The Tarot Gardens of Maremma, Tarot Giants in Italy

There is a place in Maremma which seems to be somewhat timeless, an enchanted place where large sculptures covered with precious glass, pottery and mirrors explode with glitter and strength. This place is the Tarot Gardens of Maremma.

The garden is located in Garavicchio, a hamlet of the Commune of Capalbio, right on the border between Tuscany and Lazio. It features spectacular sculptures depicting the 22 Major Arcana of the Tarot Cards.



Designed by the French-American sculptor Niki de Saint Phalle, the building began in 1979 when the artist, inspired by Antoni Gaudi's Parque Guell in Barcelona, decided to create his own garden to represent a small corner of paradise.



The artist devoted 17 years to this work, with the help of contemporary artists, including her husband Jean Tinguely who produced the Wheel of Fortune – a self-propelled mechanical sculpture located in the center of a tub and placed in the grand square shortly after the entrance.



Two Italian architects, Mario Botta and Roberto Aureli, also collaborated on the project by designing the entrance pavilion which is a long wall of tuff with a single large circular opening in the center, thought of as a threshold which clearly divides the imaginary world of the Garden from everyday reality. Walking in the entrance threshold, you can immediately feel the sensation that you are starting a magic journey, a type of game where sculptures, made of both steel and cement convey unrest and charm at the same time.



You are immediately welcomed by a great inscription in italics that narrates the story of the project and if you continue the journey into the gardens, it is impossible not to be fascinated by the immense beauty of the Tree of Life which, along with the many sculptures which are spread across the park. One of the most representative works in the garden is the Empress - the gigantic statue that houses a complete home with a living room, a bedroom and a kitchen, fully covered by thousands of small mirrors and Murano glass.


And then the garden continues with the Sun, depicted by a bow perched with a colorful fire bird, the Pope, Death, Temperance, and the Lovers, and so many other smaller sculptures, just as fascinating as all the others.

The Tarot Garden is a small enchanted city, a creative and surreal world, capable of capturing the imagination and fantasy of anyone who visits it.

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