Caserta lies at the North eastern edge of the Campania plain and is partly hemmed in by the Tifatini mountain range.
Formerly Galatia, it was founded by the Etruscans. First reports of a settlement where the city now stands appeared in the 9th century BC. When the city was captured by the Samnites in 423 BC, its inhabitants swore loyalty to Hannibal against Rome, for which it was punished (211 BC) with the confiscation of approximately two hundred yokes, the equivalent of sixty hectares (150 acres). This system allowed the Roman authorities to allocate land to their friends. Until the fall of the Roman Empire in AD 476, Galatia remained a colony. With the subsequent barbarian invasions, the city began its slow descent towards its final destruction in 863 at the hands of “Pandone il Rapace” who forced the locals to take refuge in the hills.
After his death, a vicious struggle began for control of the land between his sons and his brother Landolfo, bishop of nearby Capua. The violent epoch of Lombard domination featured continuous wars of succession. It was during this period that the main tower was built at the crossroads and around it sprang up the rudiments of a town.
With the Norman invasions, Caserta was subjected to new masters who introduced feudal rule and the laws of chivalry to the county – then state – of Caserta. In 1113, the diocese of Caserta became independent of Capua and work on a cathedral was begun.
The city enjoyed remarkable stability and growth during the reign of Count Robert and, after completion of the cathedral; work began on the bishop’s palace and the Casa Canonica that imposed the rectangular layout of the main square.
The reign later passed to the Swabian dynasty and amongst the many noteworthy names of that period is that of Richard who had been schooled at the court of Frederick II. Richard married the Emperor’s daughter and after his father in law’s demise, was unable to deal with the incessant problems facing him. He side-stepped the Frankish armies of Charles of Anjou at the Ceprano pass and thus took Manfred by surprise at Benevento where he won.
The Caserta fief was passed down the line during Angevine rule until, in 1310, it was given to Diego della Ratta. In 1325, he bequeathed the city to his infant son, Francesco.
At this time, building work was begun on the Chiesa dell’Annunziata and other churches in Gothic style as well as on many refined homes.
The reign that had seen varying periods of rule, passed to Alphonse V of Aragon. Caterina Della Ratta married Cesare d’Aragona, the king’s natural son, who first met in battle the army of Charles VIII and then that of Luigi XII. Beaten by the Franks, he was forced into exile until he died in 1504.
In 1509 Caterina Della Ratta married again, this time to Andrea Matteo Acquaviva, the Duke of Atri and Count of Conversano. He was one of the wealthiest feudal lords in the kingdom reign and was the first of the Acquaviva seignory that continued until 1634. Andrea Matteo Acquaviva was a cultured and sophisticated man who was interested in both politics and martial studies as well as philosophy and literature. After his marriage to Caterina Della Ratta, he gave his permission for the betrothal of his nephew Giulio Antonio to the grand daughter of the Countess of Caserta, Anna Gambacorta. The new lieges grew richer and reinforced the castle and the city with new defensive walls and towers.
After various hardships, the fief passed to the second born of Anna Gambacorta, Baldassare who was a valiant leader in the service of Charles V and Phillip II.
The spiritual and cultural revival of the 16th century was also felt in Caserta on both fronts. New Renaissance cultural concepts appeared and a spiritual crisis was initiated by the Lutheran reform.
It was after Baldassare that the villages around the tower saw their period of major growth. Giulio Antonio and Andrea Matteo became princes as the mediaeval town continued down the slow road to decline. The Acquaviva prince left his daughter Anna as sole heir. She had married Francesco Gaetani di Sermoneta whose family ruled the state of Caserta up to when the Royal palace was built. Caserta suffered much hardship including the plague that devastated the population. In 1708, bishop Schinosi founded a cultural centre near the college that he too had established. This new centre availed of the intellect of many well-known characters in the fields of literature and science. A well-stocked library that was open to the public was added to the college.
With the arrival of Charles of Bourbon in 1734, Caserta enjoyed a period of true splendour and saw both the construction of the Royal Palace and an overall restoration of the city. The project was entrusted to Luigi Vanvitelli who also oversaw the building of the Carolina Aqueduct designed to supply the waterfalls and fountains in the Royal Park.
Vanvitelli was also responsible for laying out the park and the English Garden. Caserta had by this stage all the trappings of a court city and when the diocesan seat was soon after transferred there, a new cathedral was the next project. Caserta under Ferdinand II saw yet more growth and became central to court and state affairs. In the ten years leading to the Unification, Caserta clearly felt the effects of the Renaissance and continued to grow.
After defeating the Bourbon army at the battle of Volturno, Garibaldi set up his general headquarters at Caserta. Garibaldi’s victory led to the realm’s annexation of the Kingdom of the two Sicilies to the Kingdom of Sardinia. From 1860 to 1919 events followed involving the Savoy family. At the beginning of the 19th century, Caserta became home to numerous universities and military academies. From this time on, the middle-classes grew in number. Caserta was home to the Italian Aeronautical Academy between 1926 and 1943. After the allied landing at Salerno in December of 1943, it was taken over by the allies. The surrender of the German forces in Italy was signed here on April 29, 1945.
The Royal Place
Veduta aerea
In 1750, Charles Bourbon, the king of the Two Sicilies, bought the land at the foot of the Tifatini mountains from the Acquaviva family. This land housed a small village and a pyramidal tower. This was to be the site for the future Royal Palace. It was Pope Benedict XIV who permitted the future king of Spain Charles III, to commission the work to Luigi Vanvitelli. This Neapolitan architect of Dutch origins was already working on preparations for the Jubilee 1750.
Work began on the palace in 1752 and seven years later as the building was nearing completion, Charles left Naples to move to Madrid as king of Spain.
The Royal Palace of Caserta belonged to the House of Bourbon for more than one hundred years from 1752 to 1860 when it passed to the Savoy family. The Palace became the property of the Italian state by the issuing of a Ministerial Decree in 1919.
Scalone reale
When Luigi Vanvitelli died in 1773, the work was still unfinished. It was only when in 1847 the Throne Room was finished, that the work could be considered completed. This brought the project to its conclusion although some of the final details were not the same as in the original plans. This was not due to the project passing to Vanvitelli’s son Carlo, but more due to the lesser interest taken by Charles of Bourbon after his departure for Spain.
The Palace has a square design and the encompassed area is split into four courtyards separated by an impressive entrance hall and three naves with two lateral wings
Vanvitelli designed a truly majestic entrance to the Palace with an immense avenue leading up to it flanked by two huge semi-circles that make up the Piazza Vanvitelli.
The Royal Palace has 1,200 rooms and includes the Piazza at its feet, the Park and the English Garden
The Park
– The Vanvitelli Aqueduct
Il parco della Reggia
The Park extends over approximately 120 hectares on slightly sloping land and is one of the greatest architectural complexes in Europe. Water for the park and its fountains is supplied by the Vanvitelli Aqueduct.
The six monumental fountains that adorn the gardens were designed by different architects.
The Vanvitelli Aqueduct
This impressive work that resembles an ancient Roman undertaking, serves to carry water to the numerous waterfalls and fountains in the palace gardens. Vanvitelli had large wells dug and then built a viaduct 60 metres high by 528 metres long (196 by 1,732 feet) called the “Ponti della Valle”. This bridge was built on three rows of arched columns to cross the high valley of Maddoloni between mounts Logano and Garzano. An aisle connects all the column orders and on top there is a stone covered overcross with parapets. The aqueduct is at the upper part of the structure and in all, extends for 41 kilometres (25 miles). It took sixteen years to complete the project. Work was begun in 1753 and completed in 1770.
The San Leucio complex
San Leucio and Facciata del Belvedere
In 1750, Charles II of Bourbon bought this site where, at the request of Ferdinand IV, he founded the Royal Colony of San Leucio. This project was part of the concept of forming a small “ideal” city with the aim of creating an innovative system of social reform. Very enlightened rules were drawn up that worked hand-in-hand with a new management system designed to improve silk working and production. The project was implemented in stages and led finally to the establishing of the Colony and confirmation of its manufacturing capacity.
UNESCO INSCRIPTION
The Royal Palace at Caserta, the Park and the San Leucio complex
Inscription N° 549rev. 1997 C (i) (ii) (iii) (iv)
The Committee decided to inscribe this property on the basis of criteria (i), (ii), (iii) and (iv), considering that the monumental complex at Caserta, whilst cast in the same mould as other 18th century royal establishments, is exceptional for the broad sweep of its design, incorporating not only an imposing palace and park, but also much of the surrounding natural landscape and an ambitious new town laid out according to the urban planning precepts of its time. The industrial complex of the Belvedere, designed to produce silk, is also of outstanding interest because of the idealistic principles that underlay its original conception and management.
