Best Western
Hotel Viterbo

Bomarzo

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Parci dei Mostri (Park of Monsters)

Information:
Tel. / Fax: 0761-9424029
Web Site: www.parcodeimostri.com
e-mail: info@parcodeimostri.com
Hours: 8:30 am to sunset
Everyday Tickets:
Full Price: €8,00
Reduced: €7,00 for children 4-8 years old and groups with a minimum of 30 people
Reduced: €5,50 for schools with a free entrance for every 15th person

Bosco Sacro di Bomarzo was created between 1552 and 1580 by the will of Prince Vicino Orsini, cultured and adventurous leader, relative of one of the most powerful families of the time, the Farnese.
The original idea was to create a monumental park on the slopes of a natural amphitheater with fountains and large sculptures in grey granite by using the masses already found on the site; somewhat like one would call today an "environmental opera" where the manmade creation is studied to share the surrounding space.
Prince Orsini called the architect Pirro Ligorio, who was already presently working on the Villa d'Este in Tivoli, to execute the complicated project.
The park reflects the just spirit and cultural climate of the time, all done to exalt the scenic effects destined to " leave you breathless", and it is exactly this that you get when visiting the park.
Once passing the entrance, with the coat of arms of Orsini surmounted above, you find yourself in front of two Sphinxes with inscriptions that invite you to reflect upon the site you are visiting.
During your entire journey, these inscriptions reappear, incised in the rock, with the explicate and moralising aim to communicate with the visitor and to make the park not only a place where one can get away, but a real path to meditation and knowledge.
Let's have a look at some of the representative operas: the colossal group of Giganti Ercole and Caco (Hercules the giant and Caco) the stately Tartaruga (Turtle), with a Vittoria Alata (Winged Victory) above it facing towards the torrent where an open mouthed Orca symbolizes the Porta degli Inferi; the Casa Pendente (Leaning House), strongly leaning to one side, was built on purpose to give the visitor a sense of instability of ground; the same intent is followed with the Panca Estrusca (Etruscan Bench), built on unlevelled terrain, asymmetric and ingenious, it clearly expresses the spirit of the place granting all that is imaginative and out of the ordinary.
The Orco is the true symbol of the park, an enormous mask whose mouth is the entrance that leads to you into the park where you find a stone table and benches; in the surrounding area you can see and enormous Dragon being assailed by three wild beasts that should be a representation of time attacked by the past, present and future and the combat Elephant surmounted by a turret, holding a warrior in its trunk; before arriving to the Tempietto (Little Temple), in a sort of symbolic point of passage, we find Cerbero, guardian of the Inferi; the Doric Temple is done in an octagonal plan ending with the cupola and enriched by an impressive portico composed of four lines of columns, dedicated by Vicino Orsini to his wife Giulia Farnese, who died at a young age.
There are many visual references to mythology, but the symbolic themes are inspired by literal sources; the Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri, l'Eneide by Virgilio, l'Orlando Furioso by Ariosto, and Il Sogno di Polifio by Francesco Colonna. Besides these, there are many celebrated references to the Orsini and Farnese families like, for example, the mask representing Proteo o Glauco with open jaws, two statues with heraldic Orsi (bears) carrying the noble coat of arms and the Roman rose or the Fontana di Pegaso (heraldic symbol and tribute to the Farnese house).
The park, abandoned and forgotten for centuries, was rediscovered in the last century and restored by its new owner Giovanni Bettini beginning in 1953; works by many artists have contributed to its public revitalization, the most important being the ingenious exponent of surrealism, Salvador Dali (see the piece Le tentazioni di Sant'Antonio, 1946, inspired point of interest in the Sacro Bosco), also the Dutch painter Carel Willink (1900-1983), etc.
In conclusion, the park has an aura of mystery that contributes to its charm, deriving also from the culture of its creator who crowded it with symbolic, literal, alchemic and hermetic attractions giving it multiple perceptive possibilities and making it not only a place to get away and relax but a spiritual nutrient as well.

How to get there:
Approximately 20 kilometers from Viterbo following the super-strada Viterbo-Orte, exiting at the Bomarzo turn off. The nearest Auto-strada A1 exit is Attigliano, then follow in the direction of Bomarzo.