130,000 visitors per year: the Tarot Garden, Niki de Saint Phalle's masterpiece in the heart of Tuscany
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REPORT - An hour and a half north of Rome, this magical place is his life's work. His granddaughter is its guardian and works tirelessly to preserve it.
A small path winds between the olive trees... And suddenly, it is a shock, dazzling and electrifying, when you enter the Tarot Garden, a kingdom of Niki de Saint Phalle 's imagination where every detail brings joy. The place is a reward from heaven, whether it rains or the sun shines, to make the mosaics of mirrors, glass and enamels of all colors that cover The Empress (15 m high), The Magician , The High Pope surrounding the basin of The Wheel of Fortune and its water jets or The Tower of Babel burst even more.
"If life is a deck of cards, we are born without knowing the rules. Yet we must lay our hands on the table," said Niki, whose miracle of encounters led her to Capalbio, in Tuscany, to carry out this colossal project. It was the one at the end of her life, from 1979 to 1993, with the help of her husband Jean Tinguely, for the structures and numerous workers, so complex were the monumental works, some of which were habitable...
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