Baldassare Forestiere made his underground world after the ancient catacombs of Greece, his native land. Forestiere made his catacombs with well-lit courtyards and grottos to bring about beauty to his creation. Upon finishing the home, it encompassed 10 acres with 100 rooms. Arches are everywhere and provide beauty and stability to the underground garden.
Forestiere’s home boasted a winter and a summer bedroom, a parlor with a fireplace, a courtyard with a bath and fish pond, and a kitchen with conveniences of his era. Today, the home is an open garden that is open to the public to visit. Forestiere built the catacombs out of the farmland that he bought to raise a citrus empire in 1900.
When it became apparent that it was an impossible task, he spent the next 40 years carving out the catacombs and planting citrus trees and grapevines throughout the underground maze.