Bucintoro
or upper Nymphaeum
The Upper Nymphaeum or Bucintoro, which owes its name to the state galley of the doges of Venice, is situated at the top of the hill overlooking Villa Della Torre and its vineyard. It is a cylindrical inner space covered by a cupola, which was to act as a collection point and water tank, the waters conveyed there in various ways by the Della Torre.
The architecture of the nymphaeum is solid and based on a circular plan, consisting of four sections of wall featuring alternating small and shallow and tall and deep recesses hosting niches, which support the curvature of the architrave. The architrave thus supports the cupola, made of irregular natural stones expertly joined together and connected in the center by a beautiful mask of Jupiter Ammon. The resulting recesses are occupied by seats, arranged around the central area in which the water fell. All the walls of the nymphaeum were encrusted with tuff, shells, corals, minerals, mother of pearls, and even now intriguing and evident signs of them still remain.
