You may not find this terribly rewarding unless you're included here, so this is a good time for casual and random browsers to turn back before they get too caught up in the sweep and majesty of the proceedings and can't let go.
Still another fine day dawns (though chillier), and we're off for a restorative toddle round town, with no particular goals or aims, or deadlines, in mind. How liberating.
And lo! here we are on the short Via Sante Viola, bound for the marketplace in the Piazza del Plebiscito.
With its massed floral displays, brightening everyone's day
Here's the Ponte Gregoriana again -- we're mad keen to investigate the other side of the river, in case it's really really interesting.
From the bridge, this is the view of the Sibyl and Vesta temples looming on the 'acropolis' over the old river course.
At this precise point in time, we're mapping out another visit down into the gorge, and with luck back out again, for tomorrow.
The Hotel Sirene jutting out on a point just past the bridge
The Ponte Gregoriana
And once past the end of it, a look back at it, from the Piazza Massimo, the other of the two piazze (like Rivarola) named for the church officials who spearheaded the reconstruction efforts after both sides of the river here were destroyed by the 1826 flood.
That's the present course of the river Aniene, hopefully not too embarrassed about what's become of it. This is taken from what is now the Parcheggio Piazza Massimo (viz. a modern carpark).
Tivoli is protected not only by its patron saint, St Lawrence or Lorenzo, and by Hercule Victor, but by a skeletal cast iron cross stuck up on the overlooking hilltop as well.
Here's the river Aniene
Virtually a lake penned up above the dam, with a trickly natural continuation on its old course, and . . .
. . . the double Gregorian Tunnels under Monte Catillo on the far side, inaugurated by the pope in 1835, diverting the river's course away from the downtown and 280 meters over to the other side of the gorge and the 'Great Waterfall'.
The entrance to the Parco Villa Gregoriana on this side of the gorge, where tomorrow we'll line up to acquire the inexpensive biglietti for our grand adventure. That's the zoomed Temple of the Sibyl on the far side of the gorge.
Looking down onto the former course of the river
The promontory of the 'acropolis' leading to the Sibyl and Vesta temples off to the right of the Sibilla hotel
The Ponte Gregoriana and the Piazza Rivarola on the far side
Walking back up the Via Palatina: the old civic tower with the travel agency in it, and off to the side . . .
. . . the Church of Saint Michael Archangel, dating back to the 12th century, now owned by the city and used for exhibitions and public events. It's a single Romanesque nave, restored in the 18th century, with traces of some frescoes and a small bell tower round the back. It's said to have 'acoustics and lighting that make every performance evocative'.
The street market in the Piazza del Plebiscito and, subsequently . . .
. . . the Choco Italia trade fair, with at least one . . .
. . . new customer.
The bell tower of the Church of Santa Maria Maggiore at the back of the church in the next square
A little souvenir shop with something that catches the eye, namely . . .
. . . just the right tee-shirt for a cat-fan grandson.
(I. e., an ailurophile)
The church of Santa Maria Maggiore, with on the right the modern entrance into the Villa d'Este
We've just got time for one last visit to the church before we have to leave Tivoli.
The icon of the Theotokos, Mother of God
A smattering of very neat stuff on the walls
Now we'll resume of memory-solidifying tour of the upper old town.
The Piazza Trento outside the Santa Maria Maggiore, with another café and another souvenir shop (and a lot of windows with the shutters on)
Leaving the Piazza Trento out to the Via della Missione again . . .
. . . passing the Fraschetta da Neno ('sandwich shop'), and continuing . . .
. . . our aimless strolling about
The central Via Trevio (with the Antica Trattoria del Falcone, which has apparently gone out of business)
Andy's ('men's urban wear')
We're lost again, but it's okay.
-- What's this then?
That's either a fancy restaurent or just how the other half lives.
Via Domenico Giuliani, with the back of the Chiesa di San Biagio at the end of the street
The monition on the garage door warns 'Tow Away Zone'
So this is the Palazzo Bandini-Piccolomini from the 16th century (Pius II Piccolomini, our favorite pope, was the one who commissioned the Rocco Pia, in the 15th century, up the hill a ways). A branch of the family, presumably.
Doorways
The 16th century Palazzetto Lolli
La Corniceria Galleria 90 ('art gallery') at Via Trevio 90
Dwight Peck's personal website
Feedback
and suggestions are welcome if positive, resented if negative, 
.
All rights reserved, all wrongs avenged. Posted 4 March 2025. 
