This is an excerpt for Episode 3: Caserta: A Palace & Pizza from the Dream of Italy Season 3 Travel Guide. Get your own PDF copy here.
Built by architect Luigi Vanvitelli for King Charles VII of Naples in 1751, this elaborate residence is the largest former royal palace in the world and on par in lavishness with Versailles. The 300-acre compound features Italian and English gardens, a waterfall, a vineyard, a silk factory and a flour mill. The 1,200 rooms housed staff and residents as well as government offices; in modern times, it was featured in the Star Wars films Episode I: The Phantom Menace and Episode II: Attack of the Clones. For more information, visit www.reggiadicaserta.cultura.gov.it