Restoration work has begun at the Royal Palace of Caserta on the Temple of Diruto and the House of Swans, two symbolic architectures of the Vanvitellian complex’s English Garden. The project, overseen by the Autonomous Museum Directorate of the Ministry of Culture, aims to safeguard two of the most evocative presences of the famous 18th-century park.
The English Garden, a romantic and secluded corner of the Bourbon Palace, houses a pond framed by lush vegetation and floating water lilies. Two small islands break up its body of water: one holds the Diruto Temple, the other the Swan House. Both structures have been selected for a long-awaited enhancement operation that will also allow the public to follow the progress closely.
Located on the larger island, the Diruto Temple (also called the “little temple”) was built between 1793 and 1798 in keeping with the taste of the time for antiquity and picturesque ruins. Inspired by the archaeological excavations then underway, the small building was deliberately constructed in the form of a ruin, with broken columns and Corinthian capitals abandoned on the lawn, evoking a lost world. An exercise in classical style and memory, set in a deliberately “wild” and idealized landscape. The planned intervention is conservative, aimed at preserving the existing, maintaining the patina of time without arbitrary reconstructions, according to philological criteria.
On the other island stands the Swan House, a small building covered by a hemispherical canopy vault, built around 1840 as a shelter for royal swans. A symbol of nineteenth-century romantic grace and elegance, it will undergo extraordinary maintenance to preserve its structure and appearance.
The work has been entrusted to Fratelli Navarra Ltd. and financed with ordinary funds. The construction site will be accessible to the public, who will be able to observe the stages of the restoration directly from the ground. Museum management, with the support of technical managers, is also considering the possibility of creating a floating path on the lake, connecting the shore to the two islets. The goal is to allow small groups of visitors to discover the restored architecture up close, without damaging the delicate aquatic ecosystem.
An initiative that combines conservation, sustainability and participation, in the vein of enhancing the value of one of Europe’s most striking historic gardens.
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| Royal Palace of Caserta, restoration of the Diruto Temple and the House of Swans kicks off |
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