Royal Palace of Caserta

The ruling classes of eighteenth century Europe constituted a single nation whose homogeneity had not been equalled in preceding centuries. From Paris to Saint Petersburg, from Berlin to Naples, clear signs of this are found in customs such as the universal diffusion of the French language, in the sophistication of the aristocracy and the intellectual classes, as well as the philosophy of the Enlightenment or in the Masonic orders. Symbols of regal patronage and splendour, the palaces survived revolutions, bombardment and neglect, and thus represent the most tangible element of the grandness which lived in them.

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