Caroline Aqueduct (Aqueduct of Vanvitelli)

Interesting facts

In 1754 King Charles raised Airola to the rank of city as formal compensation for tapping the springs on its land.

The iron pipes designed by Vanvitelli were cast in state ironworks in Calabria, enlarged for the job and fed with ore from the mines of Pazzano and Bivongi.

Work on the whole system dragged on until 1770 and cost some 622,424 ducats, drawing attention from engineers across Europe.

Besides fountains and mills, the water fed experiments in growing exotic plants brought back to Europe by scientific expeditions from the colonies.

The four-arched Ponte Nuovo has no parapets at all: its walkway is simply the stone vault that covers the water channel.

Both plaques on the Ponte Nuovo bear the date 1753, which marks the laying of the aqueduct's first stone rather than the building of the bridge itself.

Vanvitelli wanted to dedicate the Durazzano bridge to the boy king Ferdinand IV, but his rival, minister Bernardo Tanucci, blocked it, so it bears no inscription.

The Durazzano gorge is cut in yellow tufa from the Roccamonfina volcano, the same stone used for the ninth-century round tower of Casertavecchia.

Locals call the Durazzano crossing Ponte Tagliola; on maps it appears as Ponte Taglione, though Vanvitelli named it after the valley.

For the trial run of 7 May 1762 Vanvitelli built a spillway beside the Durazzano bridge, so the water could be released into a stream afterwards.

Why it is worth it

The Aqueduct of Vanvitelli, known in Italy as the Acquedotto Carolino, was built to bring water to the Bourbon palace at Caserta, and its showpiece is a bridge of tufa that strides across the Valle di Maddaloni on three tiers of arches. The crossing between Monte Longano and Monte Garzano runs for 529 metres on 44 square piers and rises 55.8 metres at its highest point. It was modelled on the aqueducts of ancient Rome, and when it was finished it was the longest bridge in Europe.

King Charles of Bourbon commissioned the work, and Luigi Vanvitelli, architect of the Reggia di Caserta, designed it. Work began in March 1753 and the aqueduct was inaugurated on 7 May 1762. The whole line is about 38 km long, drawing on springs at the foot of the Taburno massif in the territory of Bucciano and running mostly underground in a channel roughly 1.2 metres wide and 1.3 metres high, cut by hand and with gunpowder. Its route is marked across the countryside by 67 small square towers with pyramid roofs, the "torrini", which served as vents and inspection shafts.

The water did more than fill the fountains and cascades of the royal park at Caserta. It powered the silk works at San Leucio, the model manufacturing colony founded by Ferdinand IV, drove mills along its course and reached the royal estate of Carditello. The aqueduct was listed as a World Heritage Site in 1997 together with the palace, its park and San Leucio. The Maddaloni bridge is not the only one on the line: upstream are the four-arched Ponte Nuovo over the Isclero and the Ponte della Valle di Durazzano, which spans a narrow gorge of yellow tufa. The great bridge has come through three strong earthquakes in the last two centuries without damage to its structure. At its foot stands an ossuary monument, inaugurated in 1899, holding remains of soldiers who fell at the Battle of the Volturno.

Getting there

The bridge is in the Valle di Maddaloni, in the province of Caserta, and the provincial road SP335 passes directly beneath its arches. The town of Maddaloni is about 3 km away. The nearest airport is Naples International Airport (NAP), about 21 km to the south-west. The arches can be seen from the road and the valley at any time; for the full picture of what the water was for, combine a visit with the Reggia di Caserta and San Leucio.

Caroline Aqueduct (Aqueduct of Vanvitelli)

Interesting facts

Why it is worth it

Getting there

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