Just about 20 miles from the center of Rome, the small mountaintop town of Tivoli overlooks the whole of the Roman basin. From the promenade at Giardini Garibaldi, near the entrance to the center of town, you can take in a view of Rome in its entirety, with the famous St. Peter's Basilica poking out of the horizon like a small cake topper, the Tyrrhenian beach town of Ostia, and the small port city of Civitavecchia deeper in the distance.

The mini metropolis is something of a hot spot for these villas as, for centuries, Tivoli offered a respite from Rome's stultifying summertime heat. It was here, up in the mountains that surround the Eternal City, that the Roman elite sought cooler climates. Of course, Tivoli can still get brutally hot on a midsummer's day, which is when the streets empty, the shops mostly shutter, and the town enjoys a slumber for a few hours.