Naples, Italy 6/30/24

 Naples, Italy


We have been to Naples a few times, and have done Pompeii, and Isle of Capri on earlier trips, so we opted to head to the Royal Palace of Caserta, about an hour away from our ship.  It was constructed by the Royal House of Bourbon as the main residences of the kings of Italy.  It is the largest palace constructed in Europe and was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997.  It is 138,000 square meters and covers 47,000 square miles.  It is much larger than the Palace of Versailles.  It is truly amazing and one day is not enough time to cover the palace and the gardens.  We barely touched on the gardens.  Hard to imagine what it took to build this palace. 

Walking into the palace was a bit disappointing as the grounds have not been kept up, with weeds and dead patches of grass everywhere, so we were a little concerned of what the inside would be like, but the pictures speak for themselves.


We started out at the gardens as we got to the palace before our entry time.  They do time and limit the number of guests which makes for a much better viewing experience.

The top left picture is from the fountains looking back at the palace.  About a 2-mile walk - we took the tram.  An unseasonably hot day when we were there.  The top right is looking at the fountains from the palace.


And these are the fountains leading into the garden grounds.




And then we went to the palace. Jaw dropping.  Not as ornate as Versailles, but equally spectacular.  I hope the pictures speak for themselves...look at the scale of Mickey heading up the stairs in the grand foyer.


The 3 statues are:  center, King Charles riding a lion, with Truth and Merit flanking him.




The marble sculpture is the long-awaited little prince, son of Ferdinand IV of Bourbon and Maria Carolina of Austria, who was born in Caserta.  Unfortunately, he did not survive past 4 years old and died at Caserta.




Top left is an elevator to transport the Royal family so they didn't have to walk so many stairs!  Hand pulley...yikes. 


This is an incredible creche that is on display.  It is remarkable and so very detailed.  Took tons of pictures and tried to condense down into this collage.  


Goes without saying that the chandeliers were all spectacular.




These were as big as my dining room....





This was a pretty remarkable visit - hard to believe this was called "home" to the Bourbons, not real comfortable.  Think about finding some one in 138,000 square feet!  Very much enjoyed the visit, another 15,000+ steps.  

On to Rome tomorrow.






























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