A stream once meandered through Bomarzo, channeling into fountains and nymphs. This 16th century pleasure-garden— commissioned by a Duke who was criticized by his contemporaries for not even financing a church for his community— was carved into boulders that were already strewn across a valley near a country town north of Rome. Exagerations of scale create the fantastical; representations of monsters appear colossal in the presence of deliberately dwarfed architectural elements. Although the story of Bomarzo is shrouded in mystery (the identities of its architects and artists is not known), a walk along its terraced path would unfold a narrative that engages the imagination of the visitor.

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