The Royal Palace of Caserta is the largest royal residence in the world. Together with the Carolino aqueduct and the viewpoint of San Leucio, it was included by UNESCO, in 1997, in the list of World Heritage Sites.

Commissioned by Charles of Bourbon, the laying of the first stone took place on January 20, 1752, designed by Luigi Vanvitelli: this was followed by his son Carlo and other architects. The palace was completed in 1845.

The royal palace has an area of 47 000 square meters: its length is 247 meters, a width of 190 and a height of 41; it has a rectangular shape with four inner courtyards with rounded corners of 45 degrees, each with a length of 74 meters by a width of 52; at the meeting point between the two arms, where, in the original project, a dome was to rise, there is a lantern. There are five floors: land, mezzanine, main floor, second floor and attic, as well as an underground floor, illuminated by loopholes, which housed cellars, kitchens and workshops. Internally there are 1 200 rooms, 34 stairs, while the windows are 1 742, for a total cost of 8,711,000 ducats.

The park of the Royal Palace of Caserta was designed by Luigi Vanvitelli and completed by his son Carlo, to whom several botanists collaborated. The architects were inspired by the Palace of Versailles and the Royal Palace of the Granja de San Ildefonso. Divided into Italian garden and English garden, the park has an area of 120 hectares for a length of almost three kilometers.

The Italian garden consists of a series of flower beds and fountains, which were fed by the Carolino aqueduct, built together with the palace: it also includes the so-called old forest where peschiera and Castelluccia are located. The English one was wanted by Queen Maria Carolina on the advice of her sister Marie Antoinette and the English minister in Naples Lord William Hamilton, following the wake of the Enlightenment fashion that spread in those years in Europe.

We recommend 5 things not to be missed:

The Throne Room is more than forty meters long, illuminated by six windows and characterized by significant gilding.

Two clocks in the shape of a bird’s cage: they were given to Maria Carolina by her sister Marie Antoinette.

Fountain of Diana and Actaeon in the park: it is linked to a very interesting myth unknown to most.

Bath of Venus: it is in the English Garden and was commissioned by Queen Maria Carolina of Habsburg Lorraine to Vanvitelli.

The Castelluccia, nata as a structure intended for military exercises of the little Ferdinand IV, the building was transformed in the nineteenth century in a place of delights and leisures.Are you coming with us to the Royal Palace of Caserta? 😊