ROYAL PALACE OF CASERTA, Park

From here you can enjoy a very different setting than that of the immense and somewhat stern building: a green paradise immersed in the light of fantastic Mediterranean nature, with precious additions of sculpture and architecture. The park is so large that it is even crossed by a bus line, which can at least partially help with the long, but wonderful, paths through the park.

The park is structured around a waterway that runs in a three-kilometer straight canal just behind the palace façade, and is decorated with waterfalls, statues, and fountains.

The rectangular garden immediately behind the rear façade is called a "parterre", and is arranged according to French garden rules based on the Versailles model, with regular flowerbeds and large avenues that create geometric paths. Instead the sides have an opposite inspiration and are based on the then-new concept of an "English" garden with groups of trees, meadows, and green areas that seem spontaneous and natural. At the back left you'll find the basin of the Great Peschiera, which provided the court kitchen with always-fresh fish....