Villa d'Este, Tivoli

The palace and the gardens of Villa d’Este in Tivoli, in the center of Italy, were
laid out by Pirro Ligorio. The ensemble composed of the palace and gardens forms
an uneven quadrilateral and covers an area of about 4.5 ha.

The Villa d’Este in Tivoli is one of the most remarkable and comprehensive
illustrations of Renaissance culture at its most refined. Owing to its innovative
design and the creativity and ingenuity of the architectural components in the
gardens (fountains, ornamental basins, etc.), it is a true water garden and a unique
example of an Italian 16th century garden.

• The Garden here is created as a series of terraces descending the steep

hillside at the edge of the mountains overlooking the plain of Latium

• The terraces were connected by gates and grand stairways starting from a
terrace below the villa and traversing down tote Fountain of Dragons at the
foot of the garden
• The stairway was crossed by five traversal alleys on the different levels,
which were divided into rooms by hedges and trellises covered with vines.

• At the crossing points of the stairway and the alleys there were aromatic
trees and plants.
P.za Trento, 5, 00019 Tivoli RM,
Italy
Sheet No.: 1 Name: ABISHEK N

Villa d'Este, Tivoli – Italian Garden

Reg. No.: 20AR004
Semester: VII
Subject Code: 15AR820

15AR820 – LANDSCAPE DESIGN Subject: LANDDSCAPE DESIGN

College: TCE, DEPT. OF ARCH.
 • The Villa was commissioned by Cardinal Ippolito II d'Este . Este family had been
lords of Ferrara and were famous as patrons of the arts and of the humanist scholars
of the Renaissance.
• The land was acquired and construction was planned to begin at the end of 1550,
but the Cardinal was distracted by diplomatic missions.
• The plans for the villa itself were carried out under the direction of the Ferrarese
architect-engineer Alberto Galvani, court architect of the Este. The chief painter of
the ambitious internal decoration was Livio Agresti from Forlì. In 1565 and 1566,
work began on the decoration of the interior of the villa. The decoration was carried
out by a team of painters under Girolamo Muziano and Federico Zuccari.
• Postwar years by environmental pollution, but campaigns of restoration and
protection have preserved intact the famous features of the villa and gardens .The
water organ, which had not functioned for many years, was restored and now plays
again each day for visitors.

Gardens and Fountains

The Fountain of Neptune below fountain of Organ The Rometta Fountain The Fountain of Neptune
Sheet No.: 2 Name: ABISHEK N

History & Gardens and Fountains

Reg. No.: 20AR004
Semester: VII
Subject Code: 15AR820

15AR820 – LANDSCAPE DESIGN Subject: LANDDSCAPE DESIGN

College: TCE, DEPT. OF ARCH.
 One Hundred Fountains The Oval Fountain The Fountain of Owl The Fountain of Diana

The fame and glory of the Villa d'Este was above all established by its extraordinary system of fountains; fifty-one fountains and
nymphaeum's, 398 spouts, 364 water jets, 64 waterfalls, and 220 basins, fed by 875 meters of canals, channels and cascades, and all
working entirely by the force of gravity, without pumps.

Pirro Ligorio, who was responsible for the iconographic programs worked out in the villa's frescos, was also commissioned to lay out
the gardens for the villa, with the assistance of Tommaso Chiruchi of Bologna, one of the most skilled hydraulic engineers of the
sixteenth century; Chiruchi had worked on the fountains at Villa Lante. At Villa d'Este he was assisted in the technical designs for the
fountains by a Frenchman, Claude Venard, who was a manufacturer of hydraulic organs. The result was one of the finest gardens of
the Renaissance, rivaled only by the Villa Lante, the Villa Farnese at Caprarola and the Villas Aldobrandini and Torlonia in Frascati.
The garden and water features were admired and imitated over the next two centuries in gardens from Portugal to Saint Petersburg.

The garden plan is laid out on a central axis with subsidiary cross-axes, refreshed by some five hundred jets in fountains, pools and
water troughs. The water is supplied by the Aniene, which is partly diverted through the town, a distance of a kilometer, and,
originally, by the Rivellese spring, which supplied a cistern under the villa's courtyard (now supplied by the Aniene too). The garden is
now part of the Grandi Giardini Italiani.

Sheet No.: 3 Name: ABISHEK N

History & Gardens and Fountains

Reg. No.: 20AR004
Semester: VII
Subject Code: 15AR820

15AR820 – LANDSCAPE DESIGN Subject: LANDDSCAPE DESIGN

College: TCE, DEPT. OF ARCH.
The Vialone / Terrace

A large terrace, 200 metres long, called the Vialone, lies between the Villa and the gardens, with a panoramic view of the gardens and
countryside beyond. It was constructed between 1568 and 1569. The Cardinals used the space for fireworks, games, spectacles and
festivities. It originally was shaded by two rows of elm trees, except for the space directly in front of the Villa, left empty to preserve
the view.

In the center of the terrace, attached to the facade of the villa, is the double loggia, made in 1566–1577 of travertine stone. Its two
stairways provide access to the ceremonial salons on the lower floor, while its upper level created a terrace for the Cardinal's
apartments. On the terrace level it contains a Nymphaeum, or grotto, where the Fountain of Leda is located.

The Fountain of the Tripod is placed in the center of the Vialone. It has only been there since 1930; it is a copy of an ancient Roman
fountain, a marble basin supported by a central column and three pilasters.

The Fountain of Europa is found at the northeast end at the top of the garden. Its design, a triumphal arch with two orders of columns,
corinthian and doric, copying that of the Grand Loggia. The large niche in the center, now empty, held a sculpture Europa Embracing
the Bull which is now in the Villa Albani in Rome.

Sheet No.: 4 Name: ABISHEK N

Houston River Oaks Italian Garden Design Reg. No.: 20AR004
Semester: VII

15AR820 – LANDSCAPE DESIGN Subject Code: 15AR820

Subject: LANDDSCAPE DESIGN
College: TCE, DEPT. OF ARCH.
• Two ramps lead down to the upper garden from Fountain of the Tripod, and there are symmetrical double flights of stairs at either end. The
Cardinal's Walk is a shaded path, attached to the retaining wall of the terrace, which leads from one side of the garden to the other, passing by
several grottos which are built into the retaining wall. At the southeast end of the walk, just below the Fountain of Europa, is the Grotto of Aegle and
Aesculpius.

• The Loggia of Pandora is found in the middle of the Cardinal's Walk, just below the center of the Villa. This portion of the walk is covered, with
arcades looking out at the garden. It contained a nymphaeum built into the wall, and originally was decorated with mosaics and with a statue of
Pandora and two statues of Minerva.

• The Fountain of the Bicchierone is one of two fountains created for the Villa by Gian Lorenzo Bernini. The basin of the fountain is in the form of a
large shell, which reaches up to the level of the terrace. In the center is a toothed Bicchierone (cup or chalice) from which the water sprays upwards.

• The Loggetta of the Cardinal is a small balustraded terrace surrounded by high laurel hedges and stone benches, between the Fountain of the
Biccherone and the garden. This was said to be the Cardinal's favorite spot for reading and discussing poetry and art, and watching the construction
of the garden around him.

• The Grotto of Diana is located at the end of the Cardinal's Walk, below the Gran Loggia. It is a large underground vaulted chamber, and completely
covered with mosaics of mythological scenes, with images of fish, dragons, dolphins, pelicans and other animals, as well as the eagles and apples of
the d'Este family

Sheet No.: 5 Name: ABISHEK N

Italian Garden Design Reg. No.: 20AR004
Semester: VII

15AR820 – LANDSCAPE DESIGN Subject Code: 15AR820

Subject: LANDDSCAPE DESIGN
College: TCE, DEPT. OF ARCH.
 The Fountain of Rometta is located at the
opposite end of the Hundred Fountains from the
Oval Fountain. It is an important piece of the
symbolic story told by the upper gardens; the
waters of the Tiber River emerge in the Tiburtin
Mountains, symbolized by the Oval Fountain, run
through the valley (The Hundred Fountains) and
arrive at the gates of Rome; the Rometta Fountain
is Ancient Rome in miniature. The fountain was
designed by Pirro Ligorio and built by Curzio
Maccarone The fountain and its architecture are
built on a wide semicircular Terrace supported by
The Oval Fountain was one of the first fountains in the garden, and among the
pilasters connected with a double arcades.
most famous. It was designed by Pirro Ligorio, the architect of the villa, as a water
theater, spraying water in variety of forms. A massive stone basin against the
semicircular back wall cascades water into the fountain, and sprays it into the air.

The Hundred Fountains were

another celebrated marvel of the
gardens in the Renaissance. They
are located between the oval
fountain and the Fontana di
Rometta. Along the edge of the
upper canal there are spouts in the
form of lilies, the emblem of
France, alternating with the d'Este
eagle, boats and obelisks; all
spraying water in a fan shape.

Sheet No.: 6 Name: ABISHEK N

Houston River Oaks Italian Garden Design Reg. No.: 20AR004
Semester: VII

15AR820 – LANDSCAPE DESIGN Subject Code: 15AR820

Subject: LANDDSCAPE DESIGN
College: TCE, DEPT. OF ARCH.
 The Fountain of the Owl The Fountain of Persephone

The Fountain of the Dragons was

designed to illustrate the story of
Hercules fulfilling one of his labors
by stealing the golden apples of the
Garden. The fountain is located on
the central vertical axis of the
gardens, aligned with the Villa, and
in the center of the original garden .
It is enclosed by two semi-circular
ramps which lead to the level
above. The walls of the ramps The Fountain of the Organ (Fontana dell'Organo) is one of the most famous features of the
around it are covered with pebbly garden; it was described and imitated throughout Europe. Work on the masonry structure
tartar and ornamented with bands began in 1566. The fountain itself was made by the French fountain engineer Luc Leclerc and
of mosaic and majolica tile, and his nephew Claude Venard. After the death of Leclerc, Venard invented the ingenious
contain two large niches. mechanism of the water organ, which was installed in 1571.
Sheet No.: 7 Name: ABISHEK N
Houston River Oaks Italian Garden Design Reg. No.: 20AR004
Semester: VII

15AR820 – LANDSCAPE DESIGN Subject Code: 15AR820

Subject: LANDDSCAPE DESIGN
College: TCE, DEPT. OF ARCH.
The Neptune Fountain was originally
occupied by a rocky cascade, created in the
17th century. It was commissioned by
Cardinal Rinado I d'Este as a background for
the lateral axis of the garden, unfinished by
Cardinal Ippolito. Bernini's plan called for a
waterfall from the Fountain of the Organ
which leaped over the grottoes of the Sibyls,
then cascaded down a rocky slope to a lake
decorated with reefs and statues. Two
additional cascades entered the lake from the
sides. Bernini designed the cascade to
produce a thunderous sound of falling water.
The three fish ponds cross the garden from
the Fountain of Neptune. They served
originally to provide fresh fish, duck, and
swan for the table of the Cardinal
Sheet No.: 8
Houston River Oaks Italian Garden Design
15AR820 – LANDSCAPE DESIGN
Lower Garden
In the 16th century the lower
garden, below the fishponds, was
originally largely a kitchen
garden. The center of the lower
garden was divided into sixteen
large squares, with a pergola in
the center of each section,
surrounded by beds of medicinal
herbs and flowers, and large pots
of fruit trees. The main paths
dividing the garden were covered
with trellises on which grew
grapes, heather and jasmine. In
the center was a large wooden
pavilion, which contained four
small fountains in the form of
flowers, jetting water.
Name: ABISHEK N
Reg. No.: 20AR004
Semester: VII
Subject Code: 15AR820
Subject: LANDDSCAPE DESIGN
College: TCE, DEPT. OF ARCH.