Monumental Complex of Belvedere di San Leucio

To the north of the historic centre of Caserta, where the plain rises towards the Campania Apennines, is the Belvedere di San Leucio, a monumental complex protected by UNESCO together with the Royal Palace of Caserta, its park and its aqueduct. During the second half of the 18th century, when the work on the palace was in full swing, the son of Charles of Bourbon, Ferdinand IV, wanted to add another piece to Caserta's renovation project. The idea was to entrust the architect Francesco Collecini with the creation of a new and modern district dedicated to the production of silk, located at the northern end of the garden of the Royal Palace of Caserta.  The San Leucio complex would have housed manufactories highly specialised in the creation of fabrics, as well as a series of residential buildings for workers arranged symmetrically around the workplace.

Everything that was useful for the well-being of the working class of San Leucio has been included in the project: a church and a school, a refectory, fields for agricultural production, vegetable gardens, vineyards and other green areas. Ferdinand IV's idea of welfare never came to fruition, although much of what had been conceived can now be visited. Among the rooms of the Silk Museum, for example, you can retrace the history of the San Leucio site, passing through a large exhibition of fabrics and industrial machines, before returning to the open air to enjoy the belvedere that overlooks the entire city of Caserta from this hill.