Naples /Caserta - Palace of Caserta

Caserta, Front Facade 

If you have a half day to spare and have already visited Herculaneum I would recommend heading out to the Palace of Caserta.

Trains leave Napoli Centrale in Piazza Garibaldi about every 10-20 minutes. It’s a fairly easy ride on a commuter train. Tried to take a bus, but was repeatedly mauled by ancient gypsy woman while trying to read the timetable, so went with the train.

The train drops off as Caserta’s railway station in, can you guess? Piazza Giuseppe Garibaldi in Caserta. As you exit the station the palace is right there in front of you being big and palace-like. I am not kidding about the big, at 1,200 rooms it is one of the largest palaces in Europe.

Started in the 1750’s Caserta, when the Bourbon monarchy was ruling Naples, it was designed with the massive palace of Versailles in mind. However, Caserta was finished in less than thirty years whereas Construction on Versailles continued for 120 years and never reached full completion. Like the Royal Palace in Naples it was built as a symbol of power and as a sort of tribute to the idea of monarchy. Somewhat like the Escorial in Spain, Caserta was meant to be more than just a palace. It was also to contain a military barracks and a university, skipping the monastery included in the Escorial’s plan. I get the impression that Carlo de Bourbon really just liked huge buildings. The palace of the poor in Naples was built at the same time (see: Albergo dei Poverei).

In April 1945 the palace was the site of the signing of terms of the unconditional German surrender of forces in Italy. The agreement covered between 600,000 and 900,000 soldiers along the Italian Front including troops in sections of Austria. It was also used in the tragic Star Wars Episodes I and II and served as the Vatican in a number of better movies.

Rear, Center Facade

One of four courtyard