A sad love story inspired the creation of Bosque Sagrado de Bomarzo, one of the most fascinating and strange places in the world

Love has been a great source of inspiration throughout history. Songs, poems, novels and works of architecture were created to conquer the loved one, celebrate them or mourn their loss. But love has also led to the emergence of unique and enigmatic works, which surprise with their mysterious content.

O incredible.club wants to share with its readers the story of the Bosque Sagrado de Bomarzo, built by an Italian duke of the Renaissance, as a way of mourning the loss of his beloved.

The history of the Duke of Orsini is surrounded by mysteries and legends and the same happens with the construction of his garden. In the most widespread version, he decided to leave the political and social life of Italy to retire to his castle, located in the province of Viterbo, in the commune of Bomarzo, to dedicate himself to living a carefree life with his beloved Giulia. Both planned the decoration of the famous “grove”, whose creation was in charge of the architects Pirro Ligorio and Jacopo Vignola.

But soon, misfortune set in, and Giulia died. Orsini, however, decided to continue with the project and dedicated it to his late beloved, for whom he even built a small temple. Plunged into solitude and melancholy, the forest was filled with monstrous, dark and enigmatic images, as if it were a portrait of Orsini’s soul, which had been adrift after so much misfortune.

Taking this story into account, it can be said that the Sacred Grove is the result of the despair and sadness of a mind tormented by the dark loneliness of the loss of its love. At the entrance to the forest, the following sentence can be read: “You, who wander around the world to see remarkable and surprising wonders, come here, where everything speaks of love and art”.

Love’s suffering is one of the most powerful inspirations, and we can say that Pierfrancesco Orsini (that was his name) carried this suffering further than many other people.

He was born in Rome in the 16th century, in the Renaissance era. For years, he integrated Italian political life as a duke and patron. He was a man of refined spirit, who felt a great attraction for the beauty of art and a strong inclination towards extravagance.

The images of the Bosque Sagrado, as it could not be otherwise, influenced the sensibility of many artists, including Salvador Dalí, Michelangelo Antonioni (who filmed a short film in the place) and, above all, the Argentine writer Manuel Mujica Láinez, creator of the novel Bomarzo, whose main character is precisely Duke Orsini. Inspired by the writing, the musician Alberto Ginastera composed an opera that toured theaters around the world.

Therefore, apart from the versions that circulate about its construction, it is undeniable that the Sacred Grove is one of the most enigmatic and fascinating places in the world and that the time that the Duke of Orsini devoted to it was not in vain.

Would you like to visit this grove? What other architectural works do you know that were inspired by great loves? What’s the most fascinating thing you’ve done for a loved one? Tell us in the comments.