Bomarzo – onibizaclouds

Hello everybody!

Today I want to bring you to one of the most original place I have ever visited in Italy. I’ve heard a lot about the Holy wood of Bomarzo but I have not had the ocasion to see it till now and this time was the perfect one because I was travelling between Bologna and Rome.

The park of Monsters of Bomarzo was devised by the architect Pirro Ligorio (he completed the Cathedral of Saint Peter in Rome after the death of Michelangelo and built Villa d’Este in Tivoli) on commision of Prince Pier Francesco Orsini (1523-1585), called Vicino, only to vent the heart broken at the death of is wife Giulia Farnese (+1560).

The park is filled with bizarre and fascinating sculptures for which only the accompanying inscriptions provide any explanation. Among the pieces are a war elephant, a monstrous fish-head, a giant tearing another giant in half, and a house built on a tilt to disorient the viewer. Perhaps the most frightening piece in the garden is an enormous head, mouth opened wide in a scream. The accompanying inscription reads “all reason departs.”

Hope you enjoy the pictures and I suggest you to visit it if you go to Italy.

Natalia