Aerial view

The Villa Lante is formed by two casini (houses), nearly identical but built by different owners in a period separated by 30 years. It appears that work commenced in 1566 on the right-hand (as one enters) casino. It is thought that Gambara commissioned Vignola to design the project (the villa is only attributed to Vignola), and begin the work and the design of the gardens for which the villa was to become famous.

The gardens of the Villa Lante feature cascades, fountains and dripping grottoes. The visual and harmonious choreography of water and the mechanical perfection of its flow was only achieved after Tommaso Ghinucci, a hydraulics engineer and architect from Siena, was called in; it is thought that his role was to oversee the hydraulics and building work.

The Quadrato is a perfectly square parterre. The twin casini stand on one side, on the remaining three sides the garden is enclosed by high box hedges. The main feature of this parterre is the complex fountain at its centre, formed of four basins, separated by parapeted walks, the parapets decorated with stone pineapples and urns that intersect the water. At the heart of the complex, a centre basin contains the “Fontana dei Mori” by Giambologna.