Royal Palace of Caserta
The Royal Palace in Caserta is the former country apartments of the kings that belong to the Bourbon dynasty. In an attempt to compete with Versailles and Peterhof, King Charles III of Naples created a magnificent palace surrounded by parks and gardens. Today, tourists are happy to visit the wonderful creation of the XVIII century, which is a palace filled with Baroque luxury, and surrounded by a huge green park with charming fountains, wonderful sculptures and waterfalls.
The palace has 1,200 rooms, it is the largest building in Europe at that time. Another significant reason for the construction of this palace is the fact that the main residence of the kings, located in Naples, was subjected to constant raids from the sea.
The grandiose construction lasted for about 28 years, starting in 1752. To implement the plans, the city of Caserta was even moved ten kilometers. A church was built on the territory of the palace square, as well as a court theater. The intentions of architect Luigi Vanvitelli, were related to the construction of the library and the university, unfortunately, never materialized.
The palace is harmoniously surrounded by dozens of fountains, a grand aqueduct, as well as workers' houses, which are successfully hidden under garden pavilions. Inside, the palace looks simply huge, its spacious rooms will be filled with huge chandeliers, sculptures, as well as a variety of interesting figurines. Popular Hollywood films were shot in this palace, including "The Da Vinci Code", "Angels and Demons" and many others.
By the time the construction of the palace in Caserta was completed, the style of imitating the majestic Versailles was a thing of the past. Critics have repeatedly expressed their opinion about the huge, uniform expanse of the royal apartments. Nevertheless, in 1997, this complex was included in the UNESCO lists as a monument of the World Heritage of Mankind.
