Travelogram

The Royal Palace of Caserta is a former royal residence in Caserta, southern Italy, constructed by the House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies as their main residence as kings of Naples. It is the largest palace erected in Europe during the 18th century.

In 1997, the palace was designated a UNESCOWorld Heritage Site; its nomination described it as “the swan song of the spectacular art of the Baroque, from which it adopted all the features needed to create the illusions of multidirectional space”.The Royal Palace of Caserta is the largest royal residence in the world

The palace has 5 floors, 1,200 rooms, including two dozen state apartments, 1742 windows, 34 staircases, 1026 fireplaces, a large library, and a theatre modelled after the Teatro San Carlo of Naples. 

The palace has a rectangular plan, measuring 247 × 184 m, and the four sides are connected by two orthogonal arms, forming four inner courts.

The Royal Palace of Caserta is one of the finest in Europe and, while it may not be the most famous, it’s actually one of the biggest royal palaces in the world!

Visiting Caserta Palace from Naples is worth the effort and you’ll find lavish state rooms that you can tour through, plus the incredible Caserta Palace Gardens in the vast Caserta Park behind the main building.

In 1752, construction began on Caserta Palace or King Charles VII of Naples. He had expressly asked for something that was modelled in the Palace of Versailles in France – only bigger!

Although the Palace of Versailles was used as inspiration, the general architecture is quite different and, if you looked at it from the outside, you wouldn’t see too much resemblance.

The similarities come in two main ways – the first of them being an interior designed to overwhelm.

If you take one of these guided tours, all this will be explained to you, but I’ll give you a preview of what to expect anyway:

To get into the Royal Apartments to see the inside of Caserta Palace, you first have to walk up an enormous flight of steps called the Grand Staircase of Honour. The amount of marble is astonishing, and it has large statues and a painted dome.

There are the enormous antechambers with chandeliers and painted ceilings. You’ll then come through to the Throne Room, long and high, covered in gold, with the throne at the far end.

From the rear of the palace building, the park stretches out into the distance, a long line towards and then up a hill. From the palace to the end of the park is almost three kilometres long!

Visiting the Royal Palace of Caserta from Naples is worth the time that it takes. It’s one of the most magnificent European palaces that you’ll see and worthy of its title as the largest palace in the world (sort of).