Attractions and Places To See around Alviano - Top 20

It is a large boulder of shaped and carved peperino stone, located in a forest between Bomarzo and Chia; It was rediscovered in 2001 by the Archeotuscia association and the archaeological company Pro-Ferento. The structure has 26 steps carved into the volcanic rock, with a height of 8 meters in the upstream part and 16 meters in the downstream part. It is believed to have been an Etruscan rock altar, probably dating back to the 6th-7th century BC, although some hypotheses suggest even older origins.

Magical place to visit in all seasons

Past the old monastery you will arrive at the old borgo. The elevated old village has been depopulated since the 19th century and has become a real ruin due to erosion and earthquakes. In 1951 it was completely abandoned. Only the old market square and the castle are accessible, the old houses are completely dilapidated and overgrown with plants over the years. The Orsini castle at the entrance of Celleno antico is the most beautiful building in the borgo. It has a large watchtower and the castle is surrounded by a deep moat. It was recently restored and inhabited by the artist Enrico Castellani. This artist was internationally known (he also studied in Brussels) and died on 1 December 2017. On the old market square you can see a beautiful rectangular bell tower, in 3 layers and made of tuff. Only the walls of the old church San Carlo (17th century), left of the castle, remain. Close to the market square is the church of San Donato from the year 1000 in Romanesque style, with a very beautiful portal in basalt stone.

Recent archaeological discoveries have confirmed the Etruscan origins (4th-3rd centuries BC) of Celleno Vecchio, a settlement that enjoyed a great position, i.e. the ancient communication route between Orvieto, Bagnoregio and Ferento. Ancient sources provide evidence that this medieval settlement is one of the fortified villages built by the Counts of Bagnoregio between the 10th and 11th centuries. At that time, the village must have consisted of a number of dwellings at the end of the tuff, protected by cliffs on three sides, surrounded by walls and a small fortress, which is now the Orsini Castle, to protect the only access route. At the end of the 12th century, after the destruction of Ferento, the municipality of Viterbo began a rapid expansion in the Tiber Valley, also acquiring Celleno, which in 1237 was one of the castles of the Viterbo area governed by a Podest (high official) appointed by the local government. At the end of the 14th century, the city center fell into the hands of the Gatti family, one of the most powerful families in Viterbo. During this period, the medieval fortress was completely renovated and converted into a fortified stately home that can still be seen today. The Gatti family ruled Celleno until the last heir, Giovanni Gatti, who was killed on the orders of Pope Alexander VI (Borgia) for refusing to return the castle. At the beginning of the 16th century, the municipality fell into the hands of the Orsini family. Interestingly, the castle still bears the name of this family. Only towards the end of the 16th century was the church able to incorporate Celleno into its possessions until the unification of Italy. In modern times, Celleno Vecchio was often affected by earthquakes and landslides, until it was finally abandoned in the 1930s. Today it is a small, charming and evocative ghost village, characterized by ruins and vegetation, with beautiful views of the surrounding landscape.

The Sacro Bosco known as Monster Park for the grotesque sculptures present is the oldest sculpture park in the modern world. Near Orsini, lord of Bomarzo, he built it starting from the middle of the 16th century. Overcoming the dominant idea of the Italian Renaissance garden, Vicino creates a work that is not easy to decipher, fitting into the new naturalistic architectural vision of the end of the Renaissance. Immersed in lush nature, the park takes the form of a hermeneutical labyrinth populated by symbolic sculptures that escape classical composure giving way to a Mannerist taste for the bizarre and the occult. A visit to the park is, however, a particularly interesting experience as it combines art, magic and literature whose references are not always decipherable.

Given its shape, it could recall a religious altar, but it is really an ancient and mysterious pyramid discovered only in 1911.

The Sacro Bosco di Bomarzo is the oldest sculpture park in the modern world. It was conceived in the 16th century by the architect Pirro Ligorio on commission from Prince Pier Francesco Orsini, lord of Bomarzo. The Sacro Bosco is also known as the Monster Park for the presence of sculptures depicting mythological animals, divinities and monsters scattered in a surreal natural landscape.

🗿🙃🗿 “Mom, there is a monster in our garden!” – “No, honey – there are dozens of them!” This is how one could imagine a dialogue between mother and child among the Orsinis. However, the marriage probably remained childless, so there was never a dialogue and Pier Francesco Orsini, scion of a well-known noble family, had to look for other options to burn money. In 1552 the time had come: over the next 30 years, volcanic peperin rock was transformed into sculptures the height of a man and a house, until the Sacro Bosco (Sacred Forest) was completed. After his death, the complex fell into oblivion and the now weathered sculptures were not rediscovered until the middle of the 20th century. Abandoned for centuries, the forest became popularly known as the Park of Monsters (Italian: Parco dei Mostri). 🏴‍☠️🤪🏴‍☠️ What Francesco Orsini intended with the Monster Park and what the characters are supposed to say is still a mystery. Maybe it's all just a game of deception; on the Ertruscan bench he had engraved: "Voi che pel mondo gite errando vaghi di veder meraviglie alte et stupende" - You who wander in the world, greedy for great and glorious wonders, come here... 👀🗿👀 So we look at the huge Proteus-Glauco from afar, get up close to the monumental sculpture of the fighting giants Hercules and Caco, puzzle over the female figure on a turtle and can assign Pegasus. I don't want to list all the sculptures that can be found north of the crooked house (Casa Pendente). I do want to mention one, however: the Orcus. A man's huge head petrified in a scream of terror. Through the gaping jaws of the Orcus, one enters a dark chamber where a table and a stone bench await the visitor. By the way, the sculpture always reminds me of the King Crimson album cover: “In The Court Of The Crimson King. https://images.app.goo.gl/X4bbcSPL42tR6cFf8