Tivoli, Italy
Encyclopedia
Tivoli ˈtiːvoli the classical Tibur, is an ancient Italian
town in Lazio, about 30 km east-north-east of Rome
, at the falls of the Aniene
river where it issues from the Sabine hills. The city offers a wide view over the Roman Campagna.
cites Cato the Elder
's lost Origines for the story that the city was founded by Catillus the Arcadian, a son of Amphiaraus
, who came there having escaped the slaughter at Thebes, Greece
. Catillus and his three sons Tiburtus, Coras, and Catillus drove out the Siculi from the Aniene plateau and founded a city they named Tibur in honor of Tiburtus. According to a more historical account, Tibur was instead a colony of Alba Longa
. Historical traces of settlement in the area date back to the 13th century BC
. The city's name may share a common root with the river Tiber
and the Latin praenomen
Tiberius
.
Virgil
in his Aeneid
makes Coras and the younger Catillus twin brothers and the leaders of military forces from Tibur aiding Turnus
.
From Etruscan times Tibur, a Sabine
city, was the seat of the Tiburtine Sibyl
. There are two small temples above the falls, the rotunda traditionally associated with Vesta
and the rectangular one with the Sibyl of Tibur, whom Varro
calls Albunea
, the water nymph who was worshipped on the banks of the Anio as a tenth Sibyl added to the nine mentioned by the Greek writers. In the nearby woods, Faunus
had a sacred grove. During the Roman age
Tibur maintained a certain importance, being on the way (the Via Tiburtina
, extended as the Via Valeria
) that Romans had to follow to cross the mountain regions of the Apennines
towards the Abruzzo
, the region where lived some of its fiercest enemies such as Volsci
, Sabini and Samnites.
At first an independent ally of Rome
, Tibur allied itself with the Gauls
in 361 BC. Vestiges remain of its defensive walls of this period, in opus quadrata. In 338 BC, however, Tibur was defeated and absorbed by the Romans. The city acquired Roman citizenship in 90 BC and became a resort area famed for its beauty and its good water, and was enriched by many Roman villa
s. The most famous one, of which the ruins remain, is the Villa Adriana (Hadrian's Villa
). Maecenas and Augustus
also had villas at Tibur, and the poet Horace
had a modest villa: he and Catullus
and Statius
all mention Tibur in their poems. In 273, Zenobia
, the captive queen of Palmyra
, was assigned a residence here by the Emperor Aurelian
. The 2nd-century temple of Hercules Victor is being excavated. The present Piazza del Duomo occupies the Roman forum.
The name of the city came to be used in diminutive form as Tiburi instead of Tibur and so transformed through Tibori to Tiboli and finally to Tivoli. But its inhabitants are still called Tiburtini and not Tivolesi.
In 547, in the course of the Gothic War
, the city was fortified by the Byzantine general Belisarius
, but was later destroyed by Totila
's army. After the end of the war it became a Byzantine duchy, later absorbed into the Patrimony of St. Peter
. After Italy was conquered by Charlemagne
, Tivoli was under the authority of a count, representing the emperor.
conquered it in 1001, and Tivoli fell under the papal
control. Tivoli however managed to keep a level of independence until the 15th century: symbols of the city's strength were the Palace of Arengo, the Torre del Comune and the church of St. Michael, all built in this period, as well as the new line of walls (authorized in 1155), needed to house the increasing population. Reminders of the internal turbulence of communal life are the tower houses that may be seen in Vicolo dei Ferri, Via Postera, Via del Seminario and Via del Colle.
In the 13th century the Senate of Rome imposed a tribute on the city, and gave itself the right to appoint a count to govern it in conjunction with the local consuls. In the 14th century Tivoli sided with the Guelphs
and strongly supported Urban VI
against Antipope Clement VII
. King Ladislaus of Sicily was twice repulsed from the city, as was the famous condottiero
Braccio da Montone
.
popes and cardinals did not limit their embellishment program to Rome, and erected buildings in Tivoli also. In 1461 Pope Pius II
built the massive Rocca Pia to control the always restive population, and as a symbol of the permanence of papal temporal power here.
From the 16th century the city saw further construction of villas. The most famous of these is the Villa d'Este
, a World Heritage Site
, whose construction was started in 1549 by Pirro Ligorio
for Cardinal Ippolito II d'Este
and which was richly decorated with an ambitious program of fresco
es by famous painters of late Roman Mannerism, such Livio Agresti
(a member of the "Forlì painting school
") or the Zuccari brothers. In 1527 Tivoli was sacked by bands of the supporters of the emperor
and the Colonna, important archives being destroyed during the attack. In 1547 it was again occupied, by the Duke of Alba in a war against Paul IV
, and in 1744 by the Austria
ns.
In 1835 Pope Gregory XVI
added the Villa Gregoriana
, a villa complex pivoting around the Aniene's falls. These were created through a tunnel in the Monte Catillo, to give an outlet to the waters of the Aniene sufficient to preserve the city from inundations like the devastating flood of 1826.
bombing, which totally destroyed the Jesuit Church of Jesus. Tivoli's reputation as a stylish resort and the fame of the gardens of the Villa d'Este have inspired the naming of other sites after Tivoli.
The Wörlitz Synagogue
in the Dessau-Wörlitz Garden Realm
is a replica of the Temple of Vesta at Tivoli.
with warm and dry summers and cool and wet winters.
, a particular white calcium-carbonate
rock used in building most Roman monuments. The water power of the falls supplies some of the electricity that lights Rome. The slopes of the neighbouring hills are covered with olives, vineyards and gardens; the most important local industry is the manufacture of paper.
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
town in Lazio, about 30 km east-north-east of Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, at the falls of the Aniene
Aniene
-External links:* http://www.humnet.ucla.edu/humnet/horaces-villa/glossary/Anio.gloss.html*...
river where it issues from the Sabine hills. The city offers a wide view over the Roman Campagna.
History
Gaius Julius SolinusGaius Julius Solinus
Gaius Julius Solinus, Latin grammarian and compiler, probably flourished in the early third century. Historical scholar Theodor Mommsen dates him to the middle of the third century....
cites Cato the Elder
Cato the Elder
Marcus Porcius Cato was a Roman statesman, commonly referred to as Censorius , Sapiens , Priscus , or Major, Cato the Elder, or Cato the Censor, to distinguish him from his great-grandson, Cato the Younger.He came of an ancient Plebeian family who all were noted for some...
's lost Origines for the story that the city was founded by Catillus the Arcadian, a son of Amphiaraus
Amphiaraus
In Greek mythology, Amphiaraus was the son of Oecles and Hypermnestra, and husband of Eriphyle. Amphiaraus was the King of Argos along with Adrastus— the brother of Amphiaraus' wife, Eriphyle— and Iphis. Amphiaraus was a seer, and greatly honored in his time...
, who came there having escaped the slaughter at Thebes, Greece
Thebes, Greece
Thebes is a city in Greece, situated to the north of the Cithaeron range, which divides Boeotia from Attica, and on the southern edge of the Boeotian plain. It played an important role in Greek myth, as the site of the stories of Cadmus, Oedipus, Dionysus and others...
. Catillus and his three sons Tiburtus, Coras, and Catillus drove out the Siculi from the Aniene plateau and founded a city they named Tibur in honor of Tiburtus. According to a more historical account, Tibur was instead a colony of Alba Longa
Alba Longa
Alba Longa – in Italian sources occasionally written Albalonga – was an ancient city of Latium in central Italy southeast of Rome in the Alban Hills. Founder and head of the Latin League, it was destroyed by Rome around the middle of the 7th century BC. In legend, Romulus and Remus, founders of...
. Historical traces of settlement in the area date back to the 13th century BC
13th century BC
The 13th century BC was the period from 1300 to 1201 BC.-Events:*1300 BC: Cemetery H culture comes to an end.*1292 BC: End of the Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt, start of the Nineteenth Dynasty....
. The city's name may share a common root with the river Tiber
Tiber
The Tiber is the third-longest river in Italy, rising in the Apennine Mountains in Emilia-Romagna and flowing through Umbria and Lazio to the Tyrrhenian Sea. It drains a basin estimated at...
and the Latin praenomen
Praenomen
The praenomen was a personal name chosen by the parents of a Roman child. It was first bestowed on the dies lustricus , the eighth day after the birth of a girl, or the ninth day after the birth of a boy...
Tiberius
Tiberius (praenomen)
Tiberius is a Latin praenomen, or personal name, which was used throughout Roman history. Although not especially common, it was used by both patrician and plebeian families. The feminine form is Tiberia. The name is usually abbreviated Ti., but occasionally Tib.For most of Roman history, Tiberius...
.
Virgil
Virgil
Publius Vergilius Maro, usually called Virgil or Vergil in English , was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He is known for three major works of Latin literature, the Eclogues , the Georgics, and the epic Aeneid...
in his Aeneid
Aeneid
The Aeneid is a Latin epic poem, written by Virgil between 29 and 19 BC, that tells the legendary story of Aeneas, a Trojan who travelled to Italy, where he became the ancestor of the Romans. It is composed of roughly 10,000 lines in dactylic hexameter...
makes Coras and the younger Catillus twin brothers and the leaders of military forces from Tibur aiding Turnus
Turnus
In Virgil's Aeneid, Turnus was the King of the Rutuli, and the chief antagonist of the hero Aeneas.-Biography:Prior to Aeneas' arrival in Italy, Turnus was the primary potential suitor of Lavinia, daughter of Latinus, King of the Latin people. Upon Aeneas' arrival, however, Lavinia is promised to...
.
From Etruscan times Tibur, a Sabine
Sabine
The Sabines were an Italic tribe that lived in the central Appennines of ancient Italy, also inhabiting Latium north of the Anio before the founding of Rome...
city, was the seat of the Tiburtine Sibyl
Tiburtine Sibyl
The Tiburtine Sibyl was a Roman sibyl, whose seat was the ancient Etruscan town of Tibur .The mythic meeting of Cæsar Augustus with the Sibyl, of whom he inquired whether he should be worshiped as a god, was a favored motif of Christian artists. Whether the sibyl in question was the Etruscan Sibyl...
. There are two small temples above the falls, the rotunda traditionally associated with Vesta
Vesta (mythology)
Vesta was the virgin goddess of the hearth, home, and family in Roman religion. Vesta's presence was symbolized by the sacred fire that burned at her hearth and temples...
and the rectangular one with the Sibyl of Tibur, whom Varro
Marcus Terentius Varro
Marcus Terentius Varro was an ancient Roman scholar and writer. He is sometimes called Varro Reatinus to distinguish him from his younger contemporary Varro Atacinus.-Biography:...
calls Albunea
Albunea
Albunea, the Tiburtine Sibyl, was in Roman mythology a prophetic nymph or Sibyl, a naiad who lived in the sulfuric spring near Tibur , with a well and a temple. Near it was the oracle of Faunus Fatidicus. Lactantius states that the tenth Sibyl, called Albunea, was worshiped at Tibur, and that her...
, the water nymph who was worshipped on the banks of the Anio as a tenth Sibyl added to the nine mentioned by the Greek writers. In the nearby woods, Faunus
Faunus
In ancient Roman religion and myth, Faunus was the horned god of the forest, plains and fields; when he made cattle fertile he was called Inuus. He came to be equated in literature with the Greek god Pan....
had a sacred grove. During the Roman age
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
Tibur maintained a certain importance, being on the way (the Via Tiburtina
Via Tiburtina
Via Tiburtina is an ancient road in Italy leading east-northeast from Rome to Tivoli . It was built by the Roman consul Marcus Valerius Maximus around 286 BC and later lengthened to the territories of the Marsi and the Equi, in the Abruzzo, as Via Valeria. Its total length was approximately...
, extended as the Via Valeria
Via Valeria
The Via Valeria was an ancient Roman road of Italy, the continuation north-eastwards of the Via Tiburtina. It probably owed its origin to Marcus Valerius Messalla, censor in 154 BC...
) that Romans had to follow to cross the mountain regions of the Apennines
Apennine mountains
The Apennines or Apennine Mountains or Greek oros but just as often used alone as a noun. The ancient Greeks and Romans typically but not always used "mountain" in the singular to mean one or a range; thus, "the Apennine mountain" refers to the entire chain and is translated "the Apennine...
towards the Abruzzo
Abruzzo
Abruzzo is a region in Italy, its western border lying less than due east of Rome. Abruzzo borders the region of Marche to the north, Lazio to the west and south-west, Molise to the south-east, and the Adriatic Sea to the east...
, the region where lived some of its fiercest enemies such as Volsci
Volsci
The Volsci were an ancient Italic people, well known in the history of the first century of the Roman Republic. They then inhabited the partly hilly, partly marshy district of the south of Latium, bounded by the Aurunci and Samnites on the south, the Hernici on the east, and stretching roughly from...
, Sabini and Samnites.
Roman age
History of Rome
The history of Rome spans 2,800 years of the existence of a city that grew from a small Italian village in the 9th century BC into the centre of a vast civilisation that dominated the Mediterranean region for centuries. Its political power was eventually replaced by that of peoples of mostly...
, Tibur allied itself with the Gauls
Gauls
The Gauls were a Celtic people living in Gaul, the region roughly corresponding to what is now France, Belgium, Switzerland and Northern Italy, from the Iron Age through the Roman period. They mostly spoke the Continental Celtic language called Gaulish....
in 361 BC. Vestiges remain of its defensive walls of this period, in opus quadrata. In 338 BC, however, Tibur was defeated and absorbed by the Romans. The city acquired Roman citizenship in 90 BC and became a resort area famed for its beauty and its good water, and was enriched by many Roman villa
Roman villa
A Roman villa is a villa that was built or lived in during the Roman republic and the Roman Empire. A villa was originally a Roman country house built for the upper class...
s. The most famous one, of which the ruins remain, is the Villa Adriana (Hadrian's Villa
Hadrian's Villa
The Hadrian's Villa is a large Roman archaeological complex at Tivoli, Italy.- History :The villa was constructed at Tibur as a retreat from Rome for Roman Emperor Hadrian during the second and third decades of the 2nd century AD...
). Maecenas and Augustus
Augustus
Augustus ;23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14) is considered the first emperor of the Roman Empire, which he ruled alone from 27 BC until his death in 14 AD.The dates of his rule are contemporary dates; Augustus lived under two calendars, the Roman Republican until 45 BC, and the Julian...
also had villas at Tibur, and the poet Horace
Horace
Quintus Horatius Flaccus , known in the English-speaking world as Horace, was the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus.-Life:...
had a modest villa: he and Catullus
Catullus
Gaius Valerius Catullus was a Latin poet of the Republican period. His surviving works are still read widely, and continue to influence poetry and other forms of art.-Biography:...
and Statius
Statius
Publius Papinius Statius was a Roman poet of the 1st century CE . Besides his poetry in Latin, which include an epic poem, the Thebaid, a collection of occasional poetry, the Silvae, and the unfinished epic, the Achilleid, he is best known for his appearance as a major character in the Purgatory...
all mention Tibur in their poems. In 273, Zenobia
Zenobia
Zenobia was a 3rd-century Queen of the Palmyrene Empire in Roman Syria. She led a famous revolt against the Roman Empire. The second wife of King Septimius Odaenathus, Zenobia became queen of the Palmyrene Empire following Odaenathus' death in 267...
, the captive queen of Palmyra
Palmyra
Palmyra was an ancient city in Syria. In the age of antiquity, it was an important city of central Syria, located in an oasis 215 km northeast of Damascus and 180 km southwest of the Euphrates at Deir ez-Zor. It had long been a vital caravan city for travellers crossing the Syrian desert...
, was assigned a residence here by the Emperor Aurelian
Aurelian
Aurelian , was Roman Emperor from 270 to 275. During his reign, he defeated the Alamanni after a devastating war. He also defeated the Goths, Vandals, Juthungi, Sarmatians, and Carpi. Aurelian restored the Empire's eastern provinces after his conquest of the Palmyrene Empire in 273. The following...
. The 2nd-century temple of Hercules Victor is being excavated. The present Piazza del Duomo occupies the Roman forum.
In 547, in the course of the Gothic War
Gothic War (535–552)
The Gothic War between the Eastern Roman Empire and the Ostrogothic Kingdom of Italy was fought from 535 until 554 in Italy, Dalmatia, Sardinia, Sicily and Corsica. It is commonly divided into two phases. The first phase lasted from 535 to 540 and ended with the fall of Ravenna and the apparent...
, the city was fortified by the Byzantine general Belisarius
Belisarius
Flavius Belisarius was a general of the Byzantine Empire. He was instrumental to Emperor Justinian's ambitious project of reconquering much of the Mediterranean territory of the former Western Roman Empire, which had been lost less than a century previously....
, but was later destroyed by Totila
Totila
Totila, original name Baduila was King of the Ostrogoths from 541 to 552 AD. A skilled military and political leader, Totila reversed the tide of Gothic War, recovering by 543 almost all the territories in Italy that the Eastern Roman Empire had captured from his Kingdom in 540.A relative of...
's army. After the end of the war it became a Byzantine duchy, later absorbed into the Patrimony of St. Peter
Papal States
The Papal State, State of the Church, or Pontifical States were among the major historical states of Italy from roughly the 6th century until the Italian peninsula was unified in 1861 by the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia .The Papal States comprised territories under...
. After Italy was conquered by Charlemagne
Charlemagne
Charlemagne was King of the Franks from 768 and Emperor of the Romans from 800 to his death in 814. He expanded the Frankish kingdom into an empire that incorporated much of Western and Central Europe. During his reign, he conquered Italy and was crowned by Pope Leo III on 25 December 800...
, Tivoli was under the authority of a count, representing the emperor.
Middle Ages
From the 10th century onwards Tivoli, as an independent commune governed by its elected consuls, was the fiercest rival of Rome in the struggle for the control over the impoverished central Lazio. Emperor Otto IIIOtto III, Holy Roman Emperor
Otto III , a King of Germany, was the fourth ruler of the Saxon or Ottonian dynasty of the Holy Roman Empire. He was elected King in 983 on the death of his father Otto II and was crowned Holy Roman Emperor in 996.-Early reign:...
conquered it in 1001, and Tivoli fell under the papal
Papal States
The Papal State, State of the Church, or Pontifical States were among the major historical states of Italy from roughly the 6th century until the Italian peninsula was unified in 1861 by the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia .The Papal States comprised territories under...
control. Tivoli however managed to keep a level of independence until the 15th century: symbols of the city's strength were the Palace of Arengo, the Torre del Comune and the church of St. Michael, all built in this period, as well as the new line of walls (authorized in 1155), needed to house the increasing population. Reminders of the internal turbulence of communal life are the tower houses that may be seen in Vicolo dei Ferri, Via Postera, Via del Seminario and Via del Colle.
In the 13th century the Senate of Rome imposed a tribute on the city, and gave itself the right to appoint a count to govern it in conjunction with the local consuls. In the 14th century Tivoli sided with the Guelphs
Guelphs and Ghibellines
The Guelphs and Ghibellines were factions supporting the Pope and the Holy Roman Emperor, respectively, in central and northern Italy. During the 12th and 13th centuries, the split between these two parties was a particularly important aspect of the internal policy of the Italian city-states...
and strongly supported Urban VI
Pope Urban VI
Pope Urban VI , born Bartolomeo Prignano, was Pope from 1378 to 1389.-Biography:Born in Itri, he was a devout monk and learned casuist, trained at Avignon. On March 21, 1364, he was consecrated Archbishop of Acerenza in the Kingdom of Naples...
against Antipope Clement VII
Antipope Clement VII
Robert of Geneva was elected to the papacy as Pope Clement VII by the French cardinals who opposed Urban VI, and was the first Avignon antipope of the Western Schism.-Biography:...
. King Ladislaus of Sicily was twice repulsed from the city, as was the famous condottiero
Condottieri
thumb|Depiction of [[Farinata degli Uberti]] by [[Andrea del Castagno]], showing a 15th century condottiero's typical attire.Condottieri were the mercenary soldier leaders of the professional, military free companies contracted by the Italian city-states and the Papacy, from the late Middle Ages...
Braccio da Montone
Braccio da Montone
frame|Braccio da Montone.Braccio da Montone , born Andrea Fortebracci, and also known as Braccio Fortebraccio, was an Italian condottiero.-Biography:...
.
Renaissance
During the RenaissanceRenaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
popes and cardinals did not limit their embellishment program to Rome, and erected buildings in Tivoli also. In 1461 Pope Pius II
Pope Pius II
Pope Pius II, born Enea Silvio Piccolomini was Pope from August 19, 1458 until his death in 1464. Pius II was born at Corsignano in the Sienese territory of a noble but decayed family...
built the massive Rocca Pia to control the always restive population, and as a symbol of the permanence of papal temporal power here.
From the 16th century the city saw further construction of villas. The most famous of these is the Villa d'Este
Villa d'Este
The Villa d'Este is a villa situated at Tivoli, near Rome, Italy. Listed as a UNESCO world heritage site, it is a fine example of Renaissance architecture and the Italian Renaissance garden.-History:...
, a World Heritage Site
World Heritage Site
A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a place that is listed by the UNESCO as of special cultural or physical significance...
, whose construction was started in 1549 by Pirro Ligorio
Pirro Ligorio
Pirro Ligorio was an Italian architect, painter, antiquarian and garden designer.-Biography:Ligorio was born in Naples. In 1534 he moved to Rome, where he developed his interest in antiquities, and was named superintendent to the ancient monuments by the Popes Pius IV and Paul IV...
for Cardinal Ippolito II d'Este
Ippolito II d'Este
Ippolito d'Este was an Italian cardinal and statesman. He was a member of the House of Este, and nephew of the other Ippolito d'Este, also a cardinal.-Biography:...
and which was richly decorated with an ambitious program of fresco
Fresco
Fresco is any of several related mural painting types, executed on plaster on walls or ceilings. The word fresco comes from the Greek word affresca which derives from the Latin word for "fresh". Frescoes first developed in the ancient world and continued to be popular through the Renaissance...
es by famous painters of late Roman Mannerism, such Livio Agresti
Livio Agresti
Livio Agresti , also called Ritius or Ricciutello, was an Italian painter of the late-Renaissance or Mannerist period, active both in his native city of Forlì and in Rome, where he died. He was one of the members of the "Forlì painting school"...
(a member of the "Forlì painting school
Forlì painting school
The Forlivese school of art was a group of Italian Renaissance painters and artists, a lot of them born in Forlì or near Forlì, between the 14th and the 18th centuries...
") or the Zuccari brothers. In 1527 Tivoli was sacked by bands of the supporters of the emperor
Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor
Charles V was ruler of the Holy Roman Empire from 1519 and, as Charles I, of the Spanish Empire from 1516 until his voluntary retirement and abdication in favor of his younger brother Ferdinand I and his son Philip II in 1556.As...
and the Colonna, important archives being destroyed during the attack. In 1547 it was again occupied, by the Duke of Alba in a war against Paul IV
Pope Paul IV
Pope Paul IV, C.R. , né Giovanni Pietro Carafa, was Pope from 23 May 1555 until his death.-Early life:Giovanni Pietro Carafa was born in Capriglia Irpina, near Avellino, into a prominent noble family of Naples...
, and in 1744 by the Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
ns.
In 1835 Pope Gregory XVI
Pope Gregory XVI
Pope Gregory XVI , born Bartolomeo Alberto Cappellari, named Mauro as a member of the religious order of the Camaldolese, was Pope of the Catholic Church from 1831 to 1846...
added the Villa Gregoriana
Villa Gregoriana
Villa Gregoriana is a park located in Tivoli, Italy.The park, located at the feet of the city's ancient acropolis was commissioned by Pope Gregory XVI in 1835 to rebuild the bed of the Aniene River, which had been damaged by the flood of 1826. Since ancient times, the river formed a wide curve...
, a villa complex pivoting around the Aniene's falls. These were created through a tunnel in the Monte Catillo, to give an outlet to the waters of the Aniene sufficient to preserve the city from inundations like the devastating flood of 1826.
Modern times
In 1944 Tivoli suffered heavy damage under an AlliedAllies of World War II
The Allies of World War II were the countries that opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War . Former Axis states contributing to the Allied victory are not considered Allied states...
bombing, which totally destroyed the Jesuit Church of Jesus. Tivoli's reputation as a stylish resort and the fame of the gardens of the Villa d'Este have inspired the naming of other sites after Tivoli.
The Wörlitz Synagogue
Wörlitz Synagogue
The Wörlitz Synagogue is a synagogue built in 1790 by order of Duke Leopold III of Anhalt-Dessau. It is located within the Dessau-Wörlitz Garden Realm, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2000....
in the Dessau-Wörlitz Garden Realm
Dessau-Wörlitz Garden Realm
The Dessau-Wörlitz Garden Realm, also known as the English Grounds of Wörlitz, is one of the first and largest English parks in Germany and continental Europe...
is a replica of the Temple of Vesta at Tivoli.
Climate
Tivoli has a Mediterranean climateMediterranean climate
A Mediterranean climate is the climate typical of most of the lands in the Mediterranean Basin, and is a particular variety of subtropical climate...
with warm and dry summers and cool and wet winters.
Economy
Tivoli's quarries produce travertineTravertine
Travertine is a form of limestone deposited by mineral springs, especially hot springs. Travertine often has a fibrous or concentric appearance and exists in white, tan, and cream-colored varieties. It is formed by a process of rapid precipitation of calcium carbonate, often at the mouth of a hot...
, a particular white calcium-carbonate
Calcium carbonate
Calcium carbonate is a chemical compound with the formula CaCO3. It is a common substance found in rocks in all parts of the world, and is the main component of shells of marine organisms, snails, coal balls, pearls, and eggshells. Calcium carbonate is the active ingredient in agricultural lime,...
rock used in building most Roman monuments. The water power of the falls supplies some of the electricity that lights Rome. The slopes of the neighbouring hills are covered with olives, vineyards and gardens; the most important local industry is the manufacture of paper.
Main sights
- Villa Adriana, part of the UNESCOUNESCOThe United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
World Heritage siteWorld Heritage SiteA UNESCO World Heritage Site is a place that is listed by the UNESCO as of special cultural or physical significance...
list from 1999. - Villa d'EsteVilla d'EsteThe Villa d'Este is a villa situated at Tivoli, near Rome, Italy. Listed as a UNESCO world heritage site, it is a fine example of Renaissance architecture and the Italian Renaissance garden.-History:...
, part of the UNESCO World Heritage site list since 2001. - Villa GregorianaVilla GregorianaVilla Gregoriana is a park located in Tivoli, Italy.The park, located at the feet of the city's ancient acropolis was commissioned by Pope Gregory XVI in 1835 to rebuild the bed of the Aniene River, which had been damaged by the flood of 1826. Since ancient times, the river formed a wide curve...
- Rocca Pia, a 15th century fortress built in 1461 under Pope Pius II to counter the urban strifes between the ColonnaColonna familyThe Colonna family is an Italian noble family; it was powerful in medieval and Renaissance Rome, supplying one Pope and many other Church and political leaders...
and Orsini. - Temple of VestaTemple of Vesta, TivoliThe "Temple of Vesta" is a Roman temple in Tivoli, Italy, dating to the early 1st century BC. Its ruins sit on the acropolis of the city, overlooking the falls of the Aniene that are now included in the Villa Gregoriana....
. - Temple of "Tiburtine Sibyl" (true dedication unknown). It was built in the 2nd century BC on an artificial platform in the acropolis. Characterized by Ionic columnsIonic orderThe Ionic order forms one of the three orders or organizational systems of classical architecture, the other two canonic orders being the Doric and the Corinthian...
(only two of which remain today), it measures 15.90 x 9.15 m. The interior was decorated by frescoes and stuccoes, now lost. A church, dedicated to St. George, is known to have existed in the temple from as early as 978 AD. - Sanctuary of Hercules the Winner (2nd century BC). Now in ruins, it was one of the largest structures in central Italy at the time, and was located outside the ancient city, across the road leading to SamniumSamniumSamnium is a Latin exonym for a region of south or south and central Italy in Roman times. The name survives in Italian today, but today's territory comprising it is only a small portion of what it once was. The populations of Samnium were called Samnites by the Romans...
. Measuring 188 x 140 m, it included a theater, a large porticoed square and the temple. It was reached through a series of terraces, in a similar fashion to the Sanctuary of Fortuna Primigenia in PalestrinaPalestrinaPalestrina is an ancient city and comune with a population of about 18,000, in Lazio, c. 35 km east of Rome...
. The sanctuary also housed one of the more frequented council of musicians in Roman Italy. - Cathedral of St. Lawrence (Duomo, rebuilt in 1635–40).
- Roman Temple of the Tosse, located near the Temple of Hercules and the Villa d'Este and dating perhaps to the early 4th century AD. It is a circular structure with a hole in the 12 m-diameter dome. In the 10th it was turned into a church dedicated to the Virgin Mary.