Tivoli, the classical Tibur, is an ancient Italian town in Lazio, about 30 km east-north-east of Rome, at the falls of the Aniene river where it issues from the Sabine hills. The city offers a wide view over the Roman Campagna.
Tivoli’s quarries produce travertine, a particular white calcium-carbonate rock used in building most Roman monuments. The water power of the falls supplies some of the electricity that lights Rome. The slopes of the neighbouring hills are covered with olives, vineyards and gardens; the most important local industry is the manufacture of paper.
Rocca Pia, a 15th-century fortress built in 1461 under Pope Pius II to counter the urban strifes between the Colonna and Orsini
Temple of Vesta
Temple of “Tiburtine Sibyl” (true dedication unknown). It was built in the 2nd century BC on an artificial platform in the acropolis. Characterized by Ionic columns (only two of which remain today), it measures 15.90 x 9.15 m. The interior was decorated by frescoes and stuccoes, now lost. A church, dedicated to St. George, is known to have existed in the temple from as early as 978 AD.
Sanctuary of Hercules the Winner (2nd century BC). Now in ruins, it was one of the largest structures in central Italy at the time, and was located outside the ancient city, across the road leading to Samnium. Measuring 188 x 140 m, it included a theater, a large porticoed square and the temple. It was reached through a series of terraces, in a similar fashion to the Sanctuary of Fortuna Primigenia in Palestrina. The sanctuary also housed one of the more frequented council of musicians in Roman Italy.
Cathedral of St. Lawrence (Duomo, rebuilt in 1635–40)
Roman Temple of the Tosse, located near the Temple of Hercules and the Villa d’Este and dating perhaps to the early 4th century AD. It is a circular structure with a hole in the 12 m-diameter dome. In the 10th it was turned into a church dedicated to the Virgin Mary.
