It’s the third day of our 3-day get away, and with the Teatro Tempio and Montefalcone off our list, we’re now in Caserta. The street we’re on runs directly into the huge semi-circular front gardens of the Royal Palace of Caserta, our destination for today.
Ahead, we see the palace stretched across the horizon. From this distance, it appears nothing particularly special and far from my idea of what a royal palace should look like. It’s rather plain looking really, like some type of government building.
Our street skirts a portion of the front gardens and after turning left, we descend into a tunnel to access the parking facilities, cleverly tucked underneath the gardens. Since it’s very early, we get a choice parking space. But with no one else in sight, we don’t have the benefit of following other visitors and must search the cavernous lobby area to locate the way up. We are two floors underground and there are escalators conveniently placed on either end to handle the crowds. Unfortunately, all these are being serviced so we must hoof it up endless steps to reach the street level.
Once topside, we turn and take in the massive four-story limestone building looming in the distance. At this point we are in the middle of the front gardens, still quite a long walk from the entrance. We notice tiny dots of movement far ahead and realize what we are seeing is people standing in line! Yep, it’s that big!
The entrance to the building is a two-story arched nave (for carriages, with side aisles for pedestrians) that runs through the entire complex and opens on the back side to the Royal Park. The Palace is a huge square building divided into quarters with four internal courtyards. Each of these open courtyards can be accessed by arched openings along the nave and aisles.
Entering the nave, our eyes are immediately drawn through the Palace to a long series of formal gardens, fountains, and reflecting pools behind the building. Proceeding along the nave, we literally walk through the Palace, exit the back side, and enter the Royal Park.
The splendor and magnificence of the gardens take my breath away. It’s Fall now so nothing is in bloom but, I can only imagine this place in Springtime when everything I’m seeing now is awash in color! The gardens unfold before us, gently ascending to a point far away where a waterfall is barely visible. Water for all these pools and fountains, as well as the Palace, is supplied by the massive aqueduct we drove through yesterday!
Utterly seduced by all we see, and eager to experience the gardens firsthand, we save the Palace for later. The Royal Park is a large Italian-style garden geometrically divided by walkways and intersecting alleys and inlaid with lawns and flowerbeds. On one side is the Bosco Vecchio (Old Forest) and on the other side is the queen’s profuse English Garden. With a length of over two miles, this grand corridor of fountains, waterfalls, and basins is bordered by lush lawns and manicured gardens.
We make our way past one incredible fountain after another and notice the waterfall at the far end appears to telescope, never getting any closer. Eventually, we make it to the end and, satisfied we’ve taken in all the glory of the Royal Park, we return to the Palace to start our tour. On our return walk we occasionally hear traffic sounds which is odd as we are surrounded by thick forests in what we assume is a rural setting. Following the sounds, we approach one of a pair of marble ledges on each side of the corridor. Peering over, we’re stunned to see a busy city street tunneled directly under us. As it turns out, there are many streets tunneled under the gardens and buildings. It’s as if the entire Palace and Royal Garden complex were set down on top of the city!
Back at the Palace, we walk along the nave to the point where the four courtyards intersect. From here, it’s possible to see all four courtyards at the same time. And it’s here that one enters the Palace by ascending a magnificent marble staircase of wide shallow steps flanked by two huge marble lions. Terminating at a back wall of the lower vestibule, the staircase forks into two parallel side ramps and continues up to the upper vestibule with its magnificently painted elliptical vault. We cross the upper vestibule and enter the opulent Royal Chapel where we immediately notice the damaged massive marble columns which have been left as a reminder of a WW2 aerial bombing.
We enter the Royal Apartment. Immediately our eyes spin and our jaws drop trying to take it all in. It’s hard to wrap your head around such incredible luxury and wealth. Of the 1200 rooms, only the King’s and Crown Prince’s Royal Apartment are open for viewing. (The Queen’s Royal Apartment located in a separate wing is closed for restoration work, as are most of the other wings). With all the exquisite furnishings and priceless artwork displayed, it’s hard to imagine these rooms once saw multitudes of people coming and going daily. One room alone held 200 of the King’s bodyguards.
We slowly make our way through about 30 or so rooms, each more magnificent than the previous. And as I take in all this glory, I can’t help thinking: who cleans all this? Seriously, it must take an army of workers to keep this place up; just cleaning all the crystals and fretwork of one chandelier could take a week! I bet this place is swarming with cleaners every night during tourist season.
At the end of one wing, we enter the 132-foot-long throne room. Everything is gilded and meant to convey the absolute power of the sovereign. At the far end is the throne, and I must admit to being underwhelmed when I see it. With all that I’ve seen so far, I expect the throne to be spectacular, which it is not. It looks like an armchair covered in blue velvet and trimmed in well-worn, gilded wood. A strip of blue fringe hangs from the seat cushion adding a bit of whimsy.
Circling back, we proceed through the King’s quarters, the Queen’s small quarters, and a succession of 18th century apartments and 19th century backrooms. It’s like touring a huge designer’s showcase where each room is decorated by a different designer. My senses are overloaded and, I’m becoming numb. There’s only so much luxury I can take in at one time. I crave a place to sit and rest, but the only seats along the route are occupied by employees charged with watching over each room.
I’m about ready to look for an exit when I get a glimpse of the Queen’s bathroom, just visible past her private sitting room. Its quirkiness revives me.
Two small doors reveal a monumental bathtub of sculpted white Carrara marble lined with gilded copper and a Mahogany bidet with a gilded bronze basin. In a smaller room, the toilet sits. The lid is gilded copper (of course) but it’s the bowl portion that shocks me. It’s the shape and size of a galvanized steel wash tub, only made of copper (or bronze), with a hole in the bottom. And there’s no seat, just a tight rolled edge!
We continue with a bit more speed, giving each new room a once over, but lingering a bit when we peek at the royal nursery. Towards the end of the tour, we step into one of several bookcase-lined rooms which form the library. The bookcases are mostly glass-enclosed with the floor-level, lower shelves reserved for oversized atlases and such. Amid the usual furnishings of desks, chairs, oil reading lamps, telescopes, and globes, one peculiar bookcase stands out as it’s a free-standing, conical piece of furniture. Upon close inspection, we observe the books are authentic from the time period and original to the library. Also displayed here are the original 1756 drawing plans for the Royal Palace showing a vast open area in front for organizing and parading troops rather than the current formal gardens.
The final room houses the Royal Nativity Scene. Protected in multiple glass-domed displays around the room’s perimeter are miniature scenes of rural life during the time of the Nativity. But it’s the massive display at the room’s center that will boggle your mind. Countless intricate figures, each meticulously crafted and authentic to the last detail, come together to create a very realistic and expanded view of the Nativity. It must have been on permanent display as I can’t imagine packing this away each year!
Having finally finished the tour, and yearning for a place to sit, we make a beeline to the car. It’s no surprise why we’re ready to drop in our tracks, my phone’s pedometer shows we’re well past the 8-mile mark! Heading home with our senses restored, our feet rested, and having the car for another few hours, we realize there’s an opportunity to stock up on supplies! While we do enjoy walking to the local market every couple of days, hauling heavy bottles of water is a pain!
We pull in at our local market to load up on water. A 6-pack of two-liter bottles of water is a bargain at just 1 euro but it weighs a ton! We stuff the car to the brink with water and enough staples to last awhile, grateful we still had enough grey cells working to think of this. Of course, now our apartment looks like a Costco… minus the pallets!
Next up: A surprising find at the street market!
Ann Kucera is a freelance writer living and enjoying life with her husband in southern Italy