The Reggia di Caserta is the most important Royal Palace in Italy.
The construction of the palace was begun in 1752 for Charles VII of Naples, who worked closely with his architect Luigi Vanvitelli. When Charles saw Vanvitelli’s grandly-scaled model for Caserta it filled him with emotion “fit to tear his heart from his breast”. In the end, he never slept a night at the Reggia, as he abdicated in 1759 to become King of Spain, and the project was carried to completion for his third son and successor, Ferdinand IV of Naples. After Caserta visit, the tour will continue in a famous Abbey of Monte Cassino
Cassino
According to Gregory the Great’s biography of Benedict, Life of Saint Benedict of Nursia, the monastery was constructed on an older pagan site, a temple of Apollo that crowned the hill. The biography records that the area was still largely pagan at the time and Benedict’s first act was to smash the sculpture of Apollo and destroy the altar. He then reused the temple, dedicating it to Saint Martin.
