A strange mixture Caserta, surrounded as it is by a sprawl of factories, warehouses and assorted industry on the fringes of Naples. But the ugly modern outskirts conceal a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the so-called 'Versailles of Naples'. This is the huge 18th century Reggia di Caserta or Palace of Caserta - at its building the largest palace, and probably the largest building, in all Europe. Begun in 1752 for Charles VII of Naples by his architect Luigi Vanvitelli, it was listed by UNESCO in 1996 as being 'the swan song of the spectacular art of the Baroque, from which it adopted all the features needed to create the illusions of multi-directional space'.
The Palace is huge - 120 hectares of formal gardens and sculpted parkland (think the Capability Brown style of naturalistic garden seen in English stately homes). There are a number of Fountains, huge sculptured confections of stone, to Diana, Venus, Ceres and other mythical figures. More prosaically, the Reggia served as Queen Amidala's palace on Naboo in 'The Phantom Menace', and again in 'Attack of the Clones'.
Also ensure you see the old village of Caserta Vecchia, 10km north of the town, and where the Casertese lived until they were uprooted by Charles VII. And Caserta town, which grew up around the Reggia, bears exploration, with some lovely old buildings, and plenty of places to eat and drink. This is Campania, home to the pizza of course, and there are some excellent pizzerie.
To the left you'll find a selection of hotels, to get you in the mood
- see also our full listings of Caserta hotels.
