Today we leave the borders of Campania to go and explore two structures that we could define as magical; in both, in fact, you can wander and let yourself go to the pleasure of discovering the statues and sculptures that the imagination of the artists has disseminated in those places. Let's start with the more famous of the two gardens, which even boasts three names: Villa delle Meraviglie, Parco dei Mostri (the most popular name) or Sacro Bosco (that of the official website: https://www.sacrobosco.it), which it rises in the Lazio town of Bomarzo (VT). For historical information, we leave the word to the website, where you will also find all the logistical information: It was designed by Prince Vicino Orsini and the great architect Pirro Ligorio in 1552. The park, while fully fitting into the erudite architectural-naturalist culture of the second half of the sixteenth century, is unique. The cultured prince of Bomarzo dedicated himself to the creation of an eccentric "grove" by carving in the peperino boulders, emerging from the ground, enigmatic figures of monsters, dragons, mythological subjects and exotic animals, which he alternated with a small leaning house, a funeral fountains, seats and obelisks on which he had mottos and inscriptions engraved. For our part, we limit ourselves to adding that, according to our last visit in August 2016, the route is not very comfortable with a normal manual wheelchair; it would be preferable to mount mountain bike wheels or use an electric vehicle or wheel. It is advisable to use a companion, to overcome some obstacles in the paths and to reach and photograph some inaccessible statue in a wheelchair. Let's give the floor to the images, starting from the entrance arch and continuing with the statues, as we encountered them:
Proteus Glaucus:
Fury:
Echidna:
Bear:
Piazzale delle Pigne:
Cerberus:
Ceres:
Dolphin:
Neptun:
Drake:
Orc:
Hercules and Cacus:
After visiting the Sacro Bosco, if you do not want to use the park's services (there is an accessible snack bar and there are toilets for the disabled), you can drive a few kilometers by car and go to this beautiful structure in the middle of the countryside (the access ramp is there but not seen in the photo): Tenuta di Santa Lucia: Ortana Road Km 13,200, Soriano nel Cimino (VT) 0761 - 759529 http://www.tenutadisantalucia.com
Let's change region now and move to Tuscany, and precisely in the municipality of Seggiano (GR), on the slopes of Monte Amiata. Our second structure is located in this area; it is the Garden of Daniel Spoerri, from whose website (http://www.danielspoerri.org) we draw these descriptive notes: In the early 90s, the Swiss artist Daniel Spoerri began installing sculptures in a park in southern Tuscany, about 80 km south of Siena. In 1997 Daniel Spoerri's Garden was inaugurated and opened to the public, and can now be visited from Easter until October. Currently there are 113 works by 55 different artists, to be discovered in a plot of approx. 16 hectares. The garden is equipped with a villa, which allows guests to stay in apartments, some of which are without architectural barriers; there is also a restaurant open morning and evening. So let's start walking through this park, with the warning that not everything can be reached by wheelchair and that it is preferable, also in this case, to have wheels like mountain bikes or electric wheelchairs; the presence of an accompanying person is also recommended here. You can find your way around with a map, provided at the entrance to the park, which allows you to locate the individual sculptures and to know their name and author; or you can indulge in the pleasure of the casual discovery of these strange and sometimes disturbing shapes: you do. The important thing, in our opinion, is to let yourself go to the sensations and follow your curiosity:
What do you think? We were there in August 2014, we remember it as a fun experience, with these sculptures sometimes with a childlike appearance. Maybe done in another cooler season it can be even more enjoyable. Let us know your impressions if you go there!