

Caserta Royal Palace
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About the Royal Palace....
The Royal Palace at Caserta and its park, inserted as one of the 53 Italian UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 1997, are treasures of truly incomparable splendor.
Commissioned by Charles III of Bourbon in the 1700s, Luigi Vanvitelli planned this palace, a triumph of the Italian Baroque and one of the most famous and important works by the Neapolitan architect. Everyday visitors are left enchanted by the beauty of its interiors and by the magnificence of its exterior. Highly-curated and pronounced in the details and design of its four monumental courtyards, the Palace is set amidst a beautiful park that today is the destination of thousands upon thousands of tourists.
The Royal Palace at Caserta spreads out before observers as a monumental complex of 45, 000 s.q.m. (484,376 sq.ft. or approx. 11 acres) and, with its five floors, stands 36 meters (118 feet) tall. On its principal façade are 143 windows, while inside, 1, 200 rooms and 34 stairways unwind throughout the palace. It is constructed mostly in brick while the first two floors are laid with travertine. The entire structure is crowned by a very wide central dome. Those who see its inside are almost always astonished by its continuous succession of stuccoes, reliefs, frescoes, sulptures, flooring and inlays. Those embellishments that stand out the most are located in the Sala di Astrea, Sala di Marte and Sala del Trono; the Sala del Trono, in fact, is the largest of the interior royal apartments – it was used for the reception and accommodation of important personalities of the day.
The most scenographic setting in the Palace is probably where the atrium, the grand Royal Staircase and the chapel meet.
The Royal Staircase is an invention of 17th-Century scenographic arts; it connects the lower and upper vestibules, giving access to the royal apartments via the upper. The Palatine Chapel, designed by Vanvitelli, decorations and all, exhibits - more than any other environment here - strong similarities to the precedents left by Versailles.
