Two days immersed in the UNESCO heritage in Caserta
The weekend itinerary in Caserta is designed imagining arriving in the city in the late afternoon of Friday and leaving in the afternoon of the following Sunday. It is, of course, transferable to any day of the week. It provides for a two-night stay.
Although Caserta is a quiet provincial town just a few kilometers from Naples, it can boast two UNESCO sites that make it an ideal destination for the weekend.
The stages of the itinerary, which is entirely articulated in the municipal area, are:
- The medieval village of Caserta Vecchia, a national monument (average duration of the visit: two and a half hours);
- the Royal Palace, a UNESCO site (average duration of the visit: all day);
- the villages of San Leucio and Vaccheria (average duration of the visit: half a day);
- the Real Belvedere of San Leucio, a UNESCO site (average duration of the visit: an hour and a half already included in the visit to the village);
First day (Friday evening): medieval village of Caserta Vecchia
Arriving in Caserta in the afternoon and after settling into your chosen accommodation, I recommend that you head straight to the medieval village of Casertavecchia, an Italian national monument. About 10 km from the center, it will allow you to enjoy a pleasant and relaxing walk in its charming alleys. If you can, try to arrive before sunset when the warm sunlight of the golden hour enhances the colors of the stone and lava tuff constructions. You will also have the opportunity to visit the many points of interest that the village has to offer:
- The Cathedral of St. Michael the Archangel
- The church of the Annunziata.
- The remains of the castle and the Tower of the Falcons
- The Chapel of San Rocco
In addition, especially in the summer, you can come across one of the many events held in Caserta Vecchia and enjoy a milder climate than the Caserta below.
Finally, the village is full of restaurants so you won’t have any trouble finding the one you like best.
Second day (Saturday): the Royal Palace and the city center
With a covered area of 47,000 square meters, 1,200 rooms that can only be partially visited, 34 internal staircases, 1,742 windows, 4 courtyards, a theater, a chapel and 120 hectares of parkland, for a length of almost 3 kilometers, the Royal Palace of Caserta requires at least one day for a visit that is not too in-depth.
A UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1997, it has been in the top ten of the most visited monuments in Italy for years. It was commissioned by Charles of Bourbon to make it the new royal residence. The construction work took almost a century, from 1752 to 1845, although the palace began to be inhabited from 1789.
When planning your day, keep in mind that it is not possible to leave and re-enter the complex with the same ticket. Bring something to eat. Alternatively, inside the Palace you can find two bars.
At the end of the visit, you can take a walk in the center of Caserta, adjacent to the Royal Palace. Via Mazzini, Corso Trieste, Piazza Vanvitelli and the other streets of the center offer shopping and evening entertainment with numerous restaurants, bars and pubs.
Third day (Sunday morning) Real Belvedere and villages of San Leucio and Vaccheria
As the last stop of the weekend itinerary in Caserta, I propose the villages of San Leucio and Vaccheria, both of Bourbon origin and located about 3 km from the center. These are quiet locations that allow you to learn about the industrial past of the Bourbon kingdom. Both villages, in fact, are linked to the development of agriculture and silk processing wanted by Ferdinand IV of Bourbon. The king had even imagined the construction of a new city, Ferdinandopoli, endowed with wide autonomy and regulated by a special statute, inspired by the principles of enlightened despotism, which at the end of the 1700s placed it at the forefront of the Europe of the Enlightenment.
Among the places of interest that the villages can offer, do not miss the opportunity to visit the Real Belvedere of San Leucio, another UNESCO site. Divided into three sections, the silk museum, the royal apartments and the royal gardens, it allows you to get to know a less dynamic side of the Bourbon kingdom through a visit, among other things, of an ancient silk factory that gave rise to the processing of Leucian silk, known all over the world.
If you have time, take the short dirt path that starts from Vaccherie and winds along the slopes of Mount San Leucio. You will thus have the opportunity to enjoy a splendid view of the Belvedere and Vesuvius.
Here too you can find some restaurants where you can refresh yourself for lunch.
Finally, at the end of the visit, you are already close to the entrance to the highway.
Tips and curiosities
- On the third day of your visit, you can complete the itinerary with a quick excursion to the nearby sanctuary of San Michele and Santa Maria del Monte in the municipality of Maddaloni. The Sanctuary, of Lombard origin even if the current appearance dates back to the end of the nineteenth century, is an important pilgrimage destination. In addition, from the height of the 424 meters of the hill on which it is located, it allows a suggestive view of the Ponti della Valle, another UNESCO site. The bridges are part of the Caroline aqueduct, built by Vanvitelli to bring water to the sites of San Leucio and the Royal Palace, and are reminiscent of a Roman aqueduct in structure;
- All the attractions of the weekend itinerary in Caserta are also accessible to people with motor disabilities with the exception of the village of Casertavecchia. If you find yourself in this situation, consider excluding this stage;
