Aiming to a precise point, a large land free from trees where they had to arrange themselves in a carefully pre-established order, so as to draw the exact perimeter of a huge rectangle. On the longer sides the regiments of the king had lined up in good order, on the shorter ones the infantry specially arrived from Molise and Abruzzo. Eight cannons were placed in the corners. And there were still the queen's cavalry squadrons and dragons. The first to converge in the spot designated to host the long-awaited event. Destined to make that January 20 1752 go down in history. For seventeen years on that date, January 20, the birthday of the king, Charles of Bourbon, was celebrated in Naples and throughout the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. For his thirtysixth birthday, a special appointment was organized, far from Naples, in Caserta, in the area of Terra di Lavoro (land of work)where, by the will of the sovereign, the new capital would have risen, to mark the discontinuity of the new kingdom, finally autonomous, compared to over two centuries of submission to Spain. The heart of the decentralized capital was to be an immense palace, as a seal of the power of the new Bourbon royal dynasty and the growing prestige of the Kingdom in the European panorama. And just that morning the first stone of the new factory was scheduled to be laid.
The ceremony was organized with great pomp, in the presence of King Charles, Queen Amalia and the entire court. The perimeter formed by the deployment of the troops corresponded to that of the edifice to be built. In that space (where the choir of the royal chapel would later be placed) a luxurious pavilion was installed, with ten columns to support precious fabrics. Raised above the ground, was accessible via stairway. Inside, in the center, there was a large table covered with velvets and brocades and surmounted by a "strange" gold device, culminating in a lily.
To describe the ceremony in detail was one of the most respected guests, indeed the most important after the sovereigns: Luigi Vanvitelli, the great architect, already famous, chosen as designer and director of works for the construction of the palace.
According to his narration, the first guest to arrive at the agreed place was the apostolic nuncio, Ludovico Gualterio, welcomed by the clergy of the royal chapel. Soon after, the numerous courtiers invited to Caserta began to flock, with sumptuous clothes and elaborate hairstyles. The sovereigns arrived in the carriage last, accompanied by their large retinue.
King Charles and Queen Amalia went up into the pavilion and sat on two precious chairs reserved for them, surrounded by ministers, foreign ambassadors and a crowd of courtiers. Then the ceremony began, for which all the materials were already prepared. There was a marble box with an inscription dedicated to the apostolic Nunzio, who blessed it and in which the king and queen inserted several gold, silver and metal medals with their effigies and the facade of the structure to be to build. And there were two stones to bury: one with the names of the sovereigns and the date and another with a poetic quote by Vanvitelli.
The box was cemented over the stone of the sovereigns by the king, with his hands, and then tied with straps of crimson velvet and gold, before being lowered into the foundation pit, which suddenly opened under the table, where the stone was also placed at Vanvitelli's name. That solemn moment was accompanied by the cheers of the courtiers, the firing of rifles and the jubilation of the people, crowded outside the perimeter formed by the military.
Of that magnificent ceremony, in addition to the description by Vanvitelli, remains the depiction in the large fresco by Gennaro Maldarelli, which made a fine show of itself in the Throne Room since 1844. Also in the Royal Palace, the ceremonial axe and the silver trowel with ivory handles used by Charles of Bourbon in that memorable ceremony. The first day of the New Palace, began its history on that clear and sunny day two hundred and seventy years ago.
The Royal Palace of Caserta, an architectural masterpiece signed Luigi Vanvitelli
From that January 20 1752, when King Charles laid the first stone of the New Palace in the great plain, the works started immediately with alacrity, mobilizing hundreds of men, whose number was destined to increase even further. In charge of these men and to the care of every detail of the complex undertaking with his proverbial meticulousness, was the architect Luigi Vanvitelli, who before being director was the designer of the opera, conceived to celebrate the affirmation of the Bourbon power over the now autonomous kingdom of the south.Together with the enthusiastic sovereign promoter of the work, who had given him maximum trust from the beginning together with a budget basically unlimited, Vanvitelli proceeded swiftly in the construction of the palace inspired by the magnificence of Versailles, the palace wanted by the Sun King who, not surprisingly, was Carlo's great-grandfather.
The king was the first to inspect the impressive and ambitious project that Vanvitelli had presented to him in the autumn of 1751, a few months before the construction began. Not just a paper project. For the sovereign, the architect had some models made by an expert artisan.
Baroque masterpiece and great innovation
In imagining the sumptuous palace, the core of what was to become the new capital of the kingdom, Vanvitelli had put all his science and experience to good use. The great Italian tradition and the successive styles from the Renaissance onwards, were points of reference and inspiration for him. Thus, while interpreting the still prevailing Baroque style, of which his Palace is still considered the highest example in Italy, he decided to put elements that heralded the approaching Neoclassicism. His great technical preparation, suggested highly innovative solutions, destined to make school throughout the entire Europe. From the telescope effect able to integrate in an extraordinarily suggestive way the interior of the building with the surrounding park up to connecting the new factory with the capital on the sea, to the novelty of the grand staircase, without forgetting the hydraulic engineering works at service of the Via d'Acqua through the park and, upstream, up to the sources on the Taburno that feeds it.
Change of pace after King Charles moved to Spain
After the first stone of the building, a year later, in 1753, King Charles with Queen Amalia also attended the laying of the first stone of the aqueduct that would take its name from him. But even if proceeding quickly in those early years, when in 1759 the sovereign had to move to Madrid to ascend the throne of Spain, the construction was still far from being completed. And the departure of the one who most strongly wanted it had inevitable repercussions on the pace of the work, causing a significant slowdown. Disliked by Bernardo Tanucci, the strongman of the kingdom given the young age of the new king Ferdinand IV, a difficult phase began for Vanvitelli, also marked by a strong downsizing of the resources committed to Caserta, reverberating on the entire realization of the work . Then, in 1764, the cholera epidemic began, which was followed by a very severe famine continuing the following year, to further complicate the difficult situation.
The architect spent the last part of his life in Caserta, where he had gone to live to follow the construction site. Despite all the problems and the lengthening of time, Vanvitelli was still able to complete much of the structure he had designed. He died in Caserta on March 1, 1773.
After Luigi, Carlo Vanvitelli and other students
Even if the project to move the capital to Caserta faded away, the works on the Royal Palace continued under the direction of his son, Carlo Vanvitelli, who took charge of completing the various parts of the immense palace one after the other, including the interior. With the collaboration of the best artisans and artists of the kingdom, Charles dedicated himself to decorating, embellishing and equipping the royal apartments and halls with all the comforts possible at that time. In particular, the rising prince's apartment, which was completed first, began to be inhabited in 1780, when King Ferdinand IV decided to stay in the palace during his visit in Caserta. Ferdinand himself with Queen Maria Carolina was present at the inauguration of the Palatine Chapel on Christmas 1784.
With the advent of the Neapolitan Republic in 1799, all royal properties were expropriated and most of the furnishings were taken and plundered, only to be partially recovered with the return of the Bourbons to the throne of Naples. In the meantime, history had recorded the so-called French Decade which, especially under the impulse of Gioacchino Murat, marked an important resumption of activity in Caserta, under the direction of the architect Antonio De Simone.
In 1821 Carlo Vanvitelli died, but the monumental work that begun almost seventy years earlier was yet unfinished. The last part remained was the most representative place of the building, the Throne Room, completed by the architect Gaetano Genovese at the behest of Ferdinand II, who wanted to present it on the occasion of the Science Congress, held in Naples in 1845. It was that , therefore, the last act of the construction of the Palace. It took almost a century to complete it as it was conceived by Luigi Vanvitelli, even with the sacrifice, for economic reasons, of the four corner towers, the central dome and the military quarters originally provided in the square.
From the Unification of Italy
On May 22, 1859, King Ferdinand II left his earthly life in the palace of Caserta, which would remain property of the Bourbons only for a very short time. A little more than a year later, on 21 October 1860, in fact, Garibaldi wrote the letter in which he formally handed over the "Terra di Lavoro" to the Savoy king Vittorio Emanuele II. The Royal Palace of Caserta remained property of the House of Savoy until 1919, when the building and all its magnificent surroundings were separated from the Crown heritage to becine heritage of the Italian State.
The Second World War did not respect the splendid royal residence of Caserta. The bombings hit hard, causing extensive damage and the loss of furnishings and works of art. And in October 1943, inside the Palace, among its sumptuous furnishings, witnesses of an era, even the headquarters of the Allies was established.
It was in 1997 that the largest Royal Palace in Europe, an absolute masterpiece by Luigi Vanvitelli, obtained the most coveted recognition with its inclusion in the Unesco Heritage.
In Caserta the largest Royal Palace in the world
An immense Palace. The largest of those commissioned by Charles of Bourbon in the capital of his first kingdom and surrounding area. But also the largest ever, even greater than Versailles from which his project was inspired, with its 47 thousand square meters of covered spaces and 120 hectares of park. A world record that endured over the centuries, even if the vastness of its spaces is only part of its charm, given the innovative scope of Luigi Vanvitelli's design and architectural solutions, the countless works of art that are kept there, the furnishings and precious objects, an endowment of advanced services, without neglecting the naturalistic value and the green suggestions of the park.
With its 36 meters high divided on five floors, 1200 rooms and 1742 windows, the building begins to reveal its extraordinary grandeur already in the facades, which spread over a total area of 74 thousand square meters. The main facade has an advanced central body adorned with a pediment. The internal facades facing the garden, are the same, but around the windows there are fluted pilasters. The chosen colors are antique white and pink, obtained using Bellona travertine, Carrara's white marble and bricks, over which Vanvitelli had a glaze passed over to create an aging effect.
The building has a rectangular plan. Within the rectangle, two buildings intersect in a cross, so as to form four identical courtyards, each of 3800 square meters.
The telescope effect
At first glance from the outside of the building, as soon as you pass the main entrance, the magic created by the genius of Vanvitelli follows. To connect the Palace to its park, the architect devised a gallery that functioned as an optical telescope, allowing from the inside the view of the entire waterway, three kilometers long, up to its origin, the waterfall at the foot of the mount Briano, fed by the Carolino Aqueduct. In the original project, the "telescope" was ment to visually connect the new Palace of Caserta with the Royal Palace of Naples, via a straight avenue twenty kilometers long. Something that was never built, except for some parts.
From the lower vestibule along the Staircase of honor
Half of the existing "telescope" coincides with the lower vestibule, with an octagonal plan, from which center all four internal courtyards can be admired.
The vestibule leads to the first room of the Reggia which was completed under the direction of Luigi Vanvitelli, even if it wasn't planned in the original project: the Court Theater, a construction strongly desired by King Charles, begun just three years after that of the palace, even if it was inaugurated by the successor Ferdinand IV, on the occasion of the Carnival of 1769. The theater of Caserta, a small jewel, was inspired by the San Carlo for the choice of the absolutely innovative horseshoe shape, which guaranteed a excellent acoustics and maximum visibility of the scene. Equipped with all the most appropriate and new technical solutions. And in fact, the court theater hosted many shows from the very beginning, also because the king preferred to attend the performances scheduled at the San Carlo there, in private.
In front of the theater's entrance stands a gigantic three-meter high statue of the Latin Hercules, a Roman copy of a work by Lysippos, brought to light together with the more famous Farnese Hercules, part of the Farnese Collection inherited from King Charles.
On the right side of the vestibul, an undisputed, daring architectural masterpiece signed by Luigi Vanvitelli rises for 32 meters: the Staircase of honor, an admirable Baroque scenography chosen as a model for the main stairways subsequently built in Europe.
The central ramp is ten meters wide and in its final part is guarded by two lions of light marble, the right one by Tommaso Solari and the left one by Paolo Persico. It is then divided into two parallel lateral ramps, separated by a wall equipped with three statues, in the center, the statue of Majesty Regia by Tommaso Solari and, on the sides, of Merit by Andrea Violani and of the Truth by Gaetano Salomone. On the landing of the two ramps it's possible to admire both the lower vestibule with the large statue of Hercules and the upper one, always octagonal, which is dominated by a vault, another complex architectural creation, since it is actually a structure on two levels. Above the lower one was the orchestra that played to accompany the ascent of the king and the guests of honor. In the center, an oculus allowed to admire the upper level where a false vault is suspended from the "real" vault anchored to the roof, painted with a fresco by Gerolamo Starace depicting the royal palace of Apollo.
The Palatine Chapel
From the upper vestibule, flooded with light from the large windows, there is an unforgettable view over the staircase. On the opposite side of the staircase stands the entrance to the Palatine Chapel. King Charles wanted it to be inspired by that of Versailles, from which differs, among other things, for its location on the noble floor. It was another great work by Vanvitelli, a magnificent synthesis of Italian art from the Renaissance to the Baroque, so much so that the origin of Neoclassicism can be recognized in it. The great architect lavished plays of light and perspectives , enriched it with sumptuous decorations, endowing it with an important coffered ceiling, oval windows and precious marble. Which, however, was not used in the apse, in stucco, while the tabernacle, intended to be covered with precious stones, was then made of polychrome wood.
Inaugurated on Christmas 1784, it was severely hit by bombs in 1943, causing significant damage.
The upper vestibule is also entrance to the noble floor, which is divided into four parts, reason why the royal apartments take the name of Quarters. To the south-west is the Fourth of the King, to the southeast the Fourth of the Crown Prince, the only one inhabited since 1780, because it was the first to be completed; in the north-west wing is the Queen's Quarter. These rooms are part of the tour of the Royal Apartments Museum, distinguished between 19th century apartments (those of the king and the crown prince) and 18th century (that of the queen).
The King's rooms
With its neoclassical, 19th century imprint, it was famous in Europe for the preciousness of the furnishings and decorations, designed by Carlo Vanvitelli, both influenced by the taste and advice of the first court artist under Ferdinand IV, Jakob Philip Hackert . In the king's halls are kept the works of the German painter dedicated to the docks of the kingdom: The harvest of San Leucio, The ferry on the Sele, View of Persano, The English garden, The Monte Solaro in Capri with an English palace, View of Cava de ' Tirreni and View of Ischia.
The furniture by Adam Weisweiller and those specially made in France are of great value.
In 1859 Ferdinand II died in Caserta, perhaps poisoned, but at the time it was thought that he had been victim of an infectious disease, so it was decided to burn the bedroom of the sovereign and Queen Maria Teresa. An empire-style room with numerous reference to the military life. It was completely refurbished during the Napoleonic period by Giacchino Murat.
The authors of the frescoed parts were Giuseppe Cammarano, Gennaro Bisogni, Agostino Fondi, Gaspare Mugnai, while the paintings are by Raffaele Postiglione. In the Vestition Room, now the Winter Room, the name borrowed for the fresco on the vault by Fedele Fischetti and Filippo Pascale. Adorned with five paintings of hunting and military scenes by Hackert, with wood, lead and gold carvings by Gennaro Fiore, gilding by Bartolomeo Di Natale, overmirrors by Girolamo Natale.
King Joachim Murat's apartment, with its frescoed anteroom, the bedroom and the red silk sitting room of San Leucio, housed most of the furnishings from the palace of Portici, which after the unification of Italy was sold by Vittorio Emanuele of Savoia to the Province of Naples.
The Fourth of the Crown Prince with the Rooms of the Seasons is also part of the museum itinerary.
The Queen's rooms
Due to the sumptuousness of the furnishings and the clear Baroque layout, it is considered an 18th century apartment. The visit to the boudoir, located near Maria Carolina's bedroom, is very interesting. Consisted of several "service" rooms, as we would say today, all very finely decorated: the work room, the bath room, the toilet room and the dressing room.
In the work room, inspired by the famous Porcelain Lounge in Portici, there were spaces for music and embroidery. The walls lined with yellow satin feature numerous mirrors from the royal factory of Castellammare with the famous “tomato chandelier”. In the dedicated room stands a large bathtub in white Carrara marble, lined with copper. The apartment was equipped with a plumbing system that provided hot and cold water. There was also a bidet, which the Piedmontese engineers in charge of making the inventory after the unification of Italy, cataloged as "a strange object in the shape of a guitar". In the toilet room, made of brass and inlaid wood, destroyed in the last war, there was running water and a sewer connection. And there was no shortage of frescoed walls with plant decorations according to the model of the paintings of the excavations of Herculaneum.
In the dressing room or Cabinet of the Stuccos, there are rococo style wardrobes, huge mirrors from Murano, frescoed works by Fedele Fischetti and for decoration the golden applications by Gennaro Fiore, also author of a particular five legged console, and by Bartolomeo Di Natale. On one of the windows there is a valuable musical cage clock by Jacques Pierre Drotz, a gift to Maria Carolina from her sister Marie Antoinette of France. The wardrobe room features dressers in light green with rose decorations and was adjacent to the maids room, equipped with ironing boards, with beds and another room for making coffee and chocolate.
Collections of books and documentary heritage
Along the eastern side of the building is the Palatine Library, consisting of two antechambers and three frescoed rooms, housing 14 thousand volumes, as well as two barometers, two globes and a brass telescope. Of particular importance are the drawings of the Real Palace Statement with the original project by Luigi Vanvitelli.
The Historical Archive of Ferdinand IV is made of ten thousand envelopes of documents and volumes dating back to a period from the 15th century to the mid 20th century.
The Pinacoteca houses Hackert's Views of the docks of the Kingdom.
Every year, at Christmas, until 1845, it was tradition that a nativity scene was set up in the Palace, based on an original project. The whole court participated in the work, including the sovereigns, who were very passionate about the sacred representation that followed rules codified over time for the construction of the cork rock and the main scenes. The terracotta shepherds, with clothes sewn with the silks of San Leucio and great attention to detail, were also the work of a well known artists, such as Sanmartino. In the white Room of the Crib of Court, with its particular elliptical shape, there is a precious 19th century nativity scene of 1200 figurines, inspired by the Naples of the previous century.
The Throne Room
Also on the main floor of the building, introduced by the Room of Marte and the Room fo Astrea, is the huge Throne Room, forty meters long, second in size only to the entrance gallery.
Its construction started during the French decade, in 1811, commissioned by Gioacchino Murat to the architect Antonio De Simone, but its completion had to wait until 1845, when King Ferdinand II entrusted it to Pietro Bianchi, architect of San Francesco di Paola, later followed by Gaetano Genovese, starting from 1839.
On the short walls, two bas-reliefs stand out between two pairs of flat columns, depicting the Fame in gilded stucco, work of Tino Angelini and Tommaso Arnaud.
On the long walls, there are 28 Corinthian pillars following one another, fluted and coupled with capitals by Gennaro Aveta. The barrel vault is studded with gilding, rich in late-empire decorations, illuminated by lunettes. Bourbons’ symbols are evident on the upper doors; the architrave of the room houses the portraits of every king of Naples, from Ruggiero the Norman to Ferdinand II except for the french kings. A group of decoration and ornament artists worked in the room. A value not only artistic, but also historical, is in the fresco of 1844, signed by Gennaro Maldarelli, The laying of the first stone of the building on January 20, 1752. The floor is in painted terracotta with a marble effect. At the back of the room is the throne with lions as armrests and sirens in the background. Originally red with golden lilies, today it is upholstered in light blue velvet.
It was the last room to be completed in the Palace, inaugurated in 1845 on the occasion of the Science Congress.
