Day 6: Caserta Palace and Pompei

Hi everyone, Jim has consented to allow a guest post. So andiamo… xo, Cath.

We began the day at Reggio Caserta, 40 minutes north of Naples, the largest royal palace in the world and a UNESCO World Heritage site. It was commissioned in 1752 by Charles III of the Bourbon family (famous for prominent noses), and a monument to “keeping up with the Jones’s”. Inspired by, and meant to be grander than Versailles, it has total of 1200 rooms placed across 5 floors, including 12 state apartments, a library, and a theatre that was modeled after Teatro San Carlo of Naples, the oldest opera theater in the world, also a Charles creation. (More on this later) enter image description here

Fashioned in Italian Baroque style, the palace also features a garden that was designed in such a way that as you step through the entrance, the gardens, fountains and cascades appear to stretch before you to the horizon.
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The whole place had an effect of overwhelming magnificence, which I expect is what Charles intended. Nothing like an obvious display of wealth to intimidate your royal cousins.

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An unexpected feature of our visit was seeing the permanent Terrae Motus art collection, which was displayed throughout the royal apartments. Terrae Motus means “movement of the earth”. On November 23, 1980, Southern Italy was hit by an 6.9 earthquake. Centered in the province of Avellino, (which we visited — more on that in a future post) the damage covered 10,000 square miles including Naples and Salerno. It was devastating. Thousands dead or injured and over 250,000 displaced. On November 26, the Il Mattino newspaper headlined the front page with “Fate Presto” — Hurry Up — to call attention to the urgent need for help.

This is a panel from an Andy Warhol piece in the collection. Lucio Amelio, a well known Italian art collector, and personal friend of many contemporary artists commissioned over 60 artists to create works on the theme.

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Jim was not a fan of most of the modern art in the Terrae Motus collection. Upon seeing the work below by Michelangelo Pistoletto, Jim remarked to our guide, Davide, “This is the first thing that I’ve liked”. Davide, who was never at a loss for words, seemed rather at a loss for words.

enter image description here Michelangelo Pistoletto Annunciation Terrae Motus

The day had been chilly but partially sunny and gloriously rain free until we headed out to Pompei for the remainder of the afternoon. We met our lovely and knowledgeable guide, Esther, at the entrance to Pompei, in a deluge. However, as we walked through the city, the clouds parted and the sun came out. It turned into a glorious day.
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A native of the area, Esther had grown up while Pompei was being unburied and had spent many hours as a young girl wandering unrestricted around the ancient city. At one point at the conclusion of our time there when the rain had long finished and the sun was out, she leaned forward and touched a wall with both hands spread. “I love these stones” she said.

She was determined that we see the Vitteii house, just opened last year after 20 years of excavation. It was owned by two wealthy brothers and is one of the largest dwellings discovered thus far. The frescoes were stunning and perfectly preserved. Remember, this entire town was buried by volcanic ash in the year 79 A.D. The ash acted as a perfect preservative for the stone and iron in the city. This was a unique event that presented a unique opportunity for archeologists to understand what life was like back in the first century A.D.
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