Forestiere Underground Gardens

The Forestiere Underground Gardens are among the most singular things in California — a subterranean world hand-dug over four decades by a Sicilian immigrant who wanted to escape the ferocious Central Valley heat. Baldassare Forestiere created a personal eden below the surface: winding passageways, vaulted rooms, underground grottos, and — most improbably — citrus trees growing in underground courtyards open to the sky. The trees are grafted with multiple varieties; one tree bears seven different kinds of citrus. Forestiere never finished his project; he died in 1946 still digging.

Guided tours of about 90 minutes take visitors through the accessible portions of the complex, covering the living quarters, fish pond, and the main underground orchards. The gardens are in the northwest part of Fresno, about 10 minutes from downtown. Tours run year-round but are most popular in summer, when the temperature contrast between the surface and underground is most dramatic. Book in advance for weekend visits.

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A story
Baldassare Forestiere arrived in California from Sicily in 1901, bought land in Fresno's north end, and discovered the soil was so hard and the summer heat so brutal that farming on the surface was nearly impossible. His solution was to go underground. He spent 40 years digging by hand with simple tools — no dynamite, no machinery — creating more than 10 acres of underground rooms, courtyards, and passages where the temperature stays a constant 70°F while the valley above bakes at 110°F.

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