ROYAL PALACE OF CASERTA, Exterior

The Royal Palace's style marks the passage from late-Baroque architecture to the formal sobriety of early Neoclassicism. If you stand directly in front of it this will be quite clear: the architect Vanvitelli conceived it as an enormous rectangular block divided at the center into four courtyards with two perpendicular arms. At the intersection of the arms, which is the heart of the complex, a large octagonal two-story hall leads you to a grand staircase and the upper floor. A stunningly large building, it is thirty-six meters tall with six floors and a basement, 34 stairways and staircases, and 1,200 rooms illuminated by 1,790 windows, all surrounded by a 120-hectare park!

The director of its construction was supported by a local architect responsible for the construction site, a Lombard foreman, a crowd of sculptors and painters, a Parisian garden designer, and an English botanist who cared for the park and garden. The designs, models, and sketches can be seen inside the palace along the tour itinerary....