The Parco dei Mostri in the Sacro Bosco close to Bomarzo was created between 1522 and 1580 by Duke Vicino Orsini. The park of Bomarzo was intended not to please, but to astonish. The sphinx at the entrance of the Park of the Monsters is the work of Pier Francesco Orsini, called Vicino (1528 - 1588).

The surreal nature of the Parco dei Mostri appealed to Jean Cocteau and the great surrealist Salvador Dali, who discussed it at great length. The poet André Pieyre de Mandiargues wrote an essay devoted to Bomarzo. Niki de Saint Phalle was inspired by Bomarzo when she created her Tarot Garden in Tuscany.

Map: Bomarzo
Map: Bomarzo