Royal Palace of Caserta

The Royal Palace of Caserta is a vast 18th-century Bourbon royal residence north of Naples designed by Luigi Vanvitelli for the Kings of Naples. The complex pairs monumental palace interiors with an extensive formal park and hydraulic works.

Interior highlights include richly decorated state apartments, grand staircases and ceremonial rooms; the exterior grounds feature axial avenues, fountains, cascades and a long park that continues several kilometres from the palace façade. The hydraulic system and cascade effects are integral to the garden design.

Commissioned in the mid-1700s for the Bourbon court, the site functioned as a royal administrative and residence complex and later passed to public ownership; it is now managed as a historic monument and museum complex. The palace sits on the edge of the town of Caserta, approximately 25-30 km north of Naples.

• Architect and commission: Commissioned in the mid-18th century by the Bourbon kings and designed by architect Luigi Vanvitelli, the complex combines palatial interiors and one of Italy's largest landscaped parks.
• Scale: The palace complex is large - often cited as having well over a thousand rooms - and the gardens extend across a substantial parkland designed with cascades and fountains.

What to See #

• Royal apartments: State apartments and ceremonial rooms with frescoed ceilings and period furnishings that illustrate Bourbon royal life.
• Grand Staircase: The Grand Staircase - a monumental double-flight stair that links the main public areas and was a focal point of the palace's interior design.
• Park, cascades and aqueduct: Formal gardens, cascades and a park stretching outward from the palace with axial water features supplied by the Vanvitelli aqueduct system.