World-largest palace of equal elegance and resemblance to the Versailles - 18th-Century Royal Palace at Caserta with the Park, the Aqueduct of Vanvitelli, and the San Leucio Complex 549
What and Why
It might be a honest mistake to actually confuse between Caserta with Versailles, but the similarity is uncanny, especially the gardenscape. Depending on what your read, some classifies this palace as one of the top five palaces in Europe, together with Versailles, Schönbrunn of Vienna (Wien), Peterhof (Russian: Петерго́ф) of Saint Petersburg (Russian: Санкт-Петербург, Sankt-Peterburg) and Alhambra of Granada. A recent read does not seem to rank Caserta as high as it deserves but there is no mistake regarding its magnificent grandeur once you enter the complex. The UNESCO nomination describes it as 'the swansong of the spectacular art of the Baroque, from which it adopted all the features needed to create the illusions of multidirectional space', which personally I do feel is a bit of a hyperbole. But this personal subjectivity should not take anything away from this beautiful palace.
The Royal Palace is the centrepiece of the whole architectural composition and is located on a central axis connecting to the fountains in the park and the scenic backdrop of the waterfall, formed by the Aqueduct of Vanvitelli (Italian: Acquedotto Carolino).
Toponymy
'Caserta' derives from 'casa irta' in Latin, meaning 'home above'.
See
Royal Caserta Palace (Reggia di Caserta)
The Royal Caserta Palace (Reggia di Caserta) construction was initiated by the family of Charles III (né Charles de Bourbon), when he became king of Kingdom of Naples (Latin: Regnum Neapolitanum), a self-governing kingdom that was no longer part of the Spanish rule. Charles III decided in 1750 CE to build a new royal palace, to rival Versailles with the intention of making it the centre of the kingdom. The building was commissioned to the famed Italian architect Luigi Vanvitelli. However Charles never saw its completion, as he abdicated in mid-18th century CE to ironically become King of Spain, and the project was carried to only partial completion for his third son Ferdinand IV (Latin: Ferdinandus IV, né Ferdinando di Borbone) of the Kingdom of Naples.
The entire architectural plan follows closely that of the Versailles in order to demonstrate the tour de force of the empire, which is a typical rectangle with four inner courtyard. Fun fact: Geeks can easily recognise the area as the set location for Star Wars: Episode One - The Phantom Menace and Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones.
To start the palace tour, one have to walk up an enormous flight of grand marble staircase (German: Treppenhaus), the which is located at the cross-hair centre of the plan.
The layout of the palace follows a squarish Baroque style residence, which is common in France and Germany (German: Deutschland) during the time. Inside the palace there are five floors with over 1,200 rooms and 20 state apartments and one is led through all of them one-by-one. No one can finish all of them in one single tour!
The palace is by far the largest royal palace in the world in terms of volume, with more than 2 million m³. It also states that of all the royal residences inspired by the Palace of Versailles, the Caserta palace is the one that bears the greatest resemblance to the original model.
The throne room with a grand opulent frescoed ceiling.
The king's chamber.
Park (Parco)
The immense park is by far the most stunning and the highlight of the tour. If one thinks the palace is massive, wait until you walk at the park! As can be seen in the map above, it extends up a mountain with waterfalls bringing the water down to the fountains and pools on the level of the garden. Unfortunately when we were there it was raining heavily and forbid us a full appreciation of the park.
The park starts from the back façade of the palace, flanking a long alley with artificial fountains and cascades. The park steeps up to the little mountain afar the back of the palace. We were unable to take any good photographs from there as it was raining pretty heavily during our visit. The park is so massive that it may have taken us a few hours of walking. By the way the park was architected by Luigi's son Carlo Vanvitelli.
Aqueduct of Vanvitelli (Acquedotto Carolino)
The day before we also passed by the Aqueduct of Vanvitelli or Caroline Aqueduct (Acquedotto Carolino). The aqueduct is 55 m in height and is close to 530 m long along the stretch. Originally this aqueduct was built to bring waters to the fountains and also irrigate the once arid land. After the construction of this aqueduct, the area becomes one of the most fertile in the regions.
Eat and Drink
Mozzarella
Mozzarella comes from this region and is guaranteed by the European Union to be prepared by traditional recipe. Mozzarella is made entirely by buffalo milk and is either white or yellow as a result of the cow's diet. The name comes from the Italian word 'mozzare' meaning 'cut'. This cheese also came about because of the aqueduct: after the land had become fertile, farmers brought in African buffaloes and ranched them and gave birth to this water-based cheese.
Stay
We stayed in the Grand Hotel of Vanvitelli, which the driver told us are only for the good and the great! The hotel itself is a bit worn down but no one can mistake that it must have been one grand hotel. The atrium itself is extremely impressive and the fact is that we got the room through Trivago at a rate of EUR 100€ a night!
Getting There and Around
While you can drive there, you can only drive to the entrance outside the main courtyard. From there it is a 10 minute-walk to the entrance of the palace across the lawn. There is a train station at the same spot. The entry fee into the castle is 19.5€.
A good half day visit for the site, including the aqueduct, but if you want to include the park, make it a full day.
UNESCO Inscription
The monumental complex at Caserta, created by the Bourbon king Charles III in the mid-18th century to rival Versailles and the Royal Palace in Madrid, is exceptional for the way in which it brings together a magnificent palace with its park and gardens, as well as natural woodland, hunting lodges and a silk factory. It is an eloquent expression of the Enlightenment in material form, integrated into, rather than imposed on, its natural setting.
References
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