Bomarzo is a town and comune of Viterbo province (Lazio, central Italy), in the lower valley of the Tiber at 42°29′N 12°15′E, 263 m (863 ft) above mean sea level, with 1609 inhabitants according to the 2003 census. It is located at 15 kilometers from Viterbo and 68 from Rome. In Italy, the commune (comune, plural comuni) is the basic administrative unit of both provinces and regions, and may be properly approximated in casual speech by the English word township. ... Viterbo (It. ... Latium (now Lazio in Italian) is a region of central Italy, bordered by Tuscany, Umbria, Abruzzo, Molise, Campania and the Tyrrhenian Sea. ... Tiber River in Rome The River Tiber (Italian Tevere), the third longest river in Italy (disputed — see talk page) at 406 km (252 miles) after the Po and the Adige, flows through the Campagna and Rome in its course from Mount Fumaiolo to the Tyrrhenian Sea, which it reaches in... The metre (Commonwealth English) or meter (American English) (symbol: m) is the SI base unit of length. ... A foot (plural: feet) is a non-SI unit of distance or length, measuring around a third of a metre. ... The term above mean sea level (AMSL) refers to the elevation (on the ground) or altitude (in the air) of any object, relative to the average sea level. ... Viterbo is an ancient town and comune in the Lazio region of central Italy, the capital of Viterbo province. ...

Its current name is supposed to come from the Roman-era Polymartium of uncertain meaning. It was a historical fief of the Orsini family, whose castle is at the edge of the densely-built town, until Marzio sold it to the Lante family in 1645; but Bomarzo's chief claim to fame is a garden usually referred to as the Bosco Sacro (Sacred Grove) or, locally, Bosco dei Mostri (Monsters' Grove), named for the many larger-than-life sculptures, some sculpted in the bedrock, which populate this predominantly barren landscape. It is the work of Pier Francesco Orsini, Duke of Bomarzo, Vicino (1528–1588), a patron of the arts and greatly devoted to his wife Julia Farnese; when she died, he created the gardens. The design that has been attributed to Pirro Ligorio, a well known architect of his day who was working 60 km (35 miles) away in Rome, on the complex around the Villa Giulia is likely to have been limited largely to the small domed temple behind a pedimented porch, which is the reward of the garden's sequences of bizarre and private imagery. In fact Bomarzo is more the product of a philosopher than an architect, and it is constructed as a journey, rather than a setting for social life, a journey to be undertaken perhaps alone, but certainly in silence, as the inscription on the plinth of a sphinx near the starting point enjoins. Under the system of feudalism, a fiefdom, fief, feud or fee, consisted of heritable lands or revenue-producing property granted by a liege lord in return for a vassal knights service (usually fealty, military service, and security). ... The Orsini family was a powerful noble family in medieval and renaissance Rome, supplying three popes and many other leaders, and fighting with their rivals, the Colonna family, for influence. ... The main gatehouse of Harlech Castle, Wales. ... Part of a garden in Bristol, England A flower bed in the gardens of Bristol Zoo, England Checkered flower bed in Tours, France Youll find it near, youll find it far. ... Events June 19 - Battle of Landriano - A French army in Italy under Marshal St. ... 1588 was a leap year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar or a leap year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. ... Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Art Resources DEFINE.name Glossary Index ArtLex. ... Pirro Ligori, (1510? - 1583) Italian architect, antiquarian and garden designer. ... City motto: Senatus Populusque Romanus – SPQR (The Senate and the People of Rome) Founded 21 April 753 BC mythical, 1st millennium BC Region Latium Mayor Walter Veltroni (Left-Wing Democrats) Area  - City Proper  1290 km² Population  - City (2004)  - Metropolitan  - Density (city proper) 2,823,807 almost 4,000,000 1... The Villa Giulia stands in an area of Rome known as the Vigna Vechia (which was once against the city walls) lying on the slopes where Monte Parioli descends to the Tiber. ... The Great Sphinx of Giza, with the Pyramid of Khafre in the background. ...

The park of Bomarzo contains no pretty flower beds or sweeping lawns. A truly Mannerist work of art, it seeks, not to please, but to astonish, and like many Mannerist works of art, its symbolism is arcane: instead, a large sculpture of one of Hannibal's war elephants, mangles a Roman legionary, Ceres lounges incongruously on the bare ground — a vase of verdure perched on her head. Shelter from the blazing sun can be had by climbing a flight of steps into the mouth of a grotesque Giant's head carved from the living rock. Mannerism is the usual English term for an approach to all the arts, particularly painting but not exclusive to it, a reaction to the High Renaissance, emerging after the Sack of Rome in 1527 shook Renaissance confidence, humanism and rationality to their foundations, and even Religion had split apart. ... Hannibals feat in crossing the Alps with war elephants passed into European legend: a fresco detail, 1510, Capitoline Museums, Rome Hannibal (from Punic, literally Baal is merciful to me, 247 BC – 182 BC) was a politician, statesman and considered one of the greatest military commanders in history. ... Indian war elephant, relief at Mathura, 2nd century BC War elephants were important, although not widespread, weapons in ancient military history. ... The Roman legion (from the Latin legio, meaning levy) was the basic military unit of ancient Rome. ... For the first asteroid to be discovered, see 1 Ceres For the Melbourne community environment park, see the Centre for Education and Research in Environmental Strategies CERES (Clouds and the Earths Radiant Energy System) is an on-going NASA metereological experiment in Earth orbit. ... The Sun (or Sol) is the star at the center of our Solar system. ...

The many monstrous statues appear to be unconnected to any rational plan and appear to have been strewn almost randomly about the area, sol per sfogare il Core ("just to set the heart free") as one inscription in the obelisks says. Allusive verses in Italian by Annibal Caro, Bitussi and Cardinal Modruzzo, some of them already eroded, were inscribed besides sculptures. The reason for the layout and design of the garden is largely unknown: perhaps they were meant as a foil to the perfect symmetry and layout of the great Renaissance gardens nearby at Villa Farnese and Villa Lante. Next to a formal exedra a watchtowerlike casina tilts irrationally, the Casa Storta. By region Italian Renaissance Spanish Renaissance Northern Renaissance French Renaissance German Renaissance English Renaissance The Renaissance, also known as Il Rinascimento (in Italian), was an influential cultural movement which brought about a period of scientific revolution and artistic transformation, at the dawn of modern European history. ... The Villa Farnese at Caprarola is sometimes incorrectly known as the Villa Caprarola. ... Villa Lante at Bagnaia near Viterbo, attributed to Giacomo Barozzi da Vignola (there is no contemporary documentation) is, with Bomarzo, one of the most famous Italian 16th century Mannerist gardens of surprises. ...

An octogonal templet was added about twenty years later to honor the second wife of Orsini, Julia Farnese. The Bettinis have dedicated it to Tina Severi Bettini, one of the impulsors of reconstruction, who died from wounds during the works.

During the 19th century and deep into the 20th century the garden became overgrown and neglected, but in the 1970s a program of restoration was implemented by the Bettini family, and today the garden, which remains private property, is a major tourist attraction. Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ... (19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s As a means of recording the passage of time, the 20th century was that century which lasted from 1901–2000 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar (1900–1999 in the...

The surreal nature of the Parco dei Mostri greatly appealed to Jean Cocteau and the great surrealist Salvador Dalí, who discussed it at great length. The poet André Pieyre de Mandiargues wrote an essay devoted to Bomarzo. Niki de Saint Phalle was inspired for her Tarot Garden. Whatever the reason for its conception it is one of the most amazing sights, offering simultaneously the thrill of the startling with the unexplainable. Surreal CD Cover Surreal is the 17th single released by Ayumi Hamasaki. ... Jean Maurice Eugène Clément Cocteau (July 5, 1889 – October 11, 1963) was a French poet, novelist, dramatist, designer, and filmmaker. ... Salvador Dalí as photographed in 1934 by Carl Van Vechten Dream Caused by the Flight of a Bumblebee around a Pomegranate a Second Before Awakening, 1944 Lithography by Salvador Dali. ... André Pieyre de Mandiargues (1909 - 1991) was a French writer. ... Niki de Saint Phalle Niki de Saint Phalle, née Catherine Marie-Agnes Fal de Saint Phalle (October 29, 1930 - May 21, 2002) was a French sculptor, painter, and film maker. ...

Reference

• Guida al Parco dei Mostri, Società Giardino di Bomarzo, Vitorchiano, 2002

External links

• Gaither Stewart article
• Il parco dei Mostri di Bomarzo: Pegaso group article
• Thayer's Gazetteer of the Lazio
• J.E. Berger Foundation: Bomarzo