27 September 2019
We drove out of Napoli around 10:30 AM through heavy local traffic. Bonnie noted that most of the cars around us had some sort of scrape or dent, and usually several.
Bonnie decided we should see the Royal Palace in Caserta on the way. To say the palace is opulent is an understatement. It was built by House of Bourbons-Two Sicilies as a residence for the kings of Sicily, and it was planned to be bigger and grander than Versailles. Designed by Luigi Vanvitelli (there is a subway stop named after him in Naples near the apartment where we stayed), construction started in 1752. The palace has five floors and more than 2.5 million square feet divided into 1,200 rooms. The king would need a few servants to keep it in shape! The king located the palace 20 km from Naples to keep some distance from possible insurrection in the city.
We first strolled through the park, which is quite expansive, relying on long vistas and masses of trees surrounding planes of lawn for its impact—not a detailed, manicured landscape as at Versailles. There are a few special areas like the fishing pond and the miniature castle/fort.
The interior shows you what one can do with an unlimited supply of marble, gilding, muralists, crystal, and the extraordinary amount of wealth. It helped to be a king.
