Bomarzo
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Bomarzo is a town and comune of Viterbo province (Lazio, central Italy), in the lower valley of the Tiber at 42°29N 12°15E, 263 m (863 ft) above sea‑level, with 1609 inhabitants according to the 2003 census.
It is the fief of the Orsini family whose castle is at the edge of the town; but Bomarzo's chief claim to fame is a garden usually referred to as the Bosco Sacro (Sacred Grove) or Bosco dei Mostri (Monsters' Grove), named for the many larger-than-life statues which populate this predominantly barren landscape. It is the work of Pier Francesco Orsini, Duke of Bomarzo (1528‑1588), a patron of the arts and greatly devoted to his wife Julia Farnese; when she died, he created the gardens. The design has been attributed to Pirro Ligorio, a well known architect of his day, he was working 60 km (35 miles) away in Rome, on the complex around the Villa Giulia, at the time: he might thus be responsible for the garden, but it is very much out of his style. However, Ligorio could very well be the architect of the small classical temple-like chapel in the garden. This open colonnaded structure is surmounted by a small domed tower.
To describe the complex as a garden might mislead the unwary; the park contains no pretty flower beds or sweeping lawns: instead one of Hannibal's elephants, larger than life, mangles a Roman soldier, a giant mermaid lounges incongruously on the bare ground — a vase of verdure perched on her head. Shelter from the blazing sun can be had by climbing a flight of steps into the mouth of a grotesque Giant's head carved from the living rock.
The many monstrous statues appear to be unconnected to any plan and appear to have been strewn almost randomly about the area. The reason for the layout and design of the garden is largely unknown: perhaps they were meant as a foil to the perfect symmetry and layout of the great Renaissance gardens nearby at Villa Farnese and Villa Lante.
During the 19th century and early 20th century the garden became overgrown and neglected, but in the mid‑20th century a program of restoration was implemented, and today the garden, which remains private property, is a major tourist attraction.
The surreal nature of the Parco dei Mostri greatly appealed to the great surrealist Salvador Dalí who discussed it at great length. Whatever the reason for its conception it is one of the most amazing sights, offering simultaneously the thrill of the startling with the unexplainable.
External links
- Gaither Stewart article (http://cyberitalian.com/html/gal_36.htm)
- Il parco dei Mostri di Bomarzo: Pegaso group article (http://digilander.libero.it/epiur/bomarzo.htm)
- Thayer's Gazetteer of the Lazio (http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Places/Europe/Italy/Lazio/Viterbo/Bomarzo/Bomarzo/home.html)it:Bomarzo