2. Caserta is located in the Campania region
of Italy. It is a town with about 77,000 inhabitants,
best known for the Royal Palace.
It was established around the defensive tower
built in Lombard times. The tower is now part of
the Prefecture building. In the 16 century the
original population moved to Modern Caserta
from Casertavecchia, a medieval village located
10 km north-east of the City of Caserta at an
altitude of approximately 401 meters whose name
means “Old Caserta". Casertavecchia was built on
the Roman town of Casam Irtam, so the name
Caserta is a subsequent contraction of Casa(m)
Irta(m) meaning "home village located above". In
the 18th century the royal family of Bourbons,
Kings of Naples and Sicily selected Caserta for the
construction of their new Royal Palace, more
defensible than the previous Palace fronting the
Bay of Naples, so modern Caserta increased its
population surrounding the Royal Palace.
3. The town centre: Acquaviva Palace, the Cathedral,
Dante Alighieri Square,1st World War victims Memorial
4. Vanvitelli Square is the main square of Caserta, in the past it was a market place in the
middle of the town. There was once Palazzo Castropignano, replaced by a modern
palace in the early 1960s, seat of the municipality of Caserta, Palazzo Acquaviva,
where there are offices of Questura and Prefettura. At the center of it there is the
statue of Luigi Vanvitelli, the architect who designed the Royal Palace . The statue has
the right hand pointing to the Palace and in his left hand there is the project of the
royal residence. It was made by the sculputor Onofrio Buccini in 1879.
Vanvitelli square
5. The Royal Palace
The Royal Palace, listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, was designed by the
Italian architect Luigi Vanvitelli as a Versailles-like residence in 1752 by king
Charles III ’s will. It is one of the most visited monuments in the country. Inside
there are more than 1200 rooms, decorated in various styles. It has been the set
for several famous movies such as Star Wars, Angels & Demons and Mission
Impossible III. The park is 2 miles (3.2 km) long and contains many waterfalls,
lakes and gardens, as well as the famous English garden.
7. Old Caserta « Casertavecchia»
The origins of Casertavecchia are uncertain, but according to a Benedictine monk, the
village was founded in 861 AD. Then, it was conquered and ruled by the Lombards.
Subsequent Saracen depredations led to the fortified mountain village becoming the
Bishop’s seat for the province.
Under Norman domination, in 1100, in the village began the construction of the
cathedral, dedicated to St. Michael the Archangel and of the castle. After The Swabian
and the Aragons’ domination, with the rule of the Bourbons, in the 18th century, the
construction of new buildings began taking place in the city of modern Caserta.
Today, the village, that is 400 metres high, is primarily a tourist destination. Sites worth
visiting consist of the church, its bell tower, and the remains of the original castle.
8.
9. San Leucio Royal Site
In 1750 Charles VII of Naples selected this place, originally the site of a royal hunting lodge , for
an unusual social and technological experiment, a different model of production based on
technical innovation and alert to the needs of workers. The complex was transformed into a silk
production site unique in late 18th-century Europe. A new village was built for workers'
residences, and a large community of silk weavers grew into this industrial town. In San Leucio
the most advanced technologies known in Europe at the time were used throughout the process
to obtain the finished products. The members of the colony had a privileged status with a
modern social security system. The revolution of 1799 stopped the complete realization of the
project.
10. Santa Maria Capua Vetere’s
Amphitheatre
Amphitheatre (Anfiteatro Campano) in Santa
Maria Capua Vetere was the second largest
amphitheatre in the Roman Empire after the
Colosseum. It was able to seat up to 60,000
people and adorned with beautiful monuments
from columns to sculptures. Located in the old
city of Capua, one of the largest city in the
Empire, the amphitheatre, started by the
Emperor Nerva and continued by Trajan and
Hadrian, it was completed in 138 AD. Much of
Campania Amphitheatre has been destroyed over
the years, ravaged by the Visigoths, the Vandals
and the Saracens. Externally, only the first level
and part of the second tier of Campania
Amphitheatre survive.
12. Pompeii was an ancient Roman town-city near modern Naples, in the Campania region of
Italy. Pompeii, along with Herculaneum and many villas in the surrounding area, was
mostly destroyed and buried under 4 to 6 m (13 to 20 ft) of volcanic ash and pumice in
the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79.
The town came under the domination of Rome in the 4th century BC. By the time of its
destruction, its population was estimated at 11,000 people, and the city had a complex
water system, an amphitheatre, a gymnasium, and a port.
Evidence for the destruction originally came from a surviving letter by Pliny the Younger,
who saw the eruption from a distance and described the death of his uncle Pliny the
Elder, an admiral of the Roman fleet, who tried to rescue citizens. The site was lost for
about 1,500 years until its initial rediscovery in 1599 and broader rediscovery almost 150
years later by Spanish engineer Rocque Joaquin de Alcubierre in 1748. During the
excavation, plaster was used to fill in the voids in the ash layers that once held human
bodies. This allowed archaeologists to see the exact position the person was in when he
or she died.
16. A traditional dance: Tarantella
Tarantella is a very fast dance. The name comes from the town of Taranto in Italy.
People used to believe that if someone was bitten by a tarantula spider they needed
to do this dance in order to drive out the poison. The dancer would get more and
more excited until he (or she) seemed mad.
17. A traditional mask: Pulcinella
The good-luck charm: cornetto rosso
The red horn, like a red chile
pepper is designed to ward off
the Evil Eye and bring good luck.
Pulcinella is a masked
caracter who appears in old
theater and puppet shows,
he is known for being an
unruly prankster.
