Real Bosco di Capodimonte

About this activity

The Real Bosco di Capodimonte is the largest public park in the city of Naples, located precisely in the Capodimonte district. It occupies a large area of the hill on which it stands and is attached to the Reggia of the same name. This was the royal residence of the Bourbons but also of the Bonapartes, Murats and Savoy. Today it houses the National Museum of Capodimonte.

Why visit the Bosco di Capodimonte

The largest public park in Naples and also the eighth most visited museum site in Italy. Many tourists flock to the rooms of the famous Capodimonte National Museum. This beautiful Reggia still includes the Royal Apartments with the furnishings of the dynastic families who lived here and still many of their objects such as porcelain, sculptures and paintings by Italian and European artists as well as objects of everyday life that give, to the most sensitive, a journey into the history of the 19th century.

The park covers an area of about 124 hectares, bordered for part of the perimeter, by a wall from the 1800s. Access to the grandiose park is through three entrances: the Porta di Mezzo is the main entrance but there are also the Porta di Miano and the Porta di Santa Maria dei Monti. The vast area is divided into five main avenues from which branch off side streets and forks that lead to areas and gardens as well as to the various structures and buildings that the park houses. These include: the Capodimonte Museum, the Carabinieri Stables, the Church of San Gennaro, and Palazziotti Palace.

A metropolitan green lung, it was intended as a hunting reserve of the Bourbons and thus housed a real forest, the size of which it still retains. Converted into an English garden, it is a perfect place for a breath of fresh, clean air thanks to the multitude of plants that still make up the park. Many people go there for sports such as running, jogging and outdoor exercise. Others enjoy the beautiful environment to take long walks or to socialize their puppies in the casual dog encounters that occur on the lawns of some of the gardens. Children and parents ride their bikes along the avenues, while others simply enjoy the wooded peace on benches or with traditional picnics on the turf.

The different uses of the park

The Capodimonte Woods Park was born as a hunting reserve and became a public park so it retains characteristics of both types. First of all, it was a forest. This is still evident not only because of its extent but also because of the presence of centuries-old trees such as Oaks, Holm oaks, Elms, Lime trees and Chestnut trees that make up a full-bodied and dense vegetation that counteracts the sun's rays and creates the typical forest atmosphere. At one time, among their branches, turtle doves, woodcocks, hare pheasants, rabbits and deer were encountered, which constituted the game for royal hunting parties.

Underneath these trees are small seedlings of the same trees and bushes of Butcher's Broom, Mosses and some mushrooms that, in autumn periods, give the typical colors and scents of the forest. Walking through this part of the park, in fact, you almost forget that you are in the metropolitan city of Naples.

When, in the 19th century, the game preserve was to be transformed according to the English garden fashion, the best botanist of the time and director of the Botanical Garden, Denhardt, was recruited. He gave the park a more "romantic" look and, although he left a part of the forest, he enriched the park with exotic tree species as seen especially in the Museum gardens. A large Esplanade with a fan-shaped conformation, where there are different types of palms such as Canary Island Palms, Washingtonia, Phoenix reclinata, Chamaerops humilis, Livistona chinensis and Cycas.

The most important things to know about Bosco di Capodimonte

The hike to the Capodimonte Woods is not difficult. The only difficulty may be found in walking the entire area because it is very wide. There are no dangers for children, and the beaten-road paths can also be hiked in wheelchairs.

Curiosities about Bosco di Capodimonte

The Bosco di Capodimonte complex, was desired as early as 1735 by King Charles III of Spain because of his passion for hunting activities. The work was led by architect Ferdinando Sanfelice, who was in charge of the park, the palace and also included within the complex panoramic areas over Posillipo, San Martino and toward Vesuvius. Under Ferdinand I Of The Two Sicilies, the park took on the value of a public park because access was granted to citizens twice a year, during religious festivals to allow passage to the neighboring Hermitage of Camaldoli.

After the War between 1966 and 1967, it was restored and opened to the public at the opening of the National Museum of Capodimonte.