The Royal Palace of Caserta (Reggia di Caserta) near Naples was once a royal residence, combining Baroque and Neoclassical styles. King Carlos III of the Bourbon dynasty of the Kingdom of Naples was envious after seeing the Palace of Versailles in France. He wanted a more luxurious and magnificent palace, so he ordered the construction of the Caserta Palace. Founded in 1752, the foundation was laid on the King’s birthday. The architect Luigi Vanvitelli was responsible for the entire project.
But the king never lived.
In 1759, Carlos III abdicated as King of Spain. In 1845, the Royal Palace of Caserta was completed.
Photo By Tango7174
A bit of history
During World War II, this was a rehabilitation center for soldiers of the US Fifth Army. Since 1943, during the Allied occupation, the Royal Palace of Caserta was the headquarters of the Allied forces in the Mediterranean. In April 1945, the German unconditional surrender to the Italian army was signed here.
Royal palace
The Royal Palace of Caserta is magnificent, 249 meters long, 184 meters deep, 38 meters high, and has 5 floors. It has 1,200 rooms and 1,742 windows. It is located in a 120-hectare park. It is the largest building in Europe in the 18th century. One of them is the largest royal residence in the world in terms of volume (over one million cubic meters). The interior decoration is extremely luxurious, known as the "Baroque swan song".
There are actually two buildings inside the rectangular palace, which cross each other to form four huge inner courtyards, each with an area of more than 3800 square meters. After entering the main entrance, there is a huge octagonal hall with a diameter of 15.22 meters, decorated with 20 columns. The left and right sides are the passages leading to the inner courtyard, and the middle is the three-story porch leading to the center of the palace.
A double staircase with a width of 18.50 meters and a height of 14.50 meters, with 117 steps:
The design of the Palatina Chapel is also derived from the Chapel of Versailles
park
The park of the Royal Palace of Caserta was also inspired by the French Palace of Versailles. Starting from the back door of the main building of the Royal Palace, it undulates and stretches along the hills, along with fountains and waterfalls, connecting the botanical garden.
