Villa d'este is a Villa in Tivoli, Rome, a UNESCO world Cultural Heritage site and a fine example of Renaissance architecture.

The Villa was erected by order of cardinal Ippolito II d'este, son of Alfonso I d'este and Lucrezia Borgia and grandson of Pope Alexander VI. Ippolito was appointed Governor of Tivoli by Pope Julius III, who also gave him the gift of a Palace. The Palace was completely reconstructed according to the project Pirro Ligorio and under the strict supervision of the architect Alberto Galvani, court architect of the este family. Over the inner decorations of the Villa worked Livio Agresti from Forli. For two decades (at 1550 1572 years) cardinal d'este turned the Villa into a magnificent residence surrounded by lush hanging garden in the late Renaissance style. Creation of the garden required the use of the latest innovations of the time in the water, what was done with the help of the cascades, tanks, troughs and pools, water jets and fountains. In the end, Villa d'este has become one of the most outstanding buildings of the 17th century in the Roman Campaign, along with the Villa Lante, Villa Farnese in Caprarola, Villa Aldobrandini and Villa Torlonia in Frascati. Like the hanging gardens were created over the next two centuries across Europe — from Portugal to Poland. Interestingly, the inspiration for the cardinal d'este was nearby Hadrian's Villa — the residence of the ruler of the Roman Empire. From there were taken many marble statues, which was decorated with a cardinal's Villa.

In 1605 cardinal Alessandro d'este held the extension of the garden, and in the 18th century Villa and the surrounding territory became property of the house of Habsburg (Ercole III d'este bequeathed the ownership of his daughter Maria Beatrice, married the Austrian Archduke Ferdinand Karl). Later luxury Villa and the garden were abandoned, the hydraulic system fell into disrepair, and many ancient statues were dismantled and taken to different places. The period of decline immortalized in the work of Franz Liszt, who gave the Villa d'este one of his last concerts.

After the First world war the Villa d'este was purchased by the government of Italy, restored and decorated with furniture and furnishings from the vaults of the National Gallery (Rome). Today the Villa houses the Museum of ancient books devoted to the study and preservation of antique publications.