We know well as in the Gardens of the Villa d'Este there is a great number of fountains that could be stranges, imaginatives, curious, monumental or small. Fountains that embellish the gardens making them unique. Let us never forget, however, as we are not very far from Rome, and how Rome, with its load of history and ancient culture, has always been a sort of model, in one way or another.

From this concept arises the so-called Fountain of the Rometta, conceived by the architect of the Este family of that time, Pirro Ligorio.  He was a tireless architect, a man who worked a lot in Rome, becoming the architect of confidence of pope Pius IV. However, in homage to Rome and the unbreakable relationship with Tivoli, where the villa of the family is located, Pirro Ligorio, decided to represent the Eternal City, transforming it into a sort of great nymphaeum, and eulogizing wonders and monuments through the stone and the water!

In the centre is a great channel to represent the Tiber river, with a boat (to symbolize the Tiber Island) in the middle. Behind and to the sides, although a part is now totally lost due to collapse or subsequent changes, we have small buildings that resemble ancient temples. Originally the Rometta Fountain had other representations in stone and the rock that depicted some of the buildings that have made the history of Rome, like the Arch of Constantine, but unfortunately much has been lost. And finally, dominating on the whole, a personification of the Goddess Roma at the center, by following the iconography of the roman. Remember as Pirro Ligorio in the first place, as well as architect, was also a great scholar and connoisseur of ancient Rome, so as to also publish a map with the name of "Antiquae Urbis Imago". It is a great idea, the ideal to represent the Caput Mundi by means of channels, rocks, and fountains. A proper homage to Rome, from the end of the XVI century...