WTI Magazine #74    2015 December 11
Author : Italian Botanical Heritage      Translation by:

Villa Gregoriana is named after Pope Gregory XVI, who inaugurated it on October 7, 1835. The park, located in scenic location at the foot of the Roman acropolis of Tivoli, is part of the Italian natural, historical and archaeological heritage, an environment in which coexist natural and artificial waterfalls, ravines, gorges and walks in vegetation. Through the lush nature, numerous finds of different genres and eras emerge; among them stand the remains of the Villa of the Roman consul Manlio Vopiscus, and over the Acropolis you can visit the temples of Vesta and Tiburno, from the second century BC.

In 2002 Villa Gregoriana was granted to FAI (Fondo Ambiente Italiano) for a restoration project, finished in 2005 when the Villa Gregoriana Park was reopened to the public. Paths and walkways go through the entire park, winding through dark glades and small galleries, somewhere becoming bleachers, guiding the visitor to discover different visions.

The big waterfall that characterizes the area, one of the highest in Italy, is formed by the river Aniene, that rushes for 120 meters. Following a path down along the waterfall you reach the "Iron Horse", a terrace protruding over the waterfall itself.

Another characteristic element is the "Stipa channel", used in the past during the floods as an outlet of the River Aniene. The "Neptune's Grotto" and the "Sirens' Grotto" have impressive chasms. The first partly collapsed in 1826, the second is full of stalactites and water flows in cascades.

Going up through the park we find the "Miollis tunnel", a small tunnel with windows carved by the French general Miollis in 1809. Inside the park were found a burial of the imperial past with historic monuments and gravestones, and ruins of the aqueduct that brought water Aniene in the Villa of Manlio Vopiscus.