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Tivoli (Tibur in antiquity), is located in the hills twenty miles northeast of Rome. Its elevation made it a pleasant retreat from the stifling summer heat of the city and emperors and wealthy citizens built seasonal villas there.
Adding to Tivoli's picturesqueness and pleasantness was the presence of the Aniene, which flowed through a gorge dividing the town and then cascaded from the heights to the valley below. The waterfall that Piranesi depicted was severely depleted after 1834 when the Aniene was rerouted following a disastrous flood.