From the centre of the "telescope", the long avenue that divides the layout of the Royal Palace of Caserta in two, the viewer's gaze is attracted by the plant life in the Park, which from here seems entirely made up of greenery and water.
The great Waterfall | Ph. Anna Monaco - Trentaremi
The waterfall seems close because the telescope is the result of a calculated perspective, but in reality, you have to walk for 3 km before arriving at your reward: total immersion in nature, in its colours and in its silence. It is called the waterway because water is the element that animates the entire path which includes mirrors, waterfalls, and six spectacular fountains, in a play of enchanting perspectives.
The goddess Diana transforms Actaeon | Ph. Anna Monaco - Trentaremi
The park project was embarked upon at the same time as the palace, with the same architect, Luigi Vanvitelli, and with the same desire to amaze and emulate the most prestigious European residences. Another construction site also began work in the same period, the Carolino Aqueduct. This imposing engineering project departs from the slopes of Mount Taburno, covering forty kilometres, was implemented to feed the palace fountains and carry water to the silk manufacturing factory in San Leucio, a few kilometres from Caserta. But all of this effort vanishes, as if by magic, when you are standing in front of the great waterfall: the roar of the water makes you believe that at the top there is a water source and that it is a miracle of nature and not of hydraulics. And the waterfall is not the only surprise.
«Nunc tibi me posito visam velamine narres, sit poteris narrare, licet!»
«Now you may say you have seen me naked, if you still retain the power of speech!»Ovid - Metamorphoses
The water cascades unceasingly into a pool surrounded by rocks and populated by numerous statues, divided into two groups. On the right, there are women wearing incredulous expressions, all except one who is in the middle and tries to cover herself up as best she can. Unlike the others, she has a proud and resolute look and with her hand, she indicates something, or perhaps someone. On the opposite side, there is a man, probably on the run, surrounded by dogs that are attacking him. On closer inspection, there is something strange about this character, his body is human, he also has a bow, a quiver with arrows, but his head is that of an animal, a deer. This is Actaeon, a skilled hunter who unfortunately made a mistake: his prying eyes settled on Diana's body while she was bathing with the nymphs.
The transformation of Actaeon into a deer | Ph. Anna Monaco - Trentaremi
The goddess of virginity and purity could not leave the brazen Actaeon unpunished and thus transforms him into a deer. Her innocence is safe, the hunter will not be able to tell anyone what he has seen because soon he will be torn to pieces by his dogs.
«Actaeon ego sum: dominum cognoscite vestrum!»
«I am Actaeon: know your own master!»Ovid - Metamorphoses
The goddess of the hunt and the woods certainly could not be absent among the deities present in the Park where nature, myth and art merge. The statues of these two groups, created by the sculptors Paolo Persico, Tommaso Solari and Angelo Brunelli, stage the myth narrated by Ovid under the gaze of the visitors: the dense vegetation acts as a backdrop, the water that separates the two protagonists participates in the story, making you forget that it is fiction.