Royal Palace of Caserta and Monte Cassino Abbey

The magnificent Royal Palace of Caserta is the largest royal residence erected in Europa during the 18th century. It was designed and built to be the core of a new capital city for the kingdom of Naples. Even before ascending to the throne in 1734, king Charles of Bourbon wanted to realize an administrative centre as an alternative to the city of Naples. Naples, because located on the sea, it was at risk of invasion by the enemy fleets. For the project of the new palace the feud of Caserta was the perfect solution because only 12 Km north from Naples and away from the sea. In 1750 the king committed to the architect Luigi Vanvitelli the project for the new palace which the project was inspired from the Royal Palace of Versailles. The works started only two years later, on January 1752. Unfortunately, 7 years later (in 1759) king Charles abdicated from the throne of Naples to become King the of Spain as Charles III of Bourbon. The new King of Naples was then Ferdinand IV son of Charles. In 1773 Luigi Vanvitelli died and the works stopped for 4 years. In 1777 his son Carlo, (new director of the works) showed to king Ferdinand a new project that was a simplified version of his father design. The change of project was due to economic difficulty and then the needs to complete the works quickly. The works of the palace ended around 1820.

Riyal Palace of Caserta is closed on Tuesday 

One hour drive north of Caserta we will reach the Benedict Abbey of Monte Cassino.

Located at the top of a hill, the famous Abbey of Monte Cassino commands spectacular views over the city of Cassino and Montelungo valley. The Abbey was founded in 529BC by St. Benedict and was looked upon as a place of holiness, culture and art for which it became renowned on a world-wide level. During the centuries it has been destroyed and rebuilt several times. The most recent and infamous destruction was on February 14th 1944 during the battle of Monte Cassino in World War Two. Because of it's strategic position it was occupied by the German forces and used as a vantage point to attack the Allied forces advancing from the South of Italy along route 6. The battle for Monte Cassino (Nov 43 to April 44) was one of of the bloodiest battles of the Italian Campaign.

After the war the Abbey was completely rebuilt as it was before. Upon leaving the Abbey we drive down to the city of Cassino where we can visit the Commonwealth War Cemetery or the museum called Historiale.

In the Commonwealth War Cemetery are buried many of the soldiers who fell in the battle of Cassino.

The HISTORIALE museum has been created to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the battle of Monte Cassino and to honor the victims of all the nationalities that lost their life for peace and freedom.