Villa d’Este, masterpiece of the Italian Garden, is included in the UNESCO world heritage list. Constructed in the 16th century, with its impressive concentration of fountains, nymphs, grottoes, plays of water, and music, it constitutes a much-copied model for European gardens in the mannerist and baroque styles.

The garden is generally considered within the larger context of Tivoli itself: its landscape, art and history which includes the important ruins of ancient villas such as the Villa Adriana. The imposing constructions and the series of terraces above terraces bring to mind the hanging gardens of Babylon. The addition of water — including an aqueduct tunneling beneath the city — evokes the engineering skill of the Romans themselves.

In the 18th century the lack of maintenance led to the decay of the complex, which was aggravated by the property’s passage to the House of Hapsburg. The garden was slowly abandoned, the water works fell into ruin, and the collection of ancient statues — enlarged under Cardinal Ippolito, was disassembled and scattered.

This state of decay continued without interruption until the middle of the 19th century, when Gustav von Hohelohe, launched a series of works to pull the complex back from its state of ruin. Between 1867 and 1882 the Villa once again became a cultural point of reference, with the Cardinal frequently hosting the musician Franz Liszt (1811 – 1886), who composed Giochi d’acqua a Villa d’Este for piano while a guest here, and who in 1879 gave one of his final concerts.

At the outbreak of the first world war the villa became a property of the Italian State, and during the 1920s it was restored and opened to the public. Another, radical restoration was carried out immediately after the Second World War to repair the damage caused by the bombing of 1944. Due to particularly unfavorable environmental conditions, the restorations have continued practically without interruption during the past twenty years.