ROYAL PALACE OF CASERTA

The Royal Palace of Caserta is a royal palace, with a park attached, located in Caserta. It is the largest royal residence in the world by volume and the historical owners were the Bourbons of Naples, in addition to a brief period in which it was inhabited by the Murat. In 1997 it was declared by UNESCO, together with the aqueduct of Vanvitelli and the complex of San Leucio, a world heritage site. The Royal Palace of Caserta was commissioned by the King of Naples Carlo di Borbone, who, taken from a ” competition “with the French royals and eager to donate to Naples structures that could play a role of capital city of European level, decided to inaugurate a palace that could rival in magnificence and grandeur with that of Versailles. For security reasons, the chosen locality was old Caserta about 15 km north of the capital. For its creation the sovereign turned to the architect Luigi Vanvitelli, at that time engaged in the restoration work of the Basilica of Loreto on behalf of the State Pontifical. The king asked that the project include, in addition to the palace, the park and the arrangement of the surrounding urban area, with the supply from a new aqueduct (Carolino Aqueduct) that crossed the adjoining complex of San Leucio. The new palace had to be a symbol of the new Bourbon state and show power and grandeur, but also be efficient and rational. The project was part of the broader political plan of King Charles of Bourbon, who probably also wanted to move some administrative structures of the state into the new Reggia, connecting it to the capital Naples with a monumental avenue of over 15 km. However, this plan was only partially realized; even the royal palace itself was not completed by the dome and the corner towers originally planned. Vanvitelli arrived in Caserta in 1751 and immediately began the design of the building, commissioned with the obligation of making it one of the most beautiful in Europe. On November 22 of that year the architect submitted the final draft for approval to the King of Naples. Two months later, on January 20, 1752, the king’s birthday, during a solemn ceremony in the presence of the royal family with squadrons of cavalry and dragons that marked the perimeter of the building, the first stone was laid. This moment is remembered by the fresco by Gennaro Maldarelli that stands in the vault of the Sala del Trono. In 1787 the writer Goethe arrived while he was performing his Grand Tour, which astonished by the gardens described that visit: «The location is of exceptional beauty, in the most luxuriant plain of the world, but with extensive gardens that extend to the hills; an aqueduct induces an entire river, which water the palace and its vicinity, and this water mass can be transformed, pouring it on artificial rocks, into a wonderful waterfall. The gardens are beautiful and harmonize very much with this district which is a single garden.

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