Bomarzo A Monster Park One Must See in Italy

Bomarzo is located in the Latium region in Italy and it is north east of the city of Viterbo. According to the city's website (http://www.comunebomarzo.it) it has about 1800 inhabitants so it is a small commune. In the middle ages it used to be a fief (which is a similar feudalism system) of the Orsini family whose castle is at the edge of the town but it was sold to the Lante family later in 1645.

Bomarzo's claim to fame is their monster park which was built by Prince Pier Francesco Orsini in 1552 as a memorial and to mend his heart due to the death of his wife Giulia. He had baptized the park with the name of "Sacro Bosco", which means Sacred Woods but it was originally known as the Villa of Wonders but later more commonly called "Il Parco dei Mostri" or Monster Park due to the amazingly huge and scary statues.

The entrance to the park starts in a smaller scale and the first statues are of two phoenixes and a series of heads that vaguely resemble ancient Roman and Greek gods, then as you walk in the park you will arrive to the next and the first big group of statues that are a huge turtle, a woman and a whale. The amazing part of this park is that there seems to be no order or reason for the statues, which are at least twenty four, and they seem to be randomly placed but it is what makes it fun and interesting as a visitor young or not.

The statue that gets more attention is the "orco" or ogre and be warned that it may scare some of the youngest children as they see it. The ogre has a huge head with its mouth open and his eyes wide open as well as it seems he is trying to scare visitors that want to approach and sit in the table and maybe have their picnic in the shade inside its mouth.

So if you are in Italy and in the Latium region make sure to take time and schedule a trip to this amazing place, it is great for families as the children will love it and it is awesome for adults too, as you get to admire the architecture of the statues, and pack a picnic lunch to share with the monster around you.