Posted by The Park of Monsters, or Sacred Grove, is in Bomarzo, in the province of Viterbo, Italy. Commissioned in 1547 by Prince Vicino Orsini and designed by Pirro Ligorio, it is filled with 16th-century sculptures of monsters, gods and animals, such as the Ogre and the leaning house. Abandoned after 1585, it was restored in the 20th century by the Bettini couple.
Its real name is Villa of Wonders, also called the Sacred Grove, but most people know it as the Park of Monsters. This park is in Bomarzo, in the province of Viterbo, and it is one of a kind: it contains many 16th-century sculptures depicting monsters, gods and mythological animals.
The Park of Monsters
The Sacred Grove, which covers three hectares, was commissioned by Prince Pier Francesco Orsini, known as Vicino Orsini, who simply called it his “little wood” and dedicated it to his wife, Giulia Farnese (not to be confused with the namesake lover of Pope Alexander VI).
The design, dating from 1547, is by the architect and antiquarian Pirro Ligorio, while the sculptures, carved from local stone, were probably made by Simone Moschino. Unfortunately, after the death of the last Orsini prince in 1585, the park was abandoned.
Luckily, in the second half of the 20th century it was bought and restored by Giancarlo and Tina Severi Bettini, who also opened it to the public. It should be said that the current arrangement of the statues, apart from a few documented cases, is not the original one, but dates back to this restoration.
The monsters of the Sacred Grove
Inside the park you can see magnificent sculptures of various sizes depicting animals, monsters and gods, and it reminds me a bit of Coral Castle.
The main sculptures are the sphinxes, the turtle and the whale, the elephant, the dragon and perhaps the best-known statue of all: the Ogre.
Besides these statues of animals and monsters, there are also architectural ones, such as the leaning house: a small building deliberately built on a tilt, with the interior tilting the opposite way.
You can go inside the leaning house, and you immediately feel disoriented.
Wonder and bewilderment are certainly the main feelings you get when visiting the Park of Monsters, and arousing these emotions in its visitors was exactly the intention of the people who built it.
The mystery of the Park of Monsters
Every sculpture bears enigmatic inscriptions, some of which have now become illegible. The exact meaning of the surviving inscriptions is unknown, but according to some scholars they have an alchemical connotation. Others have recognised themes from Renaissance literature, such as Petrarch’s Canzoniere, Ariosto’s Orlando Furioso and the poems of Bernardo Tasso. One pillar bears an inscription that might be the key to everything: “Sol per sfogare il core”, “only to relieve the heart”.
The stages of this park and some of the statues are also alchemical. Whoever designed it also knew about astrology and astronomy, as the Temple shows.
You cannot go inside, but on the outside you can admire the signs of the zodiac, arranged not in zodiac order but according to the solar system.
Salvador Dalí, the famous surrealist painter, visited it in 1948, had himself photographed in unusual poses among the monsters and called the park a unique historical invention.
I leave you with one of the park’s inscriptions, which sums up the spirit of this enchanting, dreamlike place.
Voi che pel mondo gite errando vaghi di veder meraviglie alte et stupende venite qua, dove son facce horrende, elefanti, leoni, orchi et draghi.
(“You who wander the world eager to see great and astonishing wonders, come here, where there are horrible faces, elephants, lions, ogres and dragons.”)
🦋 Emadion lives through its readers. If this story kept you up at night, buy me a coffee: it helps me bring you the next nightmare.
☕ Support Emadion on Ko-fi
