(map) 
Because we live just down the road, we almost take this Renaissance garden for granted. Well, it’s not really a garden, but a mysterious walk among huge strange statues carved from the area’s tufaceous rock, overlooking the Tiber Valley.
The park was originally known as the Villa of Wonders, conceptualized by Prince Pier Francesco Orsini, the Duke of Bomarzo, as a memorial to his wife, Giulia. Although known to the locals as il Parco dei Mostri (Monster Park), this woodland is also more kindly known as the Sacred Grove of Bomarzo.
The park was originally meant to astonish its visitors. To a first time visitor it may appear to be an ancient Walt Disney memorial, although one can’t help but think that it was the Disney’s characters themselves who have really been inspired by this quirky spot.
Its larger-than-life statues appear to be thrown about as if by some giant phantom, sol per sfogare il core (just to set the heart free) as one inscription on an obelisk determines.
This is a carefree walk amid turtles, lions, dragons, bears, fish-tailed harpies, elephants, a grotto of Venus and a Mask of Madness, and is guaranteed to transport the visitor to an imaginary world, if only for the hour it takes to ramble down its paths.
If you arrive midday, it’s fun to bring along a picnic lunch and eat amid the monsters at one of the several tables provided.
– Contributed by Evanne Brandon Diner (see bio), chronicler of local village life in Northern Lazio, and property restoration and purchasing consultant. www.lavventuraitalia.com
I love the tidbits on Italy from ItalianNotebook.com , especially the ones featuring the non-traditional tourist spots such as this. With each new day I realize my next trip to Italy will have to be a very very long one in order to cover all the great things to see. Grazie!
We got to visit Bomarzo a couple years ago, while on a trip to visit family in Bolsena. The day was overcast and drizzly, and we were alone among “i mostri”. What a wonderful and magical place! Grazie.
Would love to go. Can we get there from Rome without a car by bus?
My husband and I will be going back to Italy in 2010. We will be staying 5 days in Venice, 5 days in Florence, and 5 days in Rome. This magical place will certainly be on our list.
Thank you for sending these articles to us, they aare gratefully appreciated.
Ciao,
Claudia Giugliano McCadden
My children loved Bomarzo and insisted on going every summer. They are grown now but still remember i mostri. I miss Italy! Barrie Szemler
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