Hollywood icon Tom Cruise is one of the benefactors who has contributed to the requalification of one of Italy's most celebrated sights – the Royal Palace of Caserta. Cruise shot some of the scenes of Mission Impossible 3 in the sumptuous former Bourbon summer residence, which has already been used as a backdrop by a series of film directors such as George Lucas in Star Wars and Ron Howard in Angels and Demonst.
Ambitious plans are afoot to launch the Versailles of Italy, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, as a major world tourism attraction in 2016. The recent evacuation of a large part of the building, occupied for the past ninety years by the offices and Academy of the Italian Air Force, has meant that the area available to the public will double in size, to give a total of 7,580 sqm on the piano nobile and 7,038 sqm on the ground floor, plus additional space in the archive section. The palace, designed by the Dutch architect Van Wittel – better known as Vanvitelli - is the largest royal residence in the world.
For the first time, visitors will be able to see the Queen's apartments, admire the view of the park and fountains from the panoramic terrace and visit the court theatre, modelled on the San Carlo Opera House in Naples. The painted backdrop featuring the Triumph of Hercules Farnese has been restored with part of the money donated by Tom Cruise.
Curator Mauro Felicori announces that he wishes to promote the palace as a film set. He also plans to hold the exhibition Terrae Motus in the palace in June, featuring the works of various international artists commissioned by collector Lucio Amelio to commemorate the devastating earthquake of 1980.
