The terrace of the temple commands a good view of the falls, which are formed by the waters of the Anio. A swift torrent, proceeding from the mountain heights, and leaping down a precipice at the village, constitutes the celebrated cascades of Tivoli, one of which is three hundred and forty feet in height. Visitors are conducted to various spots (on donkeys or on foot) whence they may be able to catch the finest glimpses of the rising spray, and also in order to visit the grottoes of Neptune and the Sibyl. The path is often precipitous, rough, and narrow, but the sight well repays the trouble of parading over so much ground. Le Cascatelle, or small falls, are formed by a branch of the Anio. The tunnels through MONTE CATILLO were cut in 1834, to divert the river, as when it followed the old course the town was frequently flooded; in fact, the inundation of 1826 rendered these new channels necessary. This flood exposed the remains of two ancient bridges and several tombs--the one higher up the river, PONS VALERIUS, and the other near the mouth of the tunnels, PONS VOPISCI, after the owner of the adjoining ancient villa. The VILLA OF MÆCENAS and TEMPLE OF HERCULES are now occupied by iron-works; in the garden are remains of a Doric portico. Below the iron-works is the so-called TEMPIO DELLA TOSSE, a circular building like the Pantheon, probably the tomb of the Turcia family. _Having seen the glen at Tivoli, take a donkey round the bank of the glen over the Ponte Acquoria to the Villa of Hadrian. Man and donkey, 4 lire._ HADRIAN'S VILLA (_Entrance, one lira_) stands on the slope of the heights of Tivoli, from which it is only thirty minutes' walk. It once covered an area of several square miles; and its magnificent grounds, unequalled in the Roman Empire, were laid out by Hadrian in order to assemble within them models of everything that had struck him during his travels, and accordingly they were filled with the finest statuary, palaces, temples, theatres, circuses, and academies. Some of the finest antique statues were found here under the popes. All this sumptuousness was destroyed in the sixth century by the Goths. Extensive ruins still exist. It is thus described by Pope Pius II.:-- "About the third of a mile from the city of Tivoli, the Emperor Hadrian built a very splendid villa, like a great village. The lofty and vast roofs of the temples still remain; the columns of the peristyles and sublime porticoes may yet be gazed at with admiration. There are still the remains of the piscinas and baths, where a canal derived from the Anio once cooled the summer heats. "Age deforms all things: the ivy now drapes those walls once covered with painted hangings and cloths woven with gold; thorns and brambles have grown where purple-clothed tribunes sat; and snakes inhabit the chambers of queens. Thus perishable is the nature of all things mortal." [Illustration: PLAN OF HADRIAN'S VILLA AT TIVOLI] [Illustration: VILLA OF HADRIAN.]