The Gardens of the Royal Palace of Caserta: the dream of Luigi Vanvitelli. Creation and evolution of an extraordinary Historical Garden

The Royal Palace of Caserta, sumptuous residence of the bourbon dynasty, represents a highly articulated museum system: in addition to the monumental Palace, in fact, the Complex also includes the large gardens, in turn ascribable to further classifications: from the oldest part of the Italian garden to the eighteenth-century French-inspired garden to the landscaped garden. Museum use and conservation needs, aspects that are not always easily reconciled, cannot be separated from the reconstruction of the history of the realization of these Gardens and their evolution over time. In 1750 Charles of Bourbon decided to build a new royal residence as the ideal center of the kingdom of Naples. The project for the imposing building, destined to rival the other European royal residences, was entrusted to the architect of Dutch origin Luigi Vanvitelli. Vanvitelli’s idea for the Park is contained in the Dichiarazione dei disegni, a set of tables and descriptions presented by the architect to the royal family in 1756 to illustrate his project. After the death of Luigi Vanvitelli in 1773, his grandiose project was carried out by his son Carlo and other architects. At the Royal Palace of Caserta, architecture and greenery have always constituted a unified whole. The construction of the Park began in 1753 and lasted for over 50 years. Essential elements of the Gardens of the Palace are the Gran Parterre, the Bosco vecchio with Castelluccia and Peschiera, the Via d’acqua with fountains and water features, the monumental waterfall and the suggestive English Garden. The beauty of the Gardens of the Palace has always fascinated painters, landscape painters and writers.