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Fresno. Event Guide:
Forestiere Underground Gardens
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Contact Information:
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5021 West Shaw Avenue 
Fresno, CA 93722
559-271-0734
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Description:
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The Forestiere Underground Gardens is located in Fresno, California. It is an unusual, man-made creation built by Baldasare Forestiere, an immigrant from Sicily over a period of 40 years from 1906 to until his death in 1946. (The story began back in 1905, when Baldasare Forestiere, a Sicilian immigrant arrived in the San Joaquin Valley and purchased a parcel of land upon which he intended to grow trees and vines. Unfortunately, Baldasare's the land was a solid plate of harpan rock, which is utterly useless for agriculture. Undaunted and inspired Baldasare began to dig. Whether, as legend holds, he was wooing a sweetheart back in Sicily, or whether he remembered architecture from his childhood, Baldasare bored down through the hardpan. Over the next 40 years, he created a subterranean network of over a hundred niches, courtyards, patios, rooms and passageways. He used the native stone to create complex arches, pathways and planters. He used only hand tools, and when he died in 1946, he had spent a total of $300 on supplies. Contrary to what the name may imply, the Forestiere Underground Gardens are full of life and even light. Skylights and courtyards let in sunlight and rainwater, and fruit trees and grape vines abound, lit by the sun from above, and protected from heat and frost below. There are a wide variety of hybrids and grafted trees, and the underground temperature helps prevent against frost. Above the ground, where their crowns emerge, the trees look like low shrubs. It is still operated by members of the Forestiere family and can be considered a spectacular though unconventional example of vernacular architecture.
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