CASERTA, a town and episcopal see of Campania, Italy, in the province of Naples, situated 21m. N.E. of Naples by rail via Acerra, and 23m. via Aversa. Pop. (1931) town, 24,131 ; com mune, 51,423. The modern town was a mere village belonging to the Caetani family of Sermoneta, who were counts of Caserta, until its purchase from them by Charles IV. of Naples, and the erection of the royal palace, begun by Luigi Vanvitelli (van Wit tel) in 1752, but not completed until 1774 for Charles's son Fer dinand IV. It forms a rectangle, the south front being 83oft. long and 134f t. high, with 37 windows in each storey. The interior is richly decorated with marbles, almost all of which, except the white Carrara marble, are Neapolitan or Sicilian. The staircase, the chapel and the theatre are especially sumptuous. Parts of it are now used for an air force officers' academy and for a com mercial school. The extensive gardens which occupy the hillside behind the palace are adorned with fountains and cascades, the water being brought by an aqueduct more than 27m. long with three lofty bridges over valleys, the largest being the Ponti della Valle near Maddaloni ; the botanical garden contains many trees from northern climates. Two miles north is St. Leucio, a village founded by Ferdinand IV. in 1789, with large silk factories which are still engaged in production. The old town (Caserta Vecchia) lies high (I ,31 oft.) about 3m. to the north-east. It was founded in the 9th century by the Lombards of Capua. The cathedral was completed in 1153. It is a copy of that of Sessa Aurunca, and pre serves the type of the Latin basilica. The campanile, Sicilian in style, was completed in 1234, while the dome, which betrays simi lar motives, is even later. Its pulpit is decorated with the richest polychrome mosaic that can be found anywhere in Sicily or south Italy, and is quite Muslim in its brilliance.
See S. di Giacomo, Da Capua a Caserta (Bergamo, Arti Grafiche, n.d.) well illustrated.