Maxximus
May 20th, 2009, 12:15 PM
Royal Palace of Caserta - Caserta - Italy
The Royal Palace of Caserta, in Italian Reggia di Caserta, is a former royal residence in Caserta, constructed for the Bourbon kings of Naples. It was the largest palace and probably the largest building erected in Europe in the eighteenth century. In 1996, the Palace of Caserta was listed among the World Heritage Sites on the grounds that it was "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".
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The garden, a typical example of the baroque extension of formal vistas, stretch for 120 ha, partly on hilly terrain. It is inspired by the park of Versailles, but it is commonly regarded as superior in beauty. The park starts from the back façade of the palace, flanking a long alley with artificial fountains and cascades. There is an English garden in the upper part designed in the 1780s by Carlo Vanvitelli and the London-trained plantsman-designer John Graefer, recommended to Sir William Hamilton by Sir Joseph Banks.[3] It is an early Continental example of an "English garden" in the svelte naturalistic taste of Capability Brown.
The fountains and cascades, each filling a vasca ("basin"), with architecture and hydraulics by Luigi Vanvitelli at intervals along a wide straight canal that runs to the horizon, rivalled those at Peterhof outside St. Petersburg. These include:
* The Fountain of Diana and Actaeon (sculptures by Paolo Persico, Brunelli, Pietro Solari);
* The Fountain of Venus and Adonis (1770-80);
* The Fountain of the Dolphins (1773-80);
* The Fountain of Aeolus;
* The Fountain of Ceres.
A large population of figures from classical Antiquity were modelled by Gaetano Salomone for the gardens of the Reggia, and executed by large workshops.
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http://img528.imageshack.us/img528/9652/italyregionscampaniamapac7.png
The Royal Palace of Caserta, in Italian Reggia di Caserta, is a former royal residence in Caserta, constructed for the Bourbon kings of Naples. It was the largest palace and probably the largest building erected in Europe in the eighteenth century. In 1996, the Palace of Caserta was listed among the World Heritage Sites on the grounds that it was "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".
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2219/2101444036_4e2e6fe833_b.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2219/2101444036_4e2e6fe833_b.jpg
The garden, a typical example of the baroque extension of formal vistas, stretch for 120 ha, partly on hilly terrain. It is inspired by the park of Versailles, but it is commonly regarded as superior in beauty. The park starts from the back façade of the palace, flanking a long alley with artificial fountains and cascades. There is an English garden in the upper part designed in the 1780s by Carlo Vanvitelli and the London-trained plantsman-designer John Graefer, recommended to Sir William Hamilton by Sir Joseph Banks.[3] It is an early Continental example of an "English garden" in the svelte naturalistic taste of Capability Brown.
The fountains and cascades, each filling a vasca ("basin"), with architecture and hydraulics by Luigi Vanvitelli at intervals along a wide straight canal that runs to the horizon, rivalled those at Peterhof outside St. Petersburg. These include:
* The Fountain of Diana and Actaeon (sculptures by Paolo Persico, Brunelli, Pietro Solari);
* The Fountain of Venus and Adonis (1770-80);
* The Fountain of the Dolphins (1773-80);
* The Fountain of Aeolus;
* The Fountain of Ceres.
A large population of figures from classical Antiquity were modelled by Gaetano Salomone for the gardens of the Reggia, and executed by large workshops.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3091/2653343476_b1426881cb_b.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3091/2653343476_b1426881cb_b.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3608/3388956223_1fd48354f7_b.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3608/3388956223_1fd48354f7_b.jpg
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/124/407086883_f0005bfd1a_o.jpg
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/124/407086883_f0005bfd1a_o.jpg
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/28/56817616_01fdbbbe4c_b.jpg
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/28/56817616_01fdbbbe4c_b.jpg
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http://img528.imageshack.us/img528/9652/italyregionscampaniamapac7.png