Campania may be best known for its splendid Amalfi Coast resorts, archaeological sites like Pompeii and Herculaneum, and scrumptious rustic cooking, but it is also home to two of the most magnificent residences in Europe, the Royal Palace of Naples and the Royal Palace of Caserta.

Naples was an independent kingdom from the 13th through 19th centuries (known as the Kingdom of Sicily for most of its existence and from 1816, the Kingdom of Two Sicilies), its rule shifting between France, Austria, and Spain. The Spanish were responsible for the construction of the kingdom’s most lavish palaces. The Palazzo Reale in the heart of Naples was originally designed as a retreat for King Phillip III of Spain; in 1734 it became the royal residence of the Charles III. Another Bourbon king Charles VII, spearheaded the building of Caserta, enlisting the starchitect of the day, Luigi Vanvitelli, to create an edifice that rivaled Versailles.