18th-Century Royal Palace at Caserta with the Park, the Aqueduct of Vanvitelli, and the San Leucio Complex^a
UNESCO World Heritage Site

State Party	Italy
Type	Cultural
Criteria	i, ii, iii, iv
Identification	#549
Regionb	Europe and North America
Inscription History San Leucio resort or San Leucio Complex In 1750 Charles VII of Naples selected this place for an unusual social and tecnological experiment, a different model of production based on technical innovation and alert to the needs of workers. ... UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) is a specialized agency of the United Nations established in 1945. ... A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a specific site (such as a forest, mountain, lake, desert, monument, building, complex, or city) that has been nominated and confirmed for inclusion on the list maintained by the international World Heritage Programme administered by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, composed of 21 State... ImageMetadata File history File links Download high resolution version (1000x664, 249 KB) Summary Source from German Wikipedia [1] Beschreibung, Quelle und Lizenz Beschreibung: Der bourbonische Königspalast in Caserta Quelle: Selbst fotografiert Fotograf oder Zeichner: Manuel Mauer Datum: 15. ... As of 2006, there are a total of 830 World Heritage Sites located in 138 State Parties. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Italy. ... A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a specific site (such as a forest, mountain, lake, desert, monument, building, complex, or city) that has been nominated and confirmed for inclusion on the list maintained by the international World Heritage Programme administered by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, composed of 21 State... This is a list of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Europe. ...
Formal Inscription:	1997 21st Session
a Name as officially inscribed on the WH List b As classified officially by UNESCO A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a specific site (such as a forest, mountain, lake, desert, monument, building, complex, or city) that has been nominated and confirmed for inclusion on the list maintained by the international World Heritage Programme administered by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, composed of 21 State...

The Palace of Caserta, in Italian Reggia di Caserta, is a former royal residence in Caserta, near Naples, constructed for the Borbone 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".^[1] The kingdom of Naples was neither powerful nor prosperous when Caserta was built, and it has been unflatteringly described by the historian Edward Crankshaw as "a colossal monument to minuscule glory" and a reviewer of George Hersey, Architecture, Poetry, and Number in the Royal Palace at Caserta, found that "interpretive description is palsied by monotony, the principal quality of the palace and its garden."^[2] Caserta, near Naples was certainly the largest palace and probably the largest building erected in Europe in the 18th century. ... Naples (Italian: , Neapolitan: Nàpule, from Greek Νεάπολη < Νέα Πόλις Néa Pólis New City) Capital of the Campania region and the Province of Naples. ... The Kingdom of Naples was born out of the division of the Kingdom of Sicily after the Sicilian Vespers rebellion of 1282. ... The quintessential medieval European palace: Palais de la Cité, in Paris, the royal palace of France. ... A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a specific site (such as a forest, mountain, lake, desert, monument, building, complex, or city) that has been nominated and confirmed for inclusion on the list maintained by the international World Heritage Programme administered by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, composed of 21 State... Adoration, by Peter Paul Rubens. ...

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. Charles III of Spain - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... Luigi Vanvitelli (Naples, May 12, 1700 – March 1, 1773, Caserta), an engineer as well as the most prominent 18th-century Italian architect, practiced a sober classicizing academic Late Baroque style that made an easy transition to Neoclassicism. ... King Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies (January 12, 1751 - January 4, 1825). ...

The throne room.

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.^[3] 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. Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 800 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (1600 × 1200 pixel, file size: 594 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Caserta Palace Metadata This file contains... Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 800 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (1600 × 1200 pixel, file size: 594 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Caserta Palace Metadata This file contains... Versailles (pronounced in French), formerly de facto capital of the kingdom of France, is now a wealthy suburb of Paris and is still an important administrative and judicial center. ... East Palacio Real de Madrid North Palacio Real redirects here. ... Filippo Juvarra also spelled Filippo Juvara, Italian architect and scene-designer, was born in Messina March 7,1678 and died in Madrid January 31,1736. ... King Philip V of Spain (1683-1746) was king of Spain from 1700 to 1746, the first of the Bourbon dynasty in Spain. ... Schloss Charlottenburg, front view Schloβ Charlottenburg is the largest existing palace in Berlin. ... The Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute (Basilica of St Mary of Health/Salvation), commonly known simply as the Salute, is one of the largest churches of Venice and has the status of a minor basilica. ... Venice (Italian: Venezia, Venetian: Venezsia) is the capital of region Veneto, and has a population of 271,663 (census estimate January 1, 2004). ... Robert de Cotte (1656–Paris, 15 July 1735) was a French architect-administrator, under whose design control of the royal buildings of France from 1699, the earliest notes presaging the Rococo style were introduced. ...

The reasons for building the Palace were to have a new magnificent administrative capital of the Kingdom in Caserta and to preserve the court by possible attacks from the sea; as well the King 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. 1780 was a leap year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ...

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 San Carlo is a famous opera house in Naples, Italy. ...

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. San Leucio resort or San Leucio Complex In 1750 Charles VII of Naples selected this place for an unusual social and tecnological experiment, a different model of production based on technical innovation and alert to the needs of workers. ...

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

Overview

The palace has a rectangular plan, measuring 247 x 184 m. The four sides are connected by two orthogonal arms, forming four inner courts, each measuring more than 3,800 m².

Behind the facades of its matching segmental ranges of outbuildings that flank the giant forecourt, a jumble of buildings arose to facilitate daily business. In the left hand arc was built as barracks. Here, later, during World War II the soldiers of the US Fifth Army recovered in a "rest centre". Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000...

Of all the royal residences inspired by the Palace of Versailles, the Reggia of Caserta is the one bearing the greatest resemblance to the original model: the unbroken balustraded skyline, the slight break provided by pavilions within the long, somewhat monotonous facade. As at Versailles, a large aqueduct was required to bring water for the prodigious water displays. Like its French predecessor, the palace was designed to be the powerhouse of an absolute Bourbon monarchy in the true Baroque fashion. A solecism at Caserta is that above the piano reale, the King's floor, is another floor of equal architectural value and grandeur. The enfilades of Late Baroque saloni were the heart and seat of government, as well as displays of national wealth. The palace also provided suitable housing for the royal family and the court of the Kingdom of Naples, the Palace housed the offices of government bureaucracy a national library, a university, a national theatre, all apart and free from the disorder and squalor of Naples. Thus the King of Naples at Caserta was free from the mob and factions of his capital in the same way as Versailles had freed Louis XIV from Paris. Besides its size and grandeur, it also had the advantage of being inland, and hence more defensible, than the old Royal Palace in Naples, which fronted the Bay of Naples and hence was vulnerable to attack from the sea. To provide the King with extra protection a barracks was also housed within the precincts of the palace. The Château de Versailles, or Versailles, is a royal château in Versailles, France. ... Adoration, by Peter Paul Rubens. ... The Kingdom of Naples was born out of the division of the Kingdom of Sicily after the Sicilian Vespers rebellion of 1282. ...

The wide central entrance carriageway has, today, been incorporated into the city's automobile circulation.

A view of the park.

Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 800 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (800 × 600 pixel, file size: 141 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Caserta Palace Metadata This file contains... Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 800 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (800 × 600 pixel, file size: 141 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Caserta Palace Metadata This file contains...

The park

The garden, a typical example of the baroque extension of formal vistas, stretch for 120 ha, partly on hilly terrain. It is inspired by the park of Versailles, but it is commonly regarded as superior in beauty. The park starts from the back façade of the palace, flanking a long alley with artificial fountains and cascades. There is an English garden in the upper part designed in the 1780s by Carlo Vanvitelli and the London-trained plantsman-designer John Graefer, recommended to Sir William Hamilton by Sir Joseph Banks.^[4] It is an early Continental example of an "English garden" in the svelte naturalistic taste of Capability Brown. William Hamilton Sir William Douglas Hamilton (December 13, 1730–April 6, 1803) was a Scottish diplomat, antiquarian, archaeologist and volcanologist. ... Joseph Banks Sir Joseph Banks (February 13, 1743 - June 19, 1820) was the British naturalist and botanist on Cooks first great voyage (1768-1771) and some 75 species bear Banks name. ... Capability Brown, by Nathaniel Dance, ca. ...

The fountains and cascades, each filling a vasca ("basin"), with architecture and hydraulics by Luigi Vanvitelli at intervals along a wide straight canal that runs to the horizon, rivalled those at Peterhof outside St. Petersburg. These include: Peterhof: the Samson Fountain and Sea Channel Peterhof (Russian: , Petergof, originally Piterhof, Dutch for Peters Court) is a series of palaces and gardens, laid out on the orders of Peter the Great, and sometimes called the Russian Versailles. It is located about twenty kilometers west and six kilometers south... Saint Petersburg (Russian: &#1057;&#1072;&#1085;&#1082;&#1090;-&#1055;&#1077;&#1090;&#1077;&#1088;&#1073;&#1091;&#769;&#1088;&#1075;, English transliteration: Sankt-Peterburg), colloquially known as &#1055;&#1080;&#1090;&#1077;&#1088; (transliterated Piter), formerly known as Leningrad (&#1051;&#1077;&#1085;&#1080;&#1085;&#1075;&#1088;&#1072;&#769;&#1076;, 1924&#8211;1991) and...

• the Fountain of Diana and Actaeon (sculptures by Paolo Persico, Brunelli, Pietro Solari);
• The Fountain of Venus and Adonis (1770-80);
• The Fountain of the Dolphins (1773-80);
• the Fountain of Aeolus;
• the Fountain of Ceres.

A large population of figures from classical Antiquity were modelled by Gaetano Salomone for the gardens of the Reggia, and executed by large workshops. This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... In Roman mythology, Ceres was the goddess of growing plants (particularly cereals) and of motherly love. ...

Film locations

Caserta was used as the location for Queen Amidala's Royal Palace on Naboo in the 1999 film Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. The same room was also used in Mission: Impossible III as the Vatican City. In fact, the square where the Lamborghini is blown up is actually the square inside the Palace. Padmé Naberrie Skywalker, also Her Royal Highness, Queen Amidala of the Naboo and later Senator Amidala of Naboo (46 - 19 BBY), is a fictional character in the Star Wars universe played by Natalie Portman. ... Film poster for Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace is a 1999 film by George Lucas starring Liam Neeson, Ewan McGregor, Natalie Portman, and Jake Lloyd. ... Automobili-Lamborghini S.p. ...

Notes

This article is about the U.S. military building. ... Sigfried Giedon (April 14, 1888, Prague – April 10, 1968, Zürich) was a Bohemia-born Swiss historian of architecture, and critic for architecture. ...

External links

• Official website
• ItalianVisits.com
• Pictures

Reference

• George Hersey, Architecture, Poetry, and Number in the Royal Palace at Caserta, (Cambridge: MIT Press) 1983. Caserta interpreted through the Neapolitan philosopher Giambattista Vico

World Heritage Sites in Italy

Aeolian Islands | Aquileia | Archaeological Area of Agrigento | Archaeological Areas of Pompeii, Herculaneum and Torre Annunziata | Botanical Garden, Padua | Caserta Palace, Aqueduct of Vanvitelli and San Leucio Complex | Castel del Monte | Cilento and Vallo di Diano with Paestum, Velia and Certosa di Padula | Costiera Amalfitana | Crespi d'Adda | Early Christian Monuments of Ravenna | Etruscan Necropolis of Cerveteri and Tarquinia | Ferrara and its Po Delta | Florence | Franciscan Sites of Assisi | I Sassi di Matera | Modena: Cathedral, Torre Civica and Piazza Grande | Naples | Palaces of Genoa | Piazza del Duomo, Pisa | Pienza | Portovenere, Cinque Terre, Tino | Residences of the Royal House of Savoy | Rock Drawings in Valcamonica | Rome (w/ Holy See) | Sacri Monti of Piedmont and Lombardy | San Gimignano | Santa Maria delle Grazie, Milan | Sicilian Baroque of Val di Noto | Siena | Su Nuraxi di Barumini | Syracuse with Pantalica | Trulli of Alberobello | Urbino | Val d'Orcia | Venice and its Lagoon | Verona | Vicenza and the Palladian Villas of the Veneto | Villa Adriana (Tivoli) | Villa d'Este, Tivoli | Villa Romana del Casale Giambattista Vico or Giovanni Battista Vico (1668–1744) was a Neapolitan philosopher, historian, and jurist. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Italy. ... Elabana Falls is in Lamington National Park, part of the Central Eastern Rainforest Reserves World Heritage site in Queensland, Australia. ... The Aeolian Islands. ... Aquileia (Friulian Aquilee, Slovene Oglej) is an ancient Roman town of Italy, at the head of the Adriatic at the edge of the lagoons, about 10 km from the sea, on the river Natiso (modern Natisone), the course of which has changed somewhat since Roman times. ... San Lorenzo. ... Pompeii is a ruined Roman city near modern Naples in the Italian region of Campania, in the territory of the comune of Pompei. ... Herculaneum (in modern Italian Ercolano) was an ancient Roman town, located in the territory of the current commune of Ercolano. ... Torre Annunziata, population 52,875 (1991), is a city in the province of Naples, region of Campania in Italy. ... The Botanical Garden of Padova (or Garden of the Simples) in a 16th century print; in the background, the Basilica of SantAntonio. ... San Leucio resort or San Leucio Complex In 1750 Charles VII of Naples selected this place for an unusual social and tecnological experiment, a different model of production based on technical innovation and alert to the needs of workers. ... Castel del Monte. ... Paestum overview. ... Velia is an ancient town of Lucania (present Basilicata), Italy, on the hill now crowned by the medieval castle of Castellainmare della Bruca, 440 ft. ... The Certosa di Padula, also known as Carthusian Monastery of Padula or Chartreuse of Padula or or , is a large famous Carthusian monastery in the Cilento National Park near Salerno in Southern Italy. ... The Amalfi Coast The Amalfi Coast, or Costiera Amalfitana in Italian, is a stretch of coastline on the southern side of the Sorrentine Peninsula of Italy (Province of Salerno) extending from Positano in the west to Vietri sul Mare in the east. ... The Crespi factory Crespi dAdda is a worker village in Italy founded in the 19th century. ... Ravenna is a city and commune in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy. ... A small town located approximately 60 miles N of Rome. ... Tarquinia, formerly Corneto and in Antiquity Tarquinii, is an ancient city in the province of Viterbo, Lazio, Italy. ... Ferrara is a city in Emilia-Romagna, Italy, capital city of the province of Ferrara. ... Florence (Italian: ) is the capital city of the region of Tuscany, Italy. ... This article is about the Italian town. ... A street corner in the ancient Sassi di Matera as it looks today. ... Modena (Mòdna in Modenese dialect) is a city and a province on the south side of the Po valley, in Emilia-Romagna, Italy. ... The Cathedrals façade The Duomo (Cathedral) of Modena, in Italy, is one of the most outstanding Romanesque building of Europe and has been included in the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites. ... The Torre della Ghirlandina or Torre Civica is the bell tower of the Cathedral of Modena, in Emilia-Romagna, Italy. ... Naples (Italian: , Neapolitan: Nàpule, from Greek Νεάπολη < Νέα Πόλις Néa Pólis New City) Capital of the Campania region and the Province of Naples. ... Genoa (Genova in Italian - Zena in Genoese) is a city and a seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria. ... The Campo dei Miracoli (Field of Miracles) is a wide, walled area at the heart of the city of Pisa, Tuscany, Italy, recognized as one of the main centers for medieval art in the world. ... Pienza is town and commune in the province of Siena, in the Val dOrcia in Tuscany (central Italy), between the towns of Montepulciano and Montalcino. ... Portovenere is a village in Liguria, Italy located 12km from La Spezia. ... Manarola, one of the five coastal villages in the National Park of the Cinque Terre. ... Tino The Italian island of Tino is situated in the Ligurian Sea, at the westernmost end of the Gulf of La Spezia. ... The Residences of the Royal House of Savoy is a group of structures in Turin and its province, in Piedmont (northern Italy). ... Val Camonica is a valley in the lower Alpine regions of Lombardy, Italy. ... Nickname: The Eternal City Motto: SPQR: Senatus PopulusQue Romanus Location of the city of Rome (yellow) within the Province of Rome (red) and region of Lazio (grey) Coordinates: Region Lazio Province Province of Rome Founded 21 April 753 BC  - Mayor Walter Veltroni Area    - City 1285 km²  (580 sq mi)  - Urban... The Sacri Monti of Piedmont and Lombardy are a World Heritage site in Northern Italy. ... San Gimignano is a small walled medieval hilltop town in Tuscany, Italy, about a 35-minute drive northwest of Siena or southwest of Florence. ... Santa Maria delle Grazie is a Renaissance church in Milan built by Guiniforte Solari between 1466 and 1490 on a commission by Dominican monks. ... Illustration 1: Sicilian Baroque. ... Val di Noto (English: Valley of Noto) is a geographical area of south east Sicily; it is dominated by the limestone Iblean plateau. ... Piazza del Campo Siena is a city in Tuscany, Italy. ... Su Nuraxi, Barumini, Sardinia Central tower of the Nuraghe at Saint Antine of Torralba Su Nurraxi. ... Syracuse (Italian Siracusa, Sicilian Sarausa, Greek , Latin Syracusae) is an Italian city on the eastern coast of Sicily and the capital of the province of Syracuse. ... The Necropolis of Pantalica is a large necropolis in Sicily with about 5000 tombs dating from the 13th to the 7th centuries BC. Pantalica is situated in the valleys of the rivers Anapo and Calcinara, between the towns of Ferla and Sortino in south-eastern Sicily. ... Trulli roofs from Alberobello. ... Alberobello is a small town in the province of Bari, in Puglia, Italy. ... Panorama of Urbino with the cathedral and the palazzo ducale Urbino is a city in the Marche in Italy, southwest of Pesaro, a World Heritage Site with a great cultural history during the Renaissance as the seat of Federico da Montefeltro. ... There are very few or no other articles that link to this one. ... Venice (Italian: Venezia, Venetian: Venezsia) is the capital of region Veneto, and has a population of 271,663 (census estimate January 1, 2004). ... Verona is a city and provincial capital in Veneto, Northern Italy. ... Vicenza is a city in northern Italy, is the capital of the eponymous province in the Veneto region, at the northern base of the Monte Berico, straddling the Bacchiglione. ... City of Vicenza and the Palladian Villas of the Veneto is a cluster of works by Andrea Palladio and his disciples which were inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1994 and expanded two years later. ... The villas recreation of Canopus, a resort near Alexandria, as seen from the temple of Serapis Theatrical masks of Tragedy and Comedy in refined mosaic, from the villa (Capitoline Museum, Rome) The Villa of the Emperor Hadrian at Tivoli, Italy, even in ruined condition is one of the most... Park of the Villa dEste, Carl Blechen, 1830 The gardens at the Villa dEste The Villa dEste is a masterpiece of Italian architecture and garden design. ... Villa Romana del Casale is located about 5km outside the town of Piazza Armerina. ...

Coordinates: 41°04′12″N, 14°19′33″E Map of Earth showing lines of latitude (horizontally) and longitude (vertically), Eckert VI projection; large version (pdf, 1. ...