ROYAL PALACE OF CASERTA TOUR
Royal Palace of Caserta tour: inside the largest “Italian” royal palace in the world.
- Historical interest 100%
- Fun 80%
- Activity Level 100%
Our Royal Palace of Caserta tour is a half -day private guided tour.
Royal Palace of Caserta is located only 30 minutes by car from Naples, the Royal Palace of Caserta is a unique example of Baroque architecture of the 18th century. The UNESCO inscribed both the Royal Palace and its Park as a World Heritage Site in 1997. ..
Back in 1751, King Charles of Naples commissioned the construction of a royal palace to the Italian architect Luigi Vanvitelli, with the purpose of exceeding the Royal Palace built in Versailles a century before. In fact, looking at the Royal Palace in Caserta, one can see resemblances both with Versailles in Paris as the El Escorial in Madrid (the King’s Royal Palace). Since Naples was the kingdom’s capital and, for this reason, vulnerable to attacks from the enemies, the King chose Caserta as the perfect place to build his mansion, surrounded by the nature and able to run away in case of attacks. In 1843, the Bourbon ordered the construction of a train station just in front of the Royal Palace in order to be able to reach the palace by train.
Considered as a monumental complex, the palace and the park extend on an area of 47.000 square meters. The Royal Palace is made up of 5 floors, 1200 rooms and counts 1742 windows. The interiors brim with artworks: stuccos, low reliefs, frescos and even sculptures. Fans of the saga “Star Wars” will surely recognize the setting of two movies filmed inside the Palace. The art gallery houses still-life paintings, portrays of the Bourbon family and war scenes. Among the several rooms that compose the palace, the Sala del trono is the largest one and it was designated to receive relevant guests such as kings and aristocrats.
After the death of King Charles (which occurred before the construction was completed), Ferdinand I became King of Naples. He married the Austrian princess Maria Carolina of Austria, and it is said that when she moved to the Palace, she took with her, along with her belongings, a huge amount of books, such that six rooms were assigned to reading activities. The library is linked to the rooms of the Queen and tourists can admire reliefs and frescos realized by the architect Vanvitelli.
There are also theories regarding the Queen Maria Carolina d’Asburgo about being a Mason disciple; evidences show esoteric references inside the Bagno di Venere, an English garden where existing objects such as the Venus’ Statue, together with traces of an old pyramid, a Neogothic sepulcher and a temple, refer to Masonry. The Venus’ statue portrays Venus as she comes out of the water in a lake surrounded by a wood.
The park extends on an area of 120 hectars and it is built on the model of a classic Italian garden: it has large lawns, squared flowerbed and fountains. It includes both an Italian garden and an English one.
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Highlights and what's included
- Accessible: Visit Accessible website
- Duration: Half Day
- Places of interest: CASERTA
- Exclusivity: All our tours are PRIVATE, not sharing with other guests
- Languages: All languages available on request
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