Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The rich mannerist frescoes of the villa interior merit a glance, but it's the garden that
you're here for: water-spouting gargoyles and elaborate avenues lined with deep-green,
knotty cypresses. One fountain (designed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini) used its water pres-
sure to play an organ concealed in the top part of its structure, which plays regularly
throughout the day. Another highlight is the 130m-long path of the Hundred Fountains,
which joins the Fountain of Tivoli to the Fountain of Rome.
The villa is a two-minute walk north from Largo Garibaldi. Picnics are forbidden, but
there's a stylish cafe.
VILLA GREGORIANA
( 06 3996 7701;
www.villagregoriana.it
;
Piazza Tempio di Vesta; adult/child €5/2.50; 10am-6.30pm Tue-Sun
summer, to 2.30pm Tue-Sat, to 4pm Sun winter)
In 1826 the Aniene river overflowed its banks, carry-
ing away houses in the flood waters. As a result, Pope Gregory XVI ordered the river to
be diverted through a tunnel, creating a magnificent waterfall over a steep gorge, crashing
down 120m to the bottom of the canyon, known as the Cascata Grande (Great Waterfall).
The architects used the old riverbed, the gorge and the thickly wooded setting, full of
caves, ravines and archaeological fragments, to create the park of Villa Gregoriana.
PARK
SUBIACO & ST BENEDICT
St Benedict is generally regarded as the father of Western monasticism. Fleeing the vice that had so disgusted him
as a student in Rome, he sought the gloom of the grotto to meditate and pray. During this time he attracted a large
local following that eventually provoked the ire of his fellow friars and forced him onto the road.
Remote-feeling and dramatic, Subiaco is carved into the rock above the saint's former humble cave and well
worth the trip to see its wonderful monasteries and impressive abbey, with breathtaking views across the biblical-
seeming countryside. Apart from its stunning setting, described by Petrarch as 'the edge of Paradise', the
Monas-
tery of St Benedict
( 0774 8 50 39;
www.benedettini-subiaco.org
;
9am-12.30pm & 3-6pm ) is adorned
with rich 13th- to 15th-century frescoes. Halfway down the hill from St Benedict is the
Monastery of St Schol-
astica
( 0774 8 55 69;
www.benedettini-subiaco.org
;
9.30am-12.15pm & 3.30-6.15pm) , the only one of
the 13 monasteries built by St Benedict still standing in the Valley of the Amiene. It has a restaurant offering reas-
onably priced set menus.
To reach Subiaco, you can take a bus direct from Viale Mazzini in Tivoli (one hour, hourly). To get here from
Rome, take a Cotral bus to Subiaco's Piazza Falcone (1¼ hours, every 15 to 30 minutes Monday to Friday, less
frequently at weekends) from Ponte Mammolo on metro line B. The bus stops a little way from the Monastery of
St Scholastica - it's a 3km scenic, if demanding, uphill walk. Buy a 3-zone BIRG ticket (€8) to cover your jour-
ney there and back.
