San Clemente Villas By The Sea

If you're in the market for a European tourist destination, you should consider the Latium region of central western Italy on the Tyrrhenian Sea. Latium, also known as Laszio, is the region that includes Rome capital of Italy, the Eternal City. Because it is so easy to find articles describing the multiple pleasures of Rome, we will write about lesser-known attractions of Latium. This article focuses on Lazio of Rome. Another article describes the west of Rome Lazio.

We'll start our tour Tivoli about 22 miles (35 kilometers) north-east of Rome. We'll northbound at Subiaco. We'll double back to Palestrina, which lies south and slightly east of Tivoli. Then it is south of Ninfa and Sermoneta before heading south-east of Sperlonga, on the coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea. We'll head back north-west along the coast to finish our walk at Anzio. You can continue northwest along the coast of Ostia Antica, the port city of ancient Rome, which is not described in this article.

Tivoli is famous as the site of Hadrian s Villa, a retirement not so much for a getaway from Rome s most famous emperors, built in the early second century. During the last years of his reign, the empire was in this villa. The site receives more than one square kilometer (250 acres) and contains more than thirty buildings, some of which are still to be excavated. Much of this villa decorations and statues are found in the Vatican Museums. Hadrian loved the dome on an Egyptian temple called Serapeum and transplanted from conception to his villa. A prominent architect of the day begged to differ, comparing the design of Hadrian in a pumpkin. Can you guess how this story ends? Villa of Hadrian is a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. Unfortunately part of the site is on the World Monuments Watch 100 Most Endangered Sites list. You can identify this villa of the HBO film series, Angels in America.

Villa d Este is another World Heritage Site by UNESCO in Tivoli. It is a beautiful water garden, reminiscent of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. This house was founded in the mid-sixteenth century by Cardinal Ippolito d'Este of the son of Lucrezia Borgia, after not being chosen as pope in a conclave of long duration. His loss has been the world's gain. Just to give you an idea of its scope, one of the ways is called Avenue of One Hundred Fountains. Make sure you visit the Fontana di Rome, a model of ancient Rome, demolished, but partially rebuilt.

The City of Subiaco, the population of about ten miles, is the site of the Roman Emperor Nero's villa, in competition with the villa of Hadrian, built decades later. However, the villa of Nero is in ruins. You can see the ruins on the way to the cave where St. Benedict lived for many years and founded its sixth-century monastery, which is still standing today. The monastery contains many frescoes, some more than a thousand years. The nearby abbey was the site of the first printing of Italy, founded in 1464. You can imagine the contents of his library.

Palestrina, whose population of about 18,000, was settled in the seventh or eighth century BC under the name of Palestrina. Like many cities, near Rome, the tombs often contain Etruscan objects. About two thousand years this area was a favorite resort of wealthy Romans who mock the uneducated locals. The ancient town of Palestrina contained the Temple of Fortuna Primigenia, one of the largest temple complexes in the ancient world. Fortuna is the goddess of fertility, abundance and success. People came from near and far to pray for his good graces.

You'll also want to see the seventeenth century Palazzo Barberini (Barberini Palace) housing the Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Palestrina (Palestrina Nation Arc.