz Piwowarski

Sheep in Arkadia, Monika Antczak

Sentimental Park in Arkadia

Soutomaior Castle

Alameda Park

Pazo de Lourizán

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Pazo de Oca

Pazo de Rubianes

Pazo de Santa Cruz de Rivadulla

Manoir de Santa Cruz de Rivadulla

Pazo Quinteiro da Cruz 

Pazo Quiñones de León

LABPACT-SERP / Universitat de Barcelona

Eduard Petzold European Centre for Garden Art

AJH Associaçao Portuguesa dos Jardins Históricos

Cracow University of Technology Landscape Architecture Institute

Universidad de Girona Campus Patrimoni Cultural i Natural Parc Científic i Tecnològic 