August 2009 Archives

This week's hidden place: Bomarzo! Or more specifically it's gardens, known also as the Bosco Sacro (Sacred Grove), or the Parco dei Mostri (Monster Park). Monster Park, near Rome....intrigued? You should be!

Located outside of the Castle of Bomarzo (the Orsini family's castle), this was a vision thought up by Prince Pier Francesco Orsini (a.k.a "Vicino") for his wife Giulia Farnese. Most of the park was actually completed after her death, and was dedicated to her memory. The park was started in 1547.

The gardens include 24 pieces of stone sculpted art, with a range of subjects in mythology as well as a crooked guesthouse, fountains, and a temple dedicated to Vicino's second wife.

The architect Vicino commissioned to carry out this vision was Pirro Ligorio, well-known at the time and you might know also for Villa d'Este and finishing St. Peter's Basiclica after Michelangelo died.

All of the sculptures are sculpted from the natural bedrock.

Among the sculptures you'll find a giant Orc, a Pegasus fountain, one of Hannibal's elephants killing a Roman soldier, a dragon being attacked by wolves and lions, Hercules, a crooked guesthouse, etc.

Inside the Orc's mouth is a picnic table!

You can climb inside the crooked guesthouse, but you will have instant vertigo, as its designed to have this effect. Why? I've been told it's all part of the sense of humor of Vicino. It was customary and expected of him to build a guesthouse in his gardens, and as a way to be clever he built this very special guesthouse (that not one person was able to actually stay in).

It probably got its current nickname of "Monster Park" from after a period of a few hundred years of abandonment, the townspeople found some of the sculptures peaking out from overgrown grass and trees and it scared them.

The park is open all year long, from 8 AM until sunset. Entrance fees are 9 Euros per adult and 7 Euros for children. There's places to buy food and snacks inside, but you can always bring your own picinic if you plan to stay for awhile.

HERE's the website, for further info!

I've decided to dedicate some blogs on the hidden places of Italy. What do I mean by "hidden"? Well actually let's step back further and define what I mean by "place". When I say place, I mean anything from a particular street/shop/church/museum to an entire city. When I say "hidden" then, I'm talking about places that either are not well-known or over-looked. That being said...

This week's hidden place is a tiny ancient town called Civita' di Bagnoregio, near modern Bagnoregio, about 145 kilometers (90 miles) north of Rome. It's an ancient Etruscan town, founded about 2,500 years ago, which sits on top of a very tall hill. Why does it seemingly look like an island? Because once upon a time it was almost completely surrounded by a river. So if you take a look around the surrounding valley, you might be reminded of the Grand Canyon. Still to this day it's only accessible by a steep footbridge! But don't worry, I myself am no friend to heights and I can promise you that it's a very modern and sturdy bridge nowadays, just in case you were envisioning something out of Indiana Jones. And actually, that bridge is probably the safest most stable part of the town, as the rest of it is crumbling from erosion. It's now on the World Monuments Fund's watch-list for 100 Most Endangered Sites, as a result.

How many people actually live there? On average there's about 20 people. There's a few B&B places though, so during the holiday season there can be as many as 100!

How can you get there? There's actually no way but by car (and then foot) We rented a car here in Rome for a day, and made a day trip out of it and had dinner there. I recommend using carrentals.com!

Was it always so desolate? Nope! Actually there was a time when it was a very prosperous and vibrant city for thousands of years. It wasn't really until 1695 that it began to empty, as a result of an earthquake which damaged it badly and scared people away. For more details on its history, take a look at their website

The town actually has a website with info on B&B's, where to eat, etc. Click HERE to take a look!

I recommend planning on having dinner there. For one, the restaurant Antico Forno is great, filled with typical dishes for the area. For another, the view of the stars from the footbridge is hypnotizing (especially for us city-slickers who are regularly robbed of stargazing thanks to light pollution)!

Now just for giggles....Can you find on their website a part about the one and only dog that is a resident in Civita' di Bagnoregio? Any guesses as to why they chose the picture they did for the unquestionably adorable little pup?? ;)

*** The first amazing black&white photo is by an Italian photographer named Giancarlo Malandra (http://www.giancarlomalandra.it/)

If you find yourself in Torino, there's one place you can't miss...well even literally since its tower is a major characteristic of the Torino sky-line! It's the National Cinema Museum, and you'll find it easily not far from the city center. Located in a building originally constructed to be a synagogue in 1862, you could say that it's sort of a holy-land for the silver screen. As a practicing member of the religion of pictures and moving pictures, I can promise you it's worth the visit, no matter your age or degree of devotion. Here's just a few things about it!

The actual tower/structure is called the Mole Antonelliana. It's spire is 167 meters tall and for a few extra Euros you can take a glass elevator up to the top for a panoramic view of Torino. You'll also find it on the back of an Italian 2 cent Euro coin.

The experience starts with an interactive area about optics, illusion, shadow-playing, early magic lanterns and other optical toys, and eases into the early stages of experimenting with photographs and making them 'move'.

The museum is good for all ages, especially because it's filled with buttons to push and interactive set-like areas (like a giant-sized Hollywood actress's vanity filled with giant perfume bottles and giant make-up) to sit and watch a wide variety of film clips.

There's a bunch of different rooms, or 'chapels' if you will, with a screen showing clips of films all related in some way (by genre, mostly). A sort of spooky room, complete with the actual coffin used by Bela Legosi in Dracula, which shows horror film clips; a room which is an old western saloon after a bar fight, chairs on their sides, for westerns; a love-scene area with a screen only visible when you lay on a round bed covered in pillows and velvet (parental discretion is advised)...etc etc

A central area on the ground level has two enormous screens with rows of lounge-like cushiony theater chairs where you can relax and watch a montage of film clips, my favourites being the silent film medley and the collection of memorable dance scenes.

There's about 800 film memorabilia and "props" throughout, including Marilyn Monroe's bustier, and costumes from Aliens and Star Wars.

There's about 300,000 movie posters and playbills, from both Italy and all over the world.

You can always have aGuided tour whih is part of our Torino City Tour! Click HERE for details!

Admission to the museum is €7 (or €5 for students with ID 25 or under or 65 and over, €2 for children between 6 and 17). It's an additional fee of €3.50 or €5 for the Panoramic Lift, depending on age or student status.

Opening times: Tue-Sun, 9am-8pm (except Saturdays when it's open until 11pm); closed Monday.

Take a look here on how to get there...once you're in Torino, of course ;)