Welcome to the Park of Monsters

Watch out if you find yourself wandering around Bomarzo, Italy, you might meet some chiiling creatures in the woods. Here are monsters.

Built in 1547 by the architect Pirro Ligorio for the prince Vicino Orsini, the Gardens of Bomarzo are a monumental complex where visitors walk through massive grotesque statues and surreal sculptures. Often with frightening shapes and faces. A very unusual decision, but ahead-of-its-time too. The XVI century’s art is not mostly remembered for subjects like elephants, dragons, orcs, turtles, or giants, but here, among the trees and the whispers, you find them all.

It is not clear why the prince wanted the park built in such unique way. Legends say he had just came back from battle, where he lost a friend, when his wife got sick and died soon after; the grieve for these events would be what pushed him to give this style to the gardens.

This special location, though, has not seen many people visiting it until the early decades of XX century, when another surrealist champion, Spanish painter Salvador Dali, shed light on the park by paying a visit to it and filming it. Dali obviously liked and enjoyed the gardens and said it was an unique historic invention. In 1954 the complex has been restored and now is possible to visit throughout the all year.

Bonus: Here is a video of Dali among the sculptures of the park