Why is the Royal Palace of Caserta an Unesco heritage site?

The motivations and original documents of Unesco that led to the inclusion of the Royal Palace of Caserta among the World Unesco Heritage Sites

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Since 19 July 1996 the Royal Palace of Caserta has been a World Unesco Heritage Site

What is Unesco?

UNESCO is the acronym for United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.

UNESCO is part of the United Nations (UN) promotes peace and security in the world through global collaboration in education, arts, sciences and culture.

Unesco was born during the Second World War, when many countries around the world were looking for ways and means to rebuild their education systems as soon as the war was over. Representatives of 44 countries wanted to create an organization that would represent a true culture of peace by establishing an “intellectual and moral solidarity of humanity” in order to prevent the outbreak of another world war.

The Italian National Commission for UNESCO was born in 1950 in order to promote the promotion, connection, information, consultation and implementation of UNESCO programs in Italy.

Because it was chosen as an Unesco Heritage

Selection criteria

1. being a masterpiece of human creative genius;
2. exhibiting an important exchange of human values, over a span of time or within a cultural area of the world, on developments in architecture or technology, monumental arts, urban planning or landscape design;
3. bringing a unique or exceptional testimony of a cultural tradition or of a civilization that is alive or disappeared;
  be an outstanding example of a type of building, architectural or technological complex or landscape that illustrates (a) one or more significant phases in human history;

Authenticity
The level of authenticity in this complex of buildings and open spaces is high, the original appearance is well preserved and inappropriate or unwelcome intrusions are kept to an acceptable minimum […]

Quality and comparative analysis
The Caserta complex was deliberately created as a rival of Versailles and Madrid, with vvhi.ch it must inevitably be compared. Its distinctiveness lies in the way it has adapted to the surrounding landscape and incorporated pre-existing individual elements into an integrated whole, rather than trying to modify or ignore it, as is the case with comparable royal and aristocratic estates. Even the idealistic industrial development of the Belvedere Estate is unique among such monumental complexes.

The motivation
That this property is inscribed on the World Heritage List according to criteria 1, 2 3 and 4:

[...] the monumental complex at Caserta, whilst cast in the same mould as other 18th century royal establishments, is exceptional for the broad sweep of its design, incorporating not only an imposing palace and park, but also much of the surrounding natural landscape and an ambitious new town laid out according to the urban planning precepts of its time. The industrial complex of the Belvedere, designed to produce silk, is also of outstanding interest because of the idealistic principles that underlay its original conception and management.

UNESCO

19 July 1996, decision by the Unesco's committee for adding the Royal Palace of Caserta into the World Heritage List

The Unesco Heritage's buffer area

Buffer zones and the protection of the surroundings of Unesco properties are essential for the conservation strategy, for both cultural and natural sites.

1
Palace and Park
2
Belvedere of San Leucio and the royal hunting residences in the Sommacco and Marmorella mountains
3
Carolino aqueduct and Tifatini hills

Unesco area

See points 1 and 2

Buffer zone

restricted area

The original Unesco documents

The request of the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage

This is the original document with which the Ministry of Cultural Heritage made the request to include the Royal Palace of Caserta in the list of Unesco World Heritage Sites. At the end of the same there is also the decision of Unesco written in English and in French.

Unesco's decision

The Unesco document with the reasons for the acceptance of the request for inclusion of the Royal Palace of Caserta in the list of World Heritage Sites is the decision of Unesco.