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Historic evolution To the north of Naples,
sprawled on a hill skirting the edges of this historic city, is the ancient Royal
Delight of Capodimonte. It once formed part
of the territorial system used by the Crown, called "royal sites" in the Bourbon era.
On the wishes of Carlo III di Borbone, acceded to the throne
of Naples on 10 May 1734, and his son Ferdinando IV
vast properties were gained by dispossession and acquisition,
and became part of the royal assets.
Generally located on the outskirts of the Capital, these places
were particularly suited to hunting and fishing; activities considered
to be functions of the State, more than in other European Courts
Caserta, Portici and Capodimonte represented the main 'royal
sites' on account of the grandeur of the residence and of the parks.
From the beginning of the eighteenth century, a Palace and a
hunting wood rose on the hill of Capodimonte. They were the equal
of any of the other monumental complexes created by Charles
and they were intended to express the might and
magnificence of this reigning monarch The history of
the palace's construction, which today as in the past
hosts an important museum, is long and complex and has continued
for more than a century. The building plan
was designed in 1734 by the Royal engineer Giovanni Antonio Medrano
assisted by the architect Antonio Canevari
From the eighteenth century onward, its mighty bulk,
though incomplete represented an episode of enormous landscaping
consequence for the city, incorporating Vesuvius the hill of San Martino and the arc of the
Gulf those hymns to
the city that were immortalised in the past, in Neapolitan landscape paintings.
The hunting wood with its gardens adjacent to the Palace, open
to the public since 1951, make up the largest civilian historical park
spreading over an area of around 134 hectares and populated
by hundreds of vegetal entities Today its configuration
is the result of long stratification, superimposed on the original formal and floral plantations
and is testimony to the evolution of Neapolitan taste
the art of gardening