Italy - The Aniene valley and Villa Gregoriana in Tivoli

"The Tiburtino territory, characterized by a richness of its waters and a particular geomorphological conformation of the valley crossed by the Aniene River, was frequented already in very ancient times, as shown by the numerous remains of the first civilization that settled there during the Upper Paleolithic. In the caves near Ponte Lucano, along the travertine embankments on the right bank of the river, were found flint tools, deer bone fragments, and numerous objects decorated with geometric and animal figures made from river pebbles.

The Aniene River is the territory's most important stream; it originates at the boundary between the Latium and Abruzzo regions, in the Simbruini Mountains, unwinds through the valley to reach Tivoli and, after the drop in height over the large waterfall, arrives, through the Roman campagna (countryside), to Rome, where it flows into the Tiber. The abundance and continuity of the waters feeding it make the Aniene a river of a good capacity, used since ancient times to supply aqueducts. The river has always been an important economic resource for the town of Tivoli: navigable from Ponte Lucano, it was the main route for transporting travertine to Rome. In the Tivoli area, the production activities that settled in the territory, first handicrafts and then industry, exploited the energy supplied by the water for motive power. With the power supplied by the Aniene water drop, the first hydroelectric power plant was built at Acquoria and opened in 1886, making the town of Tivoli the first one in Italy to have electric lighting."

Source: UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List

Parco Villa Gregoriana Tivoli, Roma. Spectacular water villas. Thanks to Alessandro of Italy. Received August 2018.