The plain of Capua was well known for its fertility. The land was full of agricultural production. The viceroy Michele Reggio and Branciforte knew it well. In fact, he suggested to Charles of Bourbon to buy some lands there.
They chose the count of Acerra’s feud: Ferdinando de Cardenas, between two rivers: the long Volturno in the north, and in the south the one which was called Clanio, before the creation of Regi Lagni. An immense property with two thousand hectares, mostly cultivated with cereals, fodders, vegetables, hemp and flax, but also with a marshy part, where hunting trips were taking place, and took king Charles (founder of the Bourbon dynasty of Naples) to these places.
Since he was frequenting those properties personally and with the court, the king thought about building there a country residence which would have hosted him with his entourage. Therefore, in 1744, Tenuta di Carditello (Royal Palace of Carditello) was created and owes its name to the proliferation of cardoons. The Roman architect Francesco Collecini, Vanvitelli’s disciple, signed the project and took care of the creation. King Ferdinand IV entrusted also to Collecini the extension of San Leucio Palace.
The main and central edifice, characterised by a arcades and a belvedere, si accompagna ad altre strutture di servizio adiacenti e affaccia, come queste ultime, su una grande distesa coltivata a prato, dalla forma ellittica, con un tempietto circolare al centro e, sui lati estremi, delle fontane con obelischi.
Jakob Phillip Hackert, was the first court painter who took care of both the interior decorations and the modern furnitures, partly acquired in Paris and party purposely created by local artisans. Hackert as well signed the project of the mural paintings of the royal apartment, which he entrusted to the best artists of that time: Fedele Fischetti, Giuseppe Cammarano, Giuseppe Magri, Domenico Chelli and Carlo Brunelli, author of the monochromes that decorate the central plan church and the canvas of the altar dedicated to the Ascension of Christ. While Angelo Brunelli painted the vaults and created the stucco bas reliefs that embellished the tow large and scenographic symmetric staircases which lead to the main loor.
THE NOBLE APPARTMENT
The restoration works of the recent years have remedied some of the critical issues that the period of neglect had caused. Like the replacement of the marbles stolen over time and the recovery of Carlo Beccalli’s bas reliefs, which represent hunting trophies and architectural motifs on the ceiling. While in some “strategic” points, there is the figure of the cardoon,, symbol of the estate. The embellishments of the rooms of the private apartments of the sovereigns and of the court are of great value. There is the Hall of Diana, whose walls are adorned with paintings inspired to mythological episodes, while under the ceiling, monochrome is used with all shades of gray to represent Diana equipped with a bow and arrows. There is the Sala dei Peesaggi (Landscapes Hall), the study of Maria Carolina, which is named liked this due to the rural scenes invented by Philipp Hackert: on the left, a fresco of the Royal Palace of Caserta newly built; on the right, a view of Capua countryside with farmers at work and, in the frontal position, a suggestive glimpse of Naples, while the vault is decorated with a tromp l’oeil by Domenico Chelli with putti flying in the blue sky. There is the Library, wanted by Maria Carolina (where the statute of San Leucio was signed), with paintings of the animals of the royal hunts, fine furniture, sumptuous curtains, grey Mondragone marble and wood fireplaces, a mastery work of half Europe. There is the Ballroom with the vault decorated by Fedele Fiaschetti in 1791, dedicated to the birth of the Bourbon dynasty with painting of the Henry IV's Apotheosis. There is the Hall of the mathematical table, where there was a table which was brought upstairs (all set) from the kitchen with a system of ropes and pulleys, There is the Dark room, maybe a game room, with a skylight formed by a “light well”. There is the Four Seasons Hall, with sketches designed by Hackert and created by Giuseppe Cammarano. Apart from the paintings, the precious objects were partly destroyed by the French troops or dispersed among the other royal palaces in 1799. Therefore, the rich painting collection of still-lives was moved to Caserta, the tapestries designed by Fischetti were moved to the Royal Palace of Naples and the furniture and the decors divided between Caserta and Capodimonte. The other Royal Delights which Carditello was fully part of, since the sovereigns used to stay there.
There is also a church, the Chapel of the Ascension in neoclassical style, with splendid stuccos outlining a coffered vault where the thistle flower appears again. In the centre of the vault, the fresco of the Eternal Father with angels and saints: in the pendentives the virtues : Eternity, Wisdom, Mercy and Justice and, on the small stage, the Birth of Jesus and the Flight into Egypt.
The recent restoration has allowed the recovery of the four historic sundials of the estate.
A MODEL FARM AND AGRICULTURAL ESTATE
It was Ferdinand IV who rethought the function of Carditello compared to the initial idea of his father: therefore, no longer just a hunting lodge, but a model farm and an agricultural estate for experimental crops, made with modern methods and using the first agricultural machines. And a breeding centre for horse and bovine breeds, the result of new crossings.
The breeding of buffaloes was considerably implemented. They had already been present for at least six centuries in the plain of Capua. Thanks to the cheese factory activated inside the estate and the considerable quantity of buffalo milk which was processed there, the Reale Industria della pagliata delle bufale (Real industry of the Buffalo) was launched, in other words the first large-scale mozzarella production, decisive for the knowledge and the spread of that very particular cheese.
Ferdinand wanted to transfer there the breeding of the prized horses of Persano. To train them, the horse track (Galoppatoio) was created, the largest hippodrome in the world present in a royal residence. The sovereigns used to watch the evolutions of the horses in the central temple, while the employees of the estate attended the races from special stands. And there was a fosse, which was the passage of water that irrigated the field. Today, in order to verify the state of health of the area that qualifies the estate, a biomonitoring station has been installed, which uses the collaboration of bees, because the products are analysed as an environmental indicator.
THE HISTORY AFTER THE BOURBONS
The estate was occupied by the Garibaldini in 1860, to then be transferred to the property of the Royal House of Savoy. In 1920 the furnitures and the edifices were assigned to the state property of the National Opera Fighters, which divided and put on sale most of the more than 2000 hectares of the estate, which remained with the central edifice and 15 surrounding hectares in a radial pattern. After the Second World War, which became heritage of the Lower Basin Reclamation Consortium of the Volturno, it degraded progressively, which seemed inexorable. Until when, in 2013, the complex was acquired by the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and the recovery started. In 2016, the Carditello Royal Site foundation was established which the Ministry, the Region and the Municipality of San Tammaro are part of. This is how the recovery of the original agricultural vocation and the care of the selected breeds, particularly of the Pesano horses. And the opening to the public is accompanied by cultural activities and initiatives linked to the agri-food sector, carried out in synergy with universities and research institutes.
