Everyone
has a secret place that would like to visit one day, but somehow always misses.
Mine was the Royal Palace of Caserta. I use the past tense because I managed to
get there finally! Not only that, I had the chance to visit it in a very quiet
day, with very few people around. I had the Royal Palace almost all for myself.
I felt like the queen Maria Carolina, wandering around her house in a gloomy
day.
The massive
staircase from where the visit starts makes you feel the power and greatness of
the King to this very day. It is not difficult to imagine the feelings of the
people walking up those steps in the 1700s or 1800s to be received by
Ferdinando IV King of Naples.
During the
visit lots can be discovered about the couple who lived in the Palace during
it’s most majestic years. Ferdinando and Carolina were not attracted to each
other, but their relationship was full of respect and consideration. The gossip
of their time tells stories of betrayals. The two seemed to find the
satisfaction for their physical needs with other partners. The Queen apparently
was the most inclined one in developing her ars
amatoria. In her private rooms a clever game of mirrors allowed her to know
all her husband movements. Maria
Carolina is a quite interesting historical figure I knew very little about. She
was a strong woman, responsible for many
important decision for the kingdom, and who had no fears in getting what she
wanted from Life.
What a
surprise it was to discover that in the XVIII century bidet and elevator were
already being used! And it was fun to see the miniatures of rides from this
period. It would be great to see a full reproduction of those in a theme park!
In the
palace it is possible to learn a lot about the history of Naples in the 1700
and 1800. And you can also get to know a little bit of the history of Italy.
Here are displayed the pool table and cradles owned by Savoia, the italian
royal family. The cradles are very unsettling, and seems to explain why people
like Emanuele Filiberto[1]
seem to never have been able to overcome their childhood traumas.
The
palace’s gardens are probably the most beautiful thing of this visit. . In the
English garden you find yourself walking on a path that seems to go through the
jungle and reaches a colonnade that looks like a ruin of an ancient culture. It
is a replica of Pompeii ruins. Everything, including the holes on the ceilings
were built to give the idea of ancient ruins being rediscovered. In such a
mysterious place is not a surprise to meet a goddess. Venus is looking at her
reflection in the waters of the little lake in front of the colonnade, bringing us between dream and reality.
The view of
the palace from the English gardens is breathtaking. The Royal Palace of
Caserta really look like Versailles. It was indeed built as a replica of the
French Royal palace. Those who have seen both says that this Italian one is
better. I have not visited Versailles yet. When I’ll do it I will let you know
what I think. And you? What do you think?
[1] Emanuele Filiberto is part of the
italian royal family of Savoia. They were exiled after World War II and could not
set foot in Italy until 2002. Since then the prince has appeared in many TV
shows like dancing with the stars, stars on ice and many others. We cannot get
rid of him, his face is everywhere……. You have Prince William....we have him:
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