Sacro Bosco di Bomarzo

VISITING THE SACRED GROVE OF BOMARZO AND ITS SURROUNDINGS

Discover the extraordinary secrets of the “Park of Monsters” with our selected guides.

The tour can be tailored to your group’s needs.

DINING IN BOMARZO

Our group proposal for a lunch or tasting in Bomarzo: a farmhouse in the Bomarzo and Monti Cimini area — a dip into the cuisine of Tuscia before or after a visit to the Park of Monsters.

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THE GROVE OF BOMARZO

A one-of-a-kind work, the Villa of Wonders — better known as the Sacred Grove, often called the Park of Monsters.

The Grove of Bomarzo was designed by the architect and antiquarian Pirro Ligorio, commissioned by Prince Pier Francesco Orsini in 1547. There is no certainty about its purpose or a universal interpretation of the garden. It has been suggested that it might be an attempt to represent a synthesis of Greek, Hebrew and Christian culture. Another, far more romantic reason that moved Orsini to create this garden of wonders was the death of his wife. The park was also conceived to honour her memory and to offer the Lord of Bomarzo a place to “unburden his heart”, broken by the loss. The enigmatic, mysterious inscriptions that mark the attractions, however, make a definitive answer difficult.

The park is laid out over four levels that narrow towards the top of the hill, like a pyramid. The route to the summit, where the temple stands, is scattered with mysterious and striking sculptures; these (some certainly made by Simone Moschino) were carved directly into the colossal blocks of peperino stone found throughout the valley. The grotesque genre is raised to a system in the depiction of mythological figures, gigantic animals, Homeric heroes or simple sirens and Roman goddesses. There are also impossible architectures, such as the leaning house, and enigmatic statues that perhaps represent the stages of an alchemical journey.

The Grove of Bomarzo is certainly a unique place, where one can immerse oneself in fascinating, if perhaps incomprehensible, atmospheres.