Parco dei Mostri (o Sacro Bosco)

The Monster Park (or sacred Grove) of Bomarzo, near Viterbo, is a monumental Park located at the foot of a real natural amphitheater. The architect and antiquarian Pirro Ligorio, commissioned by Prince Pier Francesco Orsini, designed and oversaw the construction of the Park in 1547, characterizing it with mythological figures like "grotesque". The Orsini dedicated the Park to his wife, Giulia Farnese. There are impossible architectures, as the Leaning House, and some enigmatic statues representing perhaps the stages of a journey of alchemical array. Scientists, historians and philologists have made several attempts to explain the labyrinth of symbols, finding ancient themes and motifs of Renaissance literature: for example, taken from the "Canzoniere" by Petrarch, the "Orlando Furioso" by Ludovico Ariosto. They remained, however, still many mysteries of the Park and there is no universal interpretation scheme. Among the curiosities, the so-called "Temple", focused on the provision of solar zodiac signs.

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