This charming architectural grotto is the way from the Villa d'Este into its world famous gardens, which cascade down the mountain side in 100 fountains.

Persephone's fountain is in disrepair, but its plaza offers wonderful views over the gardens and the countryside, and lets you get close to Little Rome. 

On a clearer day it would have been possible to see Rome  from here.  This fountain, one of hundreds at Villa d'Este in Tivoli, is a pastiche of the sights of the Eternal City in the early 18th century.

The Fountain of the Dragons is the most elegant of the large fountains in the gardens at Villa d'Este.  And the most intimate.  When I was there the stairs at the sides were closed, and the little waterways next to them were dry, but the luxurious...

The fish ponds are the formal center of the word famous gardens at this lavish 17th-18th century villa in the mountains east of Rome.  This stereoscopic 3D view was taken on 20 June 2017.

These ancient cypress trees, dead or nearly so, are still very impressive.  They must once have been truly magnificent.   Taken June 20 2017.

The biggest fountain at Villa d'Este, the famous 16th century palace in Tivoli,  incorporates parts of a cascade designed by the great 18th centrury sculptor Gian Lorenzo Bernini.  The present mammoth jets, designed by architect Attilio Rossi, wer...

The Fountain of the Dragons was the centerpiece of the original 16th century water garden at Villa d'Este. It reached its present form in the mid-17th century. Its iconographic theme is the legend of the labors of Hercules.