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Excursion in Caserta

We offer a professional service to take you on an excursion to Caserta, giving you the opportunity to discover the incomparable beauty of Caserta Royal Palace and beautiful gardens.

Caserta Palace

Caserta tourist information

Caserta Palace

18th-Century Royal Palace at Caserta with the Park, the Aqueduct of Vanvitelli, and the San Leucio Complex*

UNESCO World Heritage Site

The Royal Palace of Caserta, in Italian Reggia di Caserta, is a former royal residence in Caserta, constructed for the Bourbon kings of Naples. It was the largest palace and probably the largest building erected in Europe in the eighteenth century. In 1996, the Palace of Caserta was listed among the World Heritage Sites on the grounds that it was "the swan song of the spectacular art of the Baroque, from which it adopted all the features needed to create the illusions of multidirectional space".

History

The construction of the palace was begun in 1752 for Charles VII of Naples, who worked closely with his architect Luigi Vanvitelli. When Charles saw Vanvitelli's grandly-scaled model for Caserta it filled him with emotion "fit to tear his heart from his breast". In the end, he never slept a night at the Reggia, as he resigned from the throne in 1759 to become King of Spain, and the project was carried to completion for his third son and successor, Ferdinand IV of Naples.

The political and social model for Vanvitelli's palace was Versailles, which, though it is strikingly different in its variety and disposition, solves similar problems of assembling and providing for king, court and government in a massive building with the social structure of a small city, confronting a baroque view of a highly subordinated nature, la nature forcée. The Royal Palace of Madrid, where Charles had grown up, which had been devised by Filippo Juvarra for Charles' father, Felipe V of Spain, and also Charlottenburg provided models. A spacious octagonal vestibule seems to have been inspired by Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute in Venice, while the palatine chapel is most often compared to Robert de Cotte's royal chapel at Versailles.

The reasons for building the Palace were to have a new magnificent administrative capital of the Kingdom in Caserta and to protect the court from possible attacks from the sea. The King also decided to build a theatre, a large library, and a university. The Palace might have been a splendid place for court ceremonies, too.

Vanvitelli died in 1773: the construction was continued by his son Carlo, until it was ended in 1780.

As finished, the palace has some 1,200 rooms, two dozen state apartments, and a royal theatre modelled after the Teatro San Carlo of Naples.

The population of Caserta Vecchia was shifted 10 kilometers to make it available to the new palace. A silk manufactory at San Leucio resort, was disguised as a pavilion in the immense parkland.

A monumental avenue, 20 kilometers in length, which would have connected the Palace to Naples, was never realized.

In 1945 the palace was the site of the signing of terms of the unconditional German surrender of forces in Italy. The first surrender of German forces of the war. The agreement covered between 600,000 and 900,000 soldiers along the Italian Front including troops in sections of Austria.

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What to see in Caserta

To see:

  • Caserta Royal Palace
  • Park of Caserta Royal Palace

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Reviews from our customers

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Toonces - The BEST part of my 20 day trip to Paris and Italy -

BY FAR the best part of my 18 day trip to Paris and Italy! Our driver Luigi promptly arrived in a clean Mercedes and he was dressed to the nines and smelled expensive lol. He stopped wherever we wanted and opened doors like a perfect gentleman...

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TMJSR - Shore excursion to Sorrento, Positano and Amalfi from Naples -

We had an amazing Shore Excursion from Naples to Sorrento, Positano and Amalfi. We were picked up by David on time and he was a great guide with a very good knowledge of the Amalfi Coast. We visited the three towns with an hour...

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youniquorn - Excellent Service -

We just returned from a trip to the Amalfi Coast where we used three Benvenuto Driver services: - transfer from Rome to Marina del Cantone - trip to Positano, Amalfi and Ravello - return to Rome with a 2 hour stop in Pompeii ...

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sammchick - Great Tour of the Coast with Tony -

First of all John was very easy to deal with to set up the tour, even though I waited until the last minute to confirm with him. Tony, our driver was excellent. He suggested a route that brought us all the way to Amalfi first and then back to the cruise port....

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HelenF2175 - Best day trip -

We loved our day trip with Tony along the Amalfi coast and to Pompeii. We sang all the way and Tony was a great guide who really looked after us . He gave us plenty of time to roam and shop around POSITANO and AMALFI snd picked the....

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Ashley V - Great Tour and Transfer -

Giovanni with Benvenuto Tours provided excellence service when transferring from Naples to Sorrento. The following day he took me on a tour of the Amalfi Coast. He grew up in the area and was a wealth of knowledge....