Bomarzo

Bomarzo is a town with 1810 inhabitants ( 31 December 2012) in the province of Viterbo, Lazio region of Italy. It is located 84 km north of Rome and 19 km north-east of Viterbo.

Geography and landscape

Bomarzo is located on a Tuffhügel at the foothills of the Monti Cimini; north of this range falls from the country to the headwaters of the Tiber. From the compact peperine - plateaus of volcanic origin have repeatedly replaced by erosion loose blocks, which were further used as building material. Below the plateau in the plains is collected tone.

The landscape around Bomarzo has been protected since 1999 as a Riserva Monte Casoli di Bomarzo on an area of ​​285 ha. Included are forest land and pastures, and used for organic farming areas around Monte Casoli, who was also archaeological site, about 2.5 km outside of Bomarzo.

Bomarzo carries the Orange Flag a seal of quality in the field of tourism and the environment of the TCI.

History

Excavations of cemeteries mid-19th century have proven that there was an Etruscan settlement precursor in place of the present-day city. Whether it was the da Viterbo in 1500 identified by the Dominican monk Annio Planum Meonianum, could not ultimately be proven. The archaeological sites around the Monte Casoli have accrued mostly again in the 21st century.

The name Polymartium is mentioned for the first time in the Historia Langobardorum of Paul the Deacon. The Name Etymology (City of Mars ) suggests that there might have been a Roman city; the excavations promoted, however, no concrete buildings to light.

At least in the 5th century Polymartium was a bishopric. It is clear that the patron saint Anselm was not the first bishop, and that he was martyred under the Gothic king Totila. The last bishop of the city Lambertus Episcopus Polymartiensis 1015 is occupied. On the bishopric, the titular Polymartium goes back.

Since the 8th century Bomarzo was like all of today's province of Viterbo of the Papal States. The real control exercised from the local feudal lords. In the case of Bomarzo, it was the Orsini; among them Vicino Orsini has become the most influential personality of the city. Under his leadership in the 16th century both begun by his father noble palace ( Palazzo Orsini ) was completed as also applied the peculiar Mannerist Park of the Monsters outside the city, he had called himself a " Sacred Wood " ( Sacro Bosco ). Vicino Orsini was married to Giulia Farnese, daughter of Galeazzo Farnese ( Duke of Latera ); not to be confused with their grandmother ( mother's side) Giulia Farnese, the mistress of Alexander VI .. The transition from the feudal to the papal central government, which was accompanied in many parts of Latium of hostilities took place in the case of Bomarzo by marriage policy.

The papal strengthened central government put the Cardinals as a regent; Ippolito Lante, who resided at the Villa Lante in Bagnaia temporarily but also in the Palazzo Orsini in Bomarzo, is characteristic of this period.

Bomarzo heard since 1870 as the whole of the former Papal States to the Italian nation-state.

Cityscape and Tourist Attractions

The old town is a compact medieval hamlet with narrow streets up to the church and to the Orsini Palace. Many houses are built out of the locally occurring peperine - rock.

• The Santa Maria Assunta ( Assumption) Cathedral is a Romanesque building on the foundations of early Christian precursor of the time of Anselm, who is also buried in the church. The Renaissance façade was Vicino Orsini append the 16th century.
• The Palazzo Orsini also created in the 16th century on the ruins of a medieval castle. Baldassare Peruzzi, architect and painter in Siena and Rome, was planning on behalf of the Orsini, the two -wing building with a courtyard, porch and stairs, which has since been modified several times. In the 17th century Cardinal Ippolito Lante briefed the large salon on the first floor one with the painting of the theme Allegory of War and Peace by Lorenzo Berrettini from Cortona. The building is used as a local government since the Second World War; the loggia is the council chamber, which is decorated with frescoes by Anton Angelo Bonifazi (Viterbo, 17th century).

About two kilometers outside the city, there is a scale of 1552-1585 for Vicino Orsini Garden, by virtue of its sculptures program Parco dei Mostri ( Park of the Monsters ) is called and under the name of Bosco Sacro ( Sacred Forest) is known. Landscape and architecture form a whimsical area of confusion, a bizarre staging of grotesque figures, fantastic buildings and enigmatic epigrams. From a square orchard leads an irregular way to a stream valley. The path bordered a bizarre and cruel sculptures program something of a mystery at times and can cause amazement. The image program that seems nurmehr receive incomplete, is still the subject of speculative interpretations, although it is decrypted into disrepair. It is a literary concept that ( Orlando Furioso ) refers to Ludovico Ariosto's Orlando Furioso and his poetry. Vicino Orsini was an admirer of Ariosto and Petrarch.

Economy and Social

Bomarzo is agrarian. There are local cooperatives for wine and olive oil, hazelnuts and honey, some organically grown.

The amusement park with picnic areas on the edge of the Sacro Bosco makes Bomarzo in the warm season, especially on the weekends at an attractive destination for families with children. Also international guests visit in knowledge of the park of the monsters the place and its surroundings. The limited infrastructure resources, however, are not geared to mass tourism. There is a hotel, a few B & Bs and agritourism facilities, restaurants, cafes and bars.

Some artisans maintain their local workshops ( blacksmith, wood carvers, engravers, Lacemaker ).

Patron Saint of 24-25. April

In honor of Saint Anselm of Bomarzo a two-day city festival is organized every year. The centerpiece is a horse race after Palio principle, the compete in the five medieval Contraden Dentro Il Borgo, Poggio, Croci and Madonna del Piano against each other. The Palio is first documented in 1600.

In the accompanying carnival festival ( Sagra del Biscotto ), the so-called biscotto di Saint Anselm (formerly pane di Anselm ) publicly baked and sold, a 1 kg heavy ring-shaped yeast cake flavored with anise, that the bishop of the legend according to to have arms and distributed to the pilgrims on their way to Rome. This festival has only existed since 1973, oriented by the local organization Pro Loco.