Vatican Rome Tour Blog

Tivoli from Emperors to Cardinals

vaticanrometours@gmail.com (Max Parini) — Thu, 20 Aug 2020 10:16:08 GMT

A Day in Tivoli and its gardens from Rome

The foundation of Tivoli is much older than Rome and dates back to 1.215 BC. According to the myth, it was Catillo the Greek who created this small colony which in book VII of the Aeneid was defined as "Superbum". Certainly Tivoli today is known for the two Unesco heritage sites: Villa Adriana and Villa d'Este, but few remember it for the Mausoleum of Plauti, immortalized by Ettore Roesler Franz, or for the so-called Temple of the Sibyl that dominates the ravine sculpted by the copious waterfall that the Aniene river has drawn, or for the tomb of the vestal Cossinia, or for the temple of Hercules so grandiose as to be compared in importance to the temple of Fortuna Primigenia of Palestrina and visited several times by the god Augustus during his reign .

Tivoli is the city where the man of letters and humanist Enea Silvio Piccolomini, who became Pope in 1,458 with the name of Pius II, had a defensive fortress built so imposing that it still dominates the landscape of the city center, a fortress whose name is precisely Pia. in his honour. Four of the aqueducts of Rome pass through Tivoli and the abundance of water, the amenity of the place, the presence of springs of sulphurous waters convinced the emperor Hadrian that Tivoli was the best place to live there and give vent to his talent as an architect, in the meantime, keeping away from the Senate of Rome, the first cause of the "premature" death of many of his fellow emperors.

The villa recreated on a scale the places and towns that most left their mark on Hadrian's cultured sensibility: the Serapeum and the Canopus recalled Egypt; the Pecile recalled Athens and Greece; the academy, the Greek and Latin theater, Roccabruna generally recalled all the suggestions received in the many journeys he made in his twenty-one years of reign. Twenty-one years spent traveling to get to know the empire to the most hidden passages, to know its peoples, to listen to their voices, to quell where necessary, revolts like that of the Jews between 132 AD. and 135 A.D. to secure the borders by building works such as the Wall in Britain.

A man who made his residence in Tivoli the materialization of a universalistic idea of Rome as a dispenser of order, peace and culture, which was opposed by the senators, who harbored strong resentments against a prince who held power firmly in his hands isolating what remained of the Senate, that is the ancient memory of an integrity no longer worthily represented by its members. Adriano loved culture in all its forms, he loved mystery religions and magical-religious practices that evoked life after death, so in his villa he created monuments that astronomically oriented, on particular days of the year, produced surreal games of light evoking, for example, the return of Osiris from the underworld.

Why did Osiris and Isis arouse the emperor's religious interest? Osiris, the civilizer and benefactor king of archaic Egypt, drowned in the Nile because of his evil brother Seth who dismembered his body, but Isis brought him back to life thanks to her magical arts and Osiris became the god of the kingdom of the dead. The death by drowning of Antinous in the Nile led Hadrian to associate Antinous with Osiris, so much so that he represented him as the Egyptian god and dedicated a shrine to him in the Villa Adriana called Antinoeion, identified only during the excavations in 2002. It is believed to have identified an exedra that it circumscribed the area in the center of which was placed the obelisk of the Pincio dedicated to Antinous, obelisk "watched over" by two temples compared to each other and dedicated to Osiris and his son Harpocrates. According to recent studies, on the days of the solstice the sun lined up along the temples and the obelisk cast its shadow, perhaps, on the tomb of Antinous

Make the most of the season by following these simple guidelines

ogudmundsson@tripadvisor.com (Sindri Traustason) — Wed, 25 Sep 2019 12:54:22 GMT

The new season is a great reason to make and keep resolutions. Whether it’s eating right or cleaning out the garage, here are some tips for making and keeping resolutions.

Make a list

Lists are great ways to stay on track. Write down some big things you want to accomplish and some smaller things, too.

Check the list regularly

Don’t forget to check in and see how you’re doing. Just because you don’t achieve the big goals right away doesn’t mean you’re not making progress.

Reward yourself

When you succeed in achieving a goal, be it a big one or a small one, make sure to pat yourself on the back.

Think positively

Positive thinking is a major factor in success. So instead of mulling over things that didn’t go quite right, remind yourself of things that did.

Keep in touch with site visitors and boost loyalty

ogudmundsson@tripadvisor.com (Sindri Traustason) — Wed, 25 Sep 2019 12:54:22 GMT

There are so many good reasons to communicate with site visitors. Tell them about sales and new products or update them with tips and information.

Here are some reasons to make blogging part of your regular routine.

Blogging is an easy way to engage with site visitors

Writing a blog post is easy once you get the hang of it. Posts don’t need to be long or complicated. Just write about what you know, and do your best to write well.

Show customers your personality

When you write a blog post, you can really let your personality shine through. This can be a great tool for showing your distinct personality.

Blogging is a terrific form of communication

Blogs are a great communication tool. They tend to be longer than social media posts, which gives you plenty of space for sharing insights, handy tips and more.

It’s a great way to support and boost SEO

Search engines like sites that regularly post fresh content, and a blog is a great way of doing this. With relevant metadata for every post so search engines can find your content.

Drive traffic to your site

Every time you add a new post, people who have subscribed to it will have a reason to come back to your site. If the post is a good read, they’ll share it with others, bringing even more traffic!

Blogging is free

Maintaining a blog on your site is absolutely free. You can hire bloggers if you like or assign regularly blogging tasks to everyone in your company.

A natural way to build your brand

A blog is a wonderful way to build your brand’s distinct voice. Write about issues that are related to your industry and your customers.

Tips for writing great posts that increase your site traffic

ogudmundsson@tripadvisor.com (Sindri Traustason) — Wed, 25 Sep 2019 12:54:21 GMT

Write about something you know. If you don’t know much about a specific topic that will interest your readers, invite an expert to write about it.

Speak to your audience

You know your audience better than anyone else, so keep them in mind as you write your blog posts. Write about things they care about. If you have a company Facebook page, look here to find topics to write about

Take a few moments to plan your post

Once you have a great idea for a post, write the first draft. Some people like to start with the title and then work on the paragraphs. Other people like to start with subtitles and go from there. Choose the method that works for you.

Don’t forget to add images

Be sure to include a few high-quality images in your blog. Images break up the text and make it more readable. They can also convey emotions or ideas that are hard to put into words.

Edit carefully before posting

Once you’re happy with the text, put it aside for a day or two, and then re-read it. You’ll probably find a few things you want to add, and a couple more that you want to remove. Have a friend or colleague look it over to make sure there are no mistakes. When your post is error-free, set it up in your blog and publish.