Tivoli and surroundings - Discover the lands

Nearly a mile beneath the road to S.Gregorio, easily seen driving up the main Tiburtina Road, immediately after the so-called bend of "regresso" there are the ruins of yet another magnificent villa, built during the last part of the republican (and possibly also during the Augustan) period. This, too, was terraced and like that of Quintiliu Varus in an excellent position, overlooking the Lazio plain.

Bruto's Villa

Its main features are long, double crypto-porticoes grouped around a central area of several spacious rooms. Water played an important part in the design and we assume from the presence of a nearby acqueduct, slightly higher than the villa, that there were many fountains.
Like the many other Tibur houses of the late republicain period, the villa was built and susequently enlarged following current scenographic ideas.

Many Renaissance artists were inspired by the design of the villa e.g. Antonio Sangallo the Younger, who used the design as a basis for his plan of Villa Madama in Rome.