ENGLISH * PORTICI
ROYAL PALACE AND PARK
WE
HEAD EAST AND FLY OVER THE PORT, WITH ITS MERCHANT SHIPS, MILITARY VESSELS
AND CRUISING LINERS, TO THE TOWN OF PORTICI, AT THE FOOT OF VESUVIUS. IN BYGONE
DAYS, THE TOWN COULD ONLY BE REACHED BY HORSE-DRAWN CARRIAGE, BUT IN 1837
THE NAPLES-PORTICI RAILWAY LINE WAS OPENED, THE FIRST IN ITALY. UNCONTROLLED
URBAN DEVELOPMENT HAS CHANGED THE APPEARANCE OF PORTICI, BUT LOOKING DOWN
ON THE TOWN FROM ABOVE, IT IS STILL POSSIBLE TO ENVISAGE IT AS IT MUST ONCE
HAVE BEEN WHEN CHARLES III CHOSE IT AS HIS SUMMER RESIDENCE.
BENEATH US LIKE A PAUSE
TO TAKE BREATH AMONG THE OPPRESSIVE CROWDING IN OF MODERN BUILDINGS THE HORSEHOE
SHAPE OF THE ROYAL PALACE SET IN A LARGE PARK SLOPING DOWN TO THE SEA. THE
SITE WAS SELECTED IN PARTICULAR FOR ITS PROXIMITY TO HERCULANEUM, WHERE, AT
THAT PERIOD, EXCAVATIONS WERE JUST BEGINNING, BUT ALSO BECAUSE THE KING WISHED
TO USE THE FOREST FOR HUNTING. THE PALACE WAS DESIGNED BY THE SAME ARCHITECT
WHO HAD WORCHED ON CAPODIMONTE, ANTONIO MEDRANO, BUT FUGA AND VANVITELLI ALSO
HAD A HAND IN THE PROJECT.
THE "ROYAL ROAD"
DIVIDES THE BUILDING INTO TWO SECTIONS: THE LOWER PALACE, WITH ITS MONUMENTAL
FACADE FACING THE SEA AND ITS TWO TERRACES FORMED BY THE ARMS OF THE COLONNADE,
AND THE UPPER PALACE WHICH LOOKS TOWARDS VESUVIUS. THE GRANDEUR AND ELEGANCE
OF THE INTERIOR CERTAINLY MAKES IT WORKH A DETAILED VISIT: IT CONTAINS PORTICOES,
IMPRESSIVE STAIRCASES WITH FRESCOED WALLS AND CEILINGS, STUCCOWORK, PAINTINGS,
STATUES AND MARBLES. ONLY A CLOSE KNOWLEDGE OF SUCH THINGS CAN ENABLE US TO
APPRECIATE THE DEGREE OF CULTURE ATTAINED IN NAPLES WHEN IT WAS ONE OF THE
CAPITALS OF EUROPE.
PORTICI, HOWEVER, IS NOT
ONLY REPRESENTED BY ITS ROYAL PALACE. ALMOST ALL THE 121 VILLAS WHICH LINE
THE COAST ARE ARCHITECTURAL MASTERPIECES, SUCH AS THE VILLA FAVORITA OR THE
VILLA CAMPOLIETO DESIGNED BY VANVITELLI. THE LATTER VILLA HAS RECENTLY BEEN
RESTORED AND NOW HOUSES THE LARGEST COLLECTION IN ITALY OF CONTEMPORARY ART.
IN 1872, PROMPTED BY THE
STATE OF NEGLECT INTO WHICH THE ROYAL APALCE WAS FALLING AND THE NEED TO PRESERVE
IT FROM BEING DIVIDED UP, THE PROVINCIAL ADMINISTRATION PURCHASED THE PROPERTY.
TODAY, THE PALACE AND ITS GROUNDS BELONG TO THE AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES FACULTY
OF NAPLES UNIVERSITY.
