A good destination for kids! Bomarzo is an ancient town that clings to a ridge in northern Lazio. The fantasmagoria of stone sculptures in a picturesque park outside of town will certainly entertain them.
The gardens landscaped by Pirro Ligorio (the architect who worked on St. Peter’s after Michelangelo’s death) were made between 1552 and 1580 and are sited on a steep and rocky site at the foot of the castle on the north-west edge of Bomarzo, 20 km east of Viterbo. They were created by Pier Francesco `Vicino' Orsini, Duke of Bomarzo. He referred to this garden as his sacred wood. He worked on it throughout his life, except when he was in prison.
The gardens are organized around five distinct areas: 1) the original entrance which crossed a bridge opposite the giant; 2) the belvedere or theater with its exedra (ex-ee-dra) In Greek buildings there was an alcove with a raised seat where discussions among scholars were held; 3) the plateau of the vases above the theater; 4) the hippodrome, which in the 16th c. contained the formal garden; 5) the temple in the meadow.
Notably, Salvador Dali rediscovered this wonder in the 1930’s and tried to buy the Orsini castle (to throw a party for the beggars of Rome) and made a film there. This place inspired modern scholarship also. In 1967 the novel Bomarzo was written by Manuel Mujica Laiher and an opera by Alberto Ginestera.
Leave a comment