Villa Gregoriana

The Aniene repeatedly flooded Tivoli, and after a severe flood in 1826 Gregory XVI had two tunnels driven through Monte Catillo to divert the river; the water now emerges from them and falls about a hundred and twenty metres into the gorge, making the Grande Cascata an engineered waterfall. The park laid out around it in the 1830s is a Romantic landscape of paths, belvederes and grottoes descending steeply into the ravine, with the ruins of a Roman villa and two small temples on the rim above. It fell derelict in the twentieth century and was restored and reopened by FAI in 2005.

What you actually see

• The Grande Cascata - a 120-metre fall emerging from a bored tunnel.
• The gorge paths - a steep Romantic circuit with belvederes and grottoes.
• The Roman temples - two small temples on the rim above the ravine.
• The Sirens' grotto - a cave behind the smaller falls.

When to go

April to June and September to October; the descent is steep and slippery in rain. It closes for winter, roughly December to February. Flow is strongest after rain.

Honest expectations

The circuit is a steep descent and a hard climb back, with many steps and no shortcut. It closes for winter. Paths are slippery when wet.

Nearby

Villa d'Este is a short walk; Hadrian's Villa lies below the town.