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Charles III envisioned Naples’s extension towards the inland, a big metropolis and the capital city of his empire. The palace of Caserta was supposed to be the heart
of that vision.
The following historical events of the 19th century and the unification of Italy, which led to the loss of Naples as capital city, prevented that plan.
Construction of the square palace with 1200 rooms and
1790 windows began already in 1752, but couldn’t be completed until 1852 after many delays. Charles III passed the supervision of the construction work on to his son, Ferdinand IV, who had Vanvitelli’s design carried out
incompletely. Today, the lower floor houses the “Museo del Vanvitelliano” and on the first floor you can see the royal chambers, the Cappella Palatina, as well as an art gallery. Also worth seeing is the magnificently
decorated court theatre. Lots of movies have been shot in the rooms of the palace, which are full of atmosphere, like, for example, parts of “Star Wars – Episode I”.
From the gorgeous staircase you have a
beautiful view of the actual centrepiece of the palace: the wonderful park with wells and waterfalls, which attracts thousands of visitors every year. It spans over 3 km of hills and green meadows with an imaginative system of
fountains and nice wells running through it. The French Garden is followed by the English Garden with the swan lake and the Camellia trees from Japan, which wasn’t part of the original design of the park. Until today, it has
exotic plants from all over the world.
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