La Casina Vanvitelliana in Lago Fusaro, Campania, Italy
If I had the money to save a building of all those that I have seen this is the one that I would save.
We saw it for the first time this summer – small, elegant, corroded and propped up; its perfect proportions reflected in the blue green lake as the sun went down.
La Casina Vanvitelliana in Lago Fusaro, Campania, Italy
The lodge sits just inside the lake, completely surrounded by water, each of its sides open to different views.
To the front of the Casina Vanvitelliana are views to the sea and the island of Ischia
To the front is the sea separated from the lake by a strip of land, while behind and to each side, buildings push up through the trees with some parts more concrete than green.
On the shore closest to the Casina Vanvitelliano, just across the wooden bridge, is the park
The two men who created this lodge knew each other well. Both their families had worked together before, both were the sons of famous men, and both had foreign grandfathers.
La Casina Vanvitelliana – a Bourbon hunting and fishing lodge built (1782) on the lake that it’s thought Virgil’s Aeneas knew as the Archerusian swamps where Cerberus, the three-headed dog, kept watch for those who might try to exit hell.
The man who commissioned the building, Ferdinando IV, King of Naples, was the son of Carlo di Borbone, the young royal from Spain who took the throne of Naples in 1734 aged 18.
Carlo di Borbone (Carlos Sebastián de Borbón e Farnese was the son of Philip V the King of Spain). Born in Spain in 1716 and died in Spain in 1788. Carlo di Borbone was the father of Ferdinand IV of Naples.
The man who designed it was Carlo Vanvitelli (1739-1821), the son of Luigi Vanvitelli who was the architect and engineer for Carlo di Borbone.
Luigi Vanvitelli (Lodewijk van Wittel, son of Dutch landscape artist Gaspar van Wittel) was born in Naples in 1700 and died in Caserta in 1773. Luigi Vanvitelli (as he was known in Italy) was the father of Carlo Vanvitelli.
But before they could start on ‘la casina’ they had to finish a very different project – the royal palace at Caserta, one of the grandest palaces in all of Europe.
Ferdinand IV of Naples – left in Naples as king at the age of eight when his father had to return to Spain as its new King
Their fathers had begun this super-palace but neither of them were there to finish it off – Carlo di Borbone had been called back to become king of Spain (1759), and Luigi Vanvitelli died in 1773 the year before the palace was more or less completed.
Plans for the royal palace at Caserta near Naples, Italy
This left Ferdinando IV and Carlo Vanvitelli in charge. By 1774 the palace, with its 1,200 rooms and almost three hundred acres of gardens, was more or less complete.
Caserta out of the way there was time for new projects and Lago Fusaro was chosen to host one of them – the little poem of a building we visited in late July – La Casina Vanvitelliana.
La Casina Vanvitelliana on Lago Fusaro
This royal playhouse is so cleverly designed, so pleasing, that you almost forget how many straight lines are involved. In all it has twelve sides, and two main floors each with a large central room which has been angled into a round.
The ground floor of La Casina Vanvitelliana on Lago Fusaro near Naples, Italy
The building as a whole is pale and petite, surrounded by a natural lake, and, unlike its giant of a cousin, has no fountains or formal gardens.
A stairway in the royal palace of Caserta outside Naples, Italy – just one of these archways is as monumental as a city gate.
But what La Casina Vanvitelliana does not have in size and assertion, it makes up for with poise and position.
It sits like a pearl near the edge of a shell, with the lake for its setting.
Perhaps this was the original intention as under Frederick IV Lago Fusaro became famous for its oysters.
View across Lago Fusaro from Parco Vanvitelliano, by the bridge leading to La Casina Vanvitelliana
The lodge also entertained many of the celebrities of the day – including, as far as I can find out, Nicholas I Tzar of Russia, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Gioachino Rossini.
Inside it was well known for its landscape scenes by Sir Philip Hackert and the beauty of its tiled floor. Apparently the paintings were removed during the revolution of 1799 and the tiles on the floor disappeared after the Second World War.
So, it’s a little denuded today but the light and air are still there, as well as the careful brilliance of the building’s design.
To the front of the Casina Vanvitelliana are views to the sea and the island of Ischia. The pictures give an idea of what Sir Philip Hackert’s works must have looked like.
Originally the only way to reach the lodge was by boat.
La Casina Vanvitelliana on Lago Fusaro
It’s easier now thanks to the addition of a relatively new feature, a wooden bridge which is sought after as a backdrop for wedding photographs.
Arriving for the wedding photographs – La Casina Vanvitelliana in Lago Fusaro
On the evening we visited several parties waited their turn in the park but no-one seemed to mind the wait – or the weary plaster, or the scaffolding – because something else … the romance was clearly still there.
The ground floor of La Casina Vanvitelliana on Lago Fusaro near Naples, Italy
La Casina Vanvitelliana feels like a place that’s been loved, and that is still loved by those who know it.
I hope it finds its saviour because at the moment the fact that it’s open at all is thanks to volunteers.
A glimpse of the Casina Vanvitelliana through the trees of its park
Copyright Georgie Knaggs & The Phraser 2018
A few sources for further interest are:
A piece in Italian about the oysters on Lago Fusaro
Aeneas and Lago Fusaro the Archerusian Lake
The Phraser 
Just found this and read it. I lived just down the road in Cuma from ,1971-74. Your article made me feel like I was there again. Thank you!
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Hi – your comment has made me so happy! Thanks. So glad you found the piece. All the best Georgie
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Reblogged this on The Phraser and commented:
We visited this little lodge last August, towards the end of our two years near Naples, Italy. It was evening when we arrived. The heat had gone, the light bounced off the lake, and wedding parties posed on the bridge.
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All these years and I have never visited it! What are the opening hours? You have peaked my curiosity. Bambi
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Hi Bambi – sorry so long in replying. Has been a bit hectic this Ferragosto. The opening hours according to a Facebook page I found are 3pm – 5pm but I know we went on a weekend and it was 4pm to around 7pm I think. We had to go away and come back. Cost was 3 Euro. As far as I understand it is being run by volunteers so hours etc may be subject to availability of people to be at the site. Definitely worth a look. What we found so striking on going in was the sensation of light and space especially on the first floor which was, apparently, for the king alone. Hope you find this reply. Here is the link to the Facebook site https://www.facebook.com/Real-Sito-del-Fusaro-Casina-Vanvitelliana-63342898701/ A presto Georgie
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Dear Georgie,
I do enjoy your blogs with their superb photographs…..your are amazing to write up so many interesting and lovely places. You must know Naples better than anyone , even most residents of the place.
I can’t seem to comment after reading….no computer seems to like my password or something.
Rowland may be able to sort the problem out.
Anyway I am just sending this quick email.
Naples is going to miss you but we all here will be pleased to see you and Charles and the gang at
Brambledene!
Lots of love from me in sunny(today) Cirencester,
Petronella.
Sent from my iPad
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Dear Petronella – I am sorry not to reply instantly. We’ve just had all the gang staying so has been a bit frantic. So happy to get your comments re the blogs. I love knowing that you read them … I’m very appreciative of all your support – thanks. Even better to know that you’ve been to Naples and seen a lot of these places for yourself. We still think of you every time we see the oleander along the edges of the roads. Hope it’s not too cold there in Cirencester and that the famous magician Rowland resolves any computer issues for you 🙂 Love from us in Napoli Georgie
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