The Cardinal Ippolito II d'Este

He took possession of his Office the 9th September 1550, while the guns of Rocca Pia greeted him and the most important citizens welcomed him enthusiastically. As a man accustomed with the pomp, the magnificence and the wealth of the Courts, he could not accept to live in a palace of Government obtained from an austere Convent of friars. Moreover, this does not agree with his plans. Then he decided to build a villa in the country, similar to the huge palace he was already building in Rome, in Monte Giordano.

Family d'Este's symbol

The two magnificent residences had to serve: one to give parties for his precious urban friends, the other to offer a pleasant rural stay that permitted longer and more comfortable talks. Ippolito II used to think slowly but he used to decide quickly, as the best of the best diplomats. In this way, Villa d'Este was born in a place called: "Valle Gaudente", which means "The pleasure Valley".

Ippolito II died, after a short disease in 1572, assisted only from his servants. In his last days, he was really disgusted by the plots laid against him and by the political affairs, which went badly for him. He was buried in the Church of Santa Maria Maggiore of Tivoli, near the Villa he had really loved.