CASERTA, Italy - If you are the Bourbon
King Charles VII, His Holy Royal Majesty, King of Naples and Sicily and
Jerusalem, Infante of Spain, Duke of Parma and Piacenza, and the son of the King
of Spain and the Queen of Saxony, when you say you want a new palace, the only
question you are asked is “how big”.
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| The Reggia di Caserta |
“Give me a magnificent new royal court in a place
safe from attacks from the sea. I want it to be far from the congestion of
Naples and the revolt-prone Neapolitans,” Charles said to Italian
architect/engineer, Luigi Vanvitelli, “and make it look something like
Versailles, but just a little bit bigger.”
What Vanvitelli gave him was not just bigger
than Versailles, but far more beautiful. He gave him the magnificent Reggia di
Caserta, a 2,529,519 square
foot palace, with four large interior courtyards, 1,200
rooms, 1,742 windows, two dozen apartments, including a 25
room Royal Apartment, and 34 splendid marble staircases. There is also a full
size theatre that replicates the beautiful San Carlo opera house in Naples.
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| The Throne Room |
Even the gardens were glorious, and
they soon came to be known as the most beautiful garden in all of Europe. As
for the King’s safety, Vinvitelli kept the Royal troops close at hand, housed
in barracks within the palace.
Historians have written that the first
time Charles saw the architect’s model for Caserta, it brought him to tears.
Caserta truly was the grandest, most sumptuous palace he had ever seen. But it wasn’t the size of the building that
won the King’s heart, it was its beauty.
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| A Grand Staircase |
The first stone was laid on January 20,
1752, the King’s 36th birthday, and work moved along at a brisk pace
until 1759 when Charles’ father, the King of Spain, died. As it was Charles’
responsibility to accede to the Spanish throne, it meant that he would have to
leave Naples. As a result he never spent a single night in Caserta.
After Charles left Italy, work slowed
down on the palazzo, and when Luigi Vanvitelli died in 1774, the building was
still far from being completed. Carlo Vanvitelli, Luigi’s son and then other
architects, who had trained at the school of Vanvitelli, stepped in, and in the
early years of the new century, they put the finishing touches on the grand
royal residence.
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| Coming Down the Grand Staircase |
Caserta became a wonder of the world. Nothing
like it had ever been seen before. It was the largest palace, and one of the
largest buildings constructed in Europe during the entire 18th century. In
1997, the palace was designated a UNESCO World Heritage
Site; its nomination described it as “rivaling
Versailles and the Royal Palace in Madrid.”
The judges at UNESCO praised Caserta
for the exceptional way it brings together a magnificent palace with its park
and gardens, as well as natural woodland and hunting lodges. They ended by saying Caserta was "the
last example of spectacular Baroque architecture”. It marked the end of an era.
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| A Reception Room |
Fast forward to the 1940’s, and Caserta
was no longer fulfilling its role as a royal palace, but serving as the
headquarters of the US and British Armies. Its place in history was sealed in
1945 when Germany signed the terms of unconditional surrender of its forces in
Italy at the palace.
When the war was over, and Italy started
getting back on its feet, the palace changed roles again and became a backdrop
for some of the films being made by both American studios and the Italian film
industry at Rome’s Cinecitta.
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| Another Reception Room |
In 1954, a young Gina Lollobrigida,
whose wardrobe seemed to consist entirely of snug fitting strapless gowns, is
seen singing and dancing her way around the palace in a film called “Beautiful
But Dangerous”.
In the American film Anzio, starring
Robert Mitchum and Peter Falk, in one scene a soldier is shown swinging from an
elaborate chandelier in the palace ballroom, One can only hope it was a replica,
and not the real thing.
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| The Palace Opera House |
George Lucas used the palace for his
“Star Wars” movies. It was Queen Amidala’s royal palace on Naboo in The Phantom
Menace, and in 2002’s “Attack of the Clones”, it was the palace of Queen
Jamillia.
And through it all the royal palace
held its head high and kept its dignity. Today the magnificent and breathtaking
Reggia di Caserta is an overlooked Italian treasures. It’s hard to say if the
problem is its location, or if tourists just don’t know about it. It must be the latter for the Royal Palace of Caserta is just a 45-minute train
ride from Naples, and a short five-minute walk from the station.
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| The Lake in the Garden |
Once there, you can take a guided tour, or tour the
palace on your own and marvel at the gold and marble decorated rooms, including
the Throne Room and the 25 room Royal Apartment. But the highlight of the
Reggia is the sprawling garden, which stretches out about two miles behind the
palace.
If you follow the line of reflecting pools, the ones
ringed with statues, you’ll end up at a 256 ft waterfall at the far end of the
grounds. And then there is the artificial lake where mock naval battles used to
be staged for the entertainment of the court. To insure an adequate supply of
water, an aqueduct was built specifically to feed the many fountains and water
features within the grounds, including the reflecting pools, the waterfall and
the lake.
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| Fountain Detail |
The complex also includes a bookshop and restaurant,
and bicycles can be rented to fully explore the grounds.
The Caserta is closed on Tuesdays, and
also on
January 1st, Easter Monday, May 1st, and December
25th. Some of the closures extend to the days before and after a holiday, so
its best to check the Caserta website before you go. Also, closing times vary
depending on the season. For more information check the web sites below.
http://www.reggiadicaserta.beniculturali.it/index.php/orari-timetable/timetable.html
Copyright © Phyllis Macchioni 2016
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