The Angevine-Aragonese castle of Gallipoli dates back to the 13th-14th centuries, but the town used to have a stronghold already during Roman time, together with towers enlarged by the Byzantines and by the Normans. The Angevins and the Aragonese modified the structure of the fortress, but Francesco di Giorgio Martini was the one who made important changes. During the 19th century the moat was filled up and the arches which used to support the lift bridge were filled in.
The fortress has a square base strengthened by the four towers. The tower Vedetta, topped by merlons, has a polygonal shape. The other towers are surrounded by a string course and are decorated with small arches. The eastern curtain, the Rivellino, is a fifth circular tower separated from the rest of the walls and has not been renovated yet. Inside it, there are large rooms with barrel and cross vaults.
References: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.