Happy Halloween from 'Monster Park'

In the spirit of Halloween, I wanted to share my visit to one of the most magical gardens I have ever seen, the Sacro Bosco or Sacred Wood.  Adding to the spell of the Sacro Bosco was how hard it was to find. 

While on my way to Viterbo, Italy, I couldn’t get my GPS to recognize either the name or the address for this garden.  This had happened to me several times in Italy, so I was mildly amused, confident that my hotel would help me with directions.  After all, I had chosen my hotel because it was close to the garden.  

My amusement turned to concern when the hotel staff had never heard of Sacro Bosco.  One by one, each tried to figure out where I was trying to go, finally agreeing with my GPS that no such garden existed in the area.  They were quite sure of themselves.  At one point, with the entire staff gathered at the front desk, they reached a consensus that I had the wrong town.  

In a last ditch effort, I recalled that I had packed a wrinkled black and white photo of the garden.   It was buried in my suitcase, but when I showed it to the staff one exclaimed, “Oh! That’s the ‘Monster Park’, why didn’t you say that from the start!” 

Emboldened by a huge sense of relief, and with my camera in tow, I drove the short distance to the garden.   The sign in the photograph of the sphinx proclaims, “He who does not visit this place with raised eyebrows and tight lips will fail to admire the wonders of the world.”  Beyond the sphinx, heavily wooded paths lead to the head of Orcus, god of the underworld, who is surrounded by sea monsters and figures from another world.

Stay tuned for more about this garden in the next post.

 

The garden of good vs. evil

The Sacro Bosco, or Monster Park garden, was built in the 1550’s by Vicino Orsini as a project to mourn the death of his wife Guilia.   Orsini, a military man, worked with landscape architect Pirro Ligorio, who also designed the very different, formal Villa d’Este garden in Tivoli.  

At the time, the garden fashion was for geometry, symmetry, and order.  The Sacro Bosco is so different – it appears to be a complete reaction to this.  The result is authentic, fresh, organic, and timeless.  

This is partially driven by how the garden embraces the natural stone outcroppings as the base for monumental sculptures. Figures and buildings appear as if they are emerging from the earth or sinking into it. 

Sculptor Simone Moschino is the real star, for this is primarily a sculpture garden.  His work is fanciful, ironic, and full of meaning.  As I walked the garden I felt the collaboration between sculptor and garden designer, particularly in how they captured a fascination with the battle of good over evil, as we can see in the photos of Hercules tearing Cacus apart.  Cacus was known as the town bully, a fearful character who stole Hercules’ cattle and terrorized the land.

The Parco di Monstri was forgotten until 1949, when artist Salvador Dali and art critic Mario Praz rediscovered it. The short film below shows Dali exploring the garden.  In 1950, Giovanni Bettini purchased and restored the garden.  His family continues to keep it open to the public.

If you want to plan a trip to see Sacro Bosco, this place is just an hour’s drive from Rome, and about 15 minutes outside of the town of Bomarzo.  Just remember that it is locally referred to as Parco di Mostri (the Monster Park).