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What looks like an elegant lake house is actually an eighteenth-century building among the most refined in Southern Italy. The building is so evocative that it has appeared in several film productions and has been at the centre of countless photographic contests.
This rather unusual place was once the hunting and fishing reserve of the Bourbons, designed towards the end of the 18th century by the architect Carlo Vanvitelli. Many famous people have been guests here: princes, kings, musicians, artists and even Luigi Einaudi, the second President of the Italian Republic (1948 – 1955).
Today, in a context that stands out against the waves of the lake, we can still breathe an air of aristocracy. An experience to be enjoyed above all at sunset when the sky gives the onlooker an evocative display, a unique emotion.
A place halfway between fairy tale and poetry, open all year to the public thanks to a local association.
History and art
The Royal Hunting House, today known as Casina Vanvitelliana after its architect, was built in 1782 near the shores of Lake Fusaro, in the town of Bacoli, in the province of Naples. The construction was met with amazement: try imaging the feeling of seeing a building rise up from the water!
With a clear reference to the hunting estate of Stupinigi by Filippo Juvarra, the building that was much desired by the Bourbons today still impresses with its complex structure, to which only a wealthy family with a leading role could aspire. What our eyes begin to notice at a distance is a fascinating polygonal pavilion, structured on two levels and with two terraced side bodies that make the whole effect even more majestic.
Resplendent in its grandeur, the Casina housed important works of art that were stolen at the end of the 18th century during the revolutionary movements. The bridge that connects it to the mainland today dates back to the first half of the 20th century.
With references to the last period of the Baroque style, the overall effect is noble and refined, just as the Bourbons intended.
