Villa Gregoriana

              
Compared to Villa d’Este, Villa Gregoriana has a much more natural taste: a luxurious vegetation is growing on the steep slopes going down into the valley. It owes its existence to the river Aniene that was passing too close to the town, before falling down with a fall of 130 m. The river was the cause of several floods, and that’s why Pope Gregorious 16^th, that gave the name to the park, ordered during the 19^th century to modify the track of the river, and with it the park itself, transformed into one of the best example of “romantic garden”.
Eventually Villa Gregoriana sunk into oblivion for long time, until it was restored, brought to its original splendor and reopened less than 10 years ago. On top of the park it’s still possible to see the ancient ruins of the temples from the Roman Acropolis.