Royal Palace of Carditello, Royal palace and horse breeding center in San Tammaro, Italy.
The Royal Palace of Carditello is a neoclassical complex about 4 km west of San Tammaro, built by Francesco Collecini, a pupil of Vanvitelli. Its 300-metre front is divided into three linked parts: two wings joined by the central palace, whose ground floor held kitchens, weapons stores and staff rooms, while the first floor had separate quarters for the royal family and for receptions after hunting. The facade has a grey stone lower storey with an arched doorway and an orange upper storey with white pilasters; a raised central section with three arched windows rises to a balustrade with small statues. In front lies a dirt track shaped like a Roman circus, with fountains, obelisks and a circular temple.
Charles of Bourbon (1716–1788) had the palace built as a hunting lodge and horse-breeding site, and Ferdinand IV later turned it into a model farm for wheat and fine livestock. The architect was Francesco Collecini, a pupil of Luigi Vanvitelli. After Italian unification the estate fell into neglect, and in 1920 some 2,070 hectares were sold off, leaving the palace and 15 hectares.
The palace connected aristocratic life with working agriculture, as shown in its layout where living quarters for staff sat above stables and storage rooms. This mixing of royal residence and active farming reflects how the royal family integrated production with their domain.
The palace stands about 4 km west of San Tammaro on via Foresta a Carditello, near Capua. The complex covers roughly 50,000 sq m, with a central building of royal lodgings and chapel flanked by 8 towers and 12 sheds; the forecourt track, fountains, obelisks and circular temple lie in front. The site reopened to the public on 8 January 2017.
The palace's painted ceiling shows an allegorical woman holding a balance scale and a bound wooden fasces, a detail easily missed by visitors looking only at the facade. The frescoes suffered during the German and Allied occupations of World War II, and the dispersed picture gallery has since been reconstructed room by room by art historian Maria Carmela Masi.
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