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Located in the hill town of Tivoli, the Villa d’Este commands stunning views of the Lazio region of Italy. The Renaissance villa, commissioned by Cardinal d’Este in the 16th century, is most notable for its garden, which has a myriad of astonishing water features. Containing over 1,000 spouts, almost every vista in the garden includes some form of aquatic element. The most famous of these features, the Fontana dell’Organo Idraulico, is a Baroque fountain and niche. Almost defying description, this fountain contains a hydraulically powered organ that has recently been completely restored.
One of the most intriguing aspects of the Villa d’Este garden is that the water for the fountains is entirely supplied by an aqueduct system through simple engineering principles of gravity and hydrostatic pressure.
Additionally, the water from the Villa d’Este is instead channeled back into an irrigation system that provides water to the entire valley below. The hydraulic scheme of the Villa d’Este, while intricate and enthralling, is not uncommon to Italian gardens of this period. Virtually all Renaissance and Baroque villas, including the Palazzo Corsini, received their water supply using the same aqueduct-based gravity system. The Scala d’Acqua is still supplied by this method, although age and subsequent deterioration has slowed down the flow of water through the system.
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