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Middle Fountain The Fountain, so-called
because of its barycentric position in the Wood
is an old fish pond of the XVIII century
In that period it was stocked with assorted fish
and eels and was enclosed by a balustrade of white marble
A large cistern, still in existence and attached to the
second courtyard of the ancient Fabbrica della Porcellana
fed this fountain which in turn supplied water
to the Tower Garden through a series
of wells and underground conduits Giant's Statue
It is the most precious piece statuary in the park
because it is partly made up of ancient fragments,
the so-called "Greek sculpture" The bust and the
head with vase are the most ancient pieces
Originally from the Farnese Palace in Rome
they were sent to Naples and transferred
by Ferdinando Fuga to Capodimonte in 1763 The statue was
found in the Cellaio together with other items
and was placed in its current position
towards the end of the 1960s Middle Avenue
In the eighteenth century the avenue finished
in a circular piazza skirted by a number of trees
where the Giant's Statue once reigned.
Today, the last stretch of the street deviates from its axis
and is no longer ornamented by a double file of trees
It finishes in an opening where there is
a small brick structure called the Roccolo The prevailing
tree species as in the other "Stradoni" is the Holm-Oak
with scattered specimens of Lime, Hornbeam and Downy Oak
the most common shrub is the Cherry Laurel
a species used since the eighteenth century,
for hedge growing. Dairy-Farm Building
Established in the first years of the nineteenth century
it was a real business which produced milk
and milk by-products that were part sold The cattlesheds
and rooms for dairy use were at ground level
and the upper level was a dwelling
Under Ferdinando II, the building was restructured
and the walls were covered with wood to give
the building the appearance of a rustic house in the "picturesque
style" in vogue in the nineteenth century
At that time the Dairy Farm was renowned for its produce
and also for its introduction of bovine breeds
imported from Switzerland The building
no longer inhabited and without its wood covering
still has its nineteenth century architecture
consisting of two floors built around
a central courtyard Building of San Gennaro
It has a ground
floor and first floor, where some "long loggias" sprawl out
This is a very old term meaning terraced spaces
The building's least modified facade is the one
overlooking the Viale di mezzo The entrance hall
of the courtyard opens here The several ground
level rooms give onto this entrance and are lit from
simple circular windows that form the entrance facade
The factory walls were restructured and restored
during the reign of Ferdinando II and existed until
the eighteenth century At that time the
ground floor housed the "Uccelliera" where some exotic
species of pheasant were also kept The first floor
was the dwelling of some Wood employees. This is a brick
tower, on a quadratic base and lightly tapered in height
which rises to the margins of the end clearing of
the Viale di mezzo It has two floors
with an upper terrace accessible by a set of internal stairs
The Roccolo was a building for hunting use
constructed possibly on the site of an old 'post house'
during the period of the House of Savoy Gate of Santa Maria
dei Monti The Gate, nowadays
disused, is situated on the north-east borders of the Wood
and gives onto a street that leads to Capodichino
Probably completed by the French towards the
end of the eighteenth century the Gate takes
its name from an ancient seventeenth century monastery situated close by
Tower Garden and Tower Building
This complex, situated next to the Porta di Santa Maria
dei Monti, is entirely walled and has great landscape value
It includes garden areas, with different used
for different purposes, and a towered building. Since the XVIII
century, it was sub-divided into many independent environments
the Orchard Garden the largest space,
used for the production of prized fruit for the King's table
the Flower Garden the most precious
part, where pineapples were cultivated as were many varieties of
flowers the "Giardino della
Purpignera" behind the exedra
room, given to the propagation of pineapples and of market garden cultivation
and finally the Lower Orchard
used as a nursery The complex has
been subject to recent restoration initiatives that allowed it to be open to
the public in 1998 The progressive
neglect in the last fifty years, which has also involved the surrounding buildings
From the "Fruttiera", a wide entrance hall leads to this
building known as the Tower Block in the nineteenth century
Meadwlands to the north of the Fabbricato Vaccheria
At the exit of the Giardino Torre a large tract
of meadowland extends bordered on the
sides by Viale di Mezzo and the Vallone dei Cervi
Here, as to the north of the Fabbricato San Gennaro, crops,
broad beans, maize and in particular grapes are cultivated
nearby in the Vaccherie the meadowland is used
as pasture In 1847, when the
area was turned into an "English Park", large vines and other existing vegetation
were removed In addition, avenues
were opened, soil was transplanted, and several ornamental trees were planted
In the House of Savoy period, the plateau was newly
seeded with graminaceous plants plants for the
feeding of the game reintroduced in the Royal Estate
Cataneo Factory This is another
of the rustic edifices of the Wood, situated on the Amendola valley
In the recent past, it assumed the name of Agency
as it housed the offices where the workers received
instructions for the maintenance of the Wood Although the building
doesn't have any particular architectural interest, it has a clear typology
As in the past, the area is organised around two spaces
enclosed by walls in the north a
garden, in the south a courtyard, shaded at the entrance by a splendid robust Graevillea
specimen
Grotto The small structure, immersed in the overgrowth
of the wood, is situated close to the Fabbricato Cataneo
on the borders between the areas renovated in the
English style and the avenue
system established in the eighteenth century
The current construction is also has the name
of Grotta In typical nineteenth
century fashion, it imitates a false ruin
reproducing traits of old construction techniques, such as
opus listatum
The inside of the grotto has an air of a mystic or meditative
place The rough walls
are festooned with the remains of wall hangings and false windows or shrines
underneath which stone chairs covered in slate have
been excavated