The Parco dei Mostri, also called Sacro Bosco or Villa delle Meraviglie di Bomarzo, is a natural park adorned with numerous basalt sculptures dating back to the 16th century that portray mythological animals, gods and monsters. The architect and antiquarian Pirro Ligorio was commissioned to design the park in 1547 by Prince Pier Francesco Orsini. Salvador Dalí spoke of the Park of the Monsters as a unique historical invention. The park covers an area of about 3 hectares of forest. Inside there are a large number of sculptures of various sizes depicting mythological characters and animals, buildings that reflect the classical world, deliberately ignoring the rules of perspective or aesthetics, in order to confuse the visitor. The sculptures were made of basalt, a material available in massive quantities on site; many attractions are marked with enigmatic and mysterious inscriptions, which unfortunately have survived to a small extent. However, it should be noted that the current arrangement of the attractions in the Park is not, except for some documented cases, the original one, but dates back to the second half of the twentieth century, when the Bettini family took it over and put it back into use. Salvador Dalí spoke of the Park of the Monsters as a unique historical invention.