Villa d'Este

Built in 1550 by Cardinal Ippolito II d'Este, the villa is a Renaissance treasure with wonderfully frescoed halls and rooms. Even if the splendor already begins from its exterior with the 35,000 square meters of gardens which are a representative masterpiece of the Italian Garden. The villa is famous for its artistic marvels and for the numerous water features, which evoke the genius of the Romans in the construction of aqueducts and architectural structures in which water is the protagonist together with stone. An impressive work by its designer, Pirro Ligorio, a real open-air show of nymphaea and suggestive fountains:Fontana del Bicchierone, Fontana di Europa, Fontana del Pegaso, Cento Fontane, Fontana dell'Ovato, Fontana dei Draghi, La Rometta , Fountain of Proserpina, Fountain of the Owl, Fountain of Neptune, Le Peschiere, Fountain of Ariadne, Fountains of Destinations, Fountain of Nature or Abundance, Fountains of the Rotonda dei Cipressi. Organ Fountain. Also worth visiting is the Grotta di Diana, which once housed statues of Amazons, Minerva and Diana the Huntress.