Antibes, France
13th century/1747
Nantes, France
1434
Narbonne, France
1272
Aix-en-Provence, France
12th century
Tours, France
1170-1547
Quimper, France
1239
Troyes, France
1198
Vannes, France
c. 1020
Orange, France
12th century
Toulouse, France
13th century
Senlis, France
1153
Beauvais, France
1225
Montpellier, France
1364
Angers, France
12th-13th centuries
Rennes, France
17th century
Bayonne, France
13th century
Poitiers, France
1162
Forcalquier, France
13th century
Arras, France
1833
Auxerre, France
1215-1233
The Villa d'Este is a 16th-century villa in Tivoli, near Rome, famous for its terraced hillside Italian Renaissance garden and especially for its profusion of fountains: the extraordinary system contains fifty-one fountains and nymphaeums, 398 spouts, 364 water jets, 64 waterfalls, and 220 basins, fed by 875 meters of canals, channels and cascades, and all working entirely by the force of gravity, without pumps. It is now an Italian state museum, and is listed as a UNESCO world heritage site.
Tivoli had been a popular summer residence since ancient Roman times due to its altitude, cooler temperatures and its proximity to the Villa Hadriana, the summer residence of the Emperor Hadrian I.
The Villa was commissioned by Cardinal Ippolito II d'Este (1509-1572), second son of Alfonso I d'Este, the Duke of Ferrara and grandson of Pope Alexander VI, along with Lucrezia Borgia.