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Notes on the life of the Prince of Cardito
Lodovico Venceslao Loffredo was born in Naples on April 5, 1758. Of noble lineage, Lodovico was the sixth and last Prince of Cardito, as well as marquis of Monteforte. When his father Nicholas Mary died, he inherited the titles and the vast area of feudal estates. Consider that his fief extended from the area of Garibaldi Square in Naples to Pozzuoli, including inland towns such as Frattamaggiore, Afragola, Caivano, Carditello, and Cardito to the Monteforte area of Irpinia. Enrolled in the Golden Book Napolitano, register of Parthenopean nobility, the family of the princes of Cardito represented one of the worthy supporters of the dynasty of the Bourbon.
Lodovico was passionate about natural sciences and medicine but also devoted himself to economics and political affairs. He carried out important diplomatic assignments and traveled between Denmark, Prussia, France and Tuscany. During the reign of the Bourbons, he was also ascribed to the orders of knighthood. In 1805 he was sent to Milan, together with the then foreign minister, during the coronation of Napoleon to kings of Italy for a delicate political affair. The Prince of Cardito intended to come to an agreement with the new king so that the latter would not invade the territory of the Kingdom of Naples. Ferdinand IV's wife, Queen Maria Carolina of Austria, however, was not supportive of the Napoleonic reign, and the new king had already been made aware of the political intrigue. For this reason Lodovico was denigrated several times by Napoleon and failed. A year later the French army invaded Naples while the Bourbons took shelter in Sicily.
The Prince of Cardito will withdrew from public life, devoting himself to the sciences and his fiefdom. In 1815, political events were reversed, the Bourbons returned to Naples, and Lodovico was appointed first partner and then president of one of the most prestigious institutions of the time: the Royal Institute of Encouragement. For his great dedication to research and to the culture, obtained the general direction of Education Commission of the Mid-South, while in 1817 he was received by King Ferdinand IV as his contributor at Chancery Council.
Public Works and love for the city of Naples and Pozzuoli.
Among his most important public works and social actions, it should be mentioned that it was thanks to Prince Lodovico Venceslao Loffredo was open to students the University Library, as well as the istitution of the chair at theUniversity chemistry applied to the arts. The prince was a great sostender of the weaker classes such as orphans, for whom he opened two orphanages: one in Cardito and the other in Monteforte. Among his projects was the construction of a shelter for noble women whose name had lapsed as a result of political events. That facility, however, was never opened because the funding for such a project (7,000 of the 18,000 ducats annual income) was deemed too expensive by his heir.
Prince Lodovico never had any children so he left all his possessions to Marianna Loffredo, daughter of Gerardo and wife of Don Francesco Caracciolo. In honor of her passion for the natural sciences, new items enriched the collections of theBotanical Garden of Naples of those years. Particular interest was devoted to the area of the Phlegraean Fields where the Prince of Cardito promoted, at his own expense, archaeological research and important building works. Lodovico had an ancient cistern from the Roman era, still known today as the Cardito Swimming Pool. He also financed the construction of the road which connected the areas of Bay, Miseno, Mount of Procida and the Lake Fusaro, also ordering the restoration of the ancient Port of Miseno. He died on September 15, 1827 at his favorite residence: the Villa of Pozzuoli.
The "place of delights" of the Villa of Pozzuoli
The Prince of Cardito loved to stay in the coastal area of the Kingdom of Naples. His possessions included his official residence in Naples, a princely house that stood in Via Chiaia 271 with horses, carriages and servants, as well as a Palace near the Monastery of Donnaregina. In 1801 he also purchased another residence, which became his favorite: the spectacular Villa di Pozzuoli.
The villa stood on a small rise set right in front of the sea, in an enchanting garden private with wide avenues of myrtle and many flowers of exotic plants never before seen by locals, who described the residential complex as "place of delights". Along the paths were encountered statues and busts alternating with the sixteen fountains that gladdened the walk with fantastic water features. The villa's interiors were opulent and finely decorated, enhanced by paintings, balconies, and a large loggia. The structure also included a stable with horses and a small carriage collection.
Cardito Swimming Pool
In Old San Gennaro Street in Pozzuoli, it is possible to visit a large cistern from Roman times, called the Cardito Pool. At one time the cistern was known by the Latin term of cisternae veteres (ancient cistern), but it was in honor of the Prince of Cardito, its last owner, that the structure assumed its present name.
During the imperial age it supplied water to much of the city, being connected at theCampanian Aqueduct of Serino. The water arrived by means of an articulated pipeline network that channelled it first to a single room and then to well fourteen tanks secondary where, through a sedimentation process, it was cleaned of debris and impurities. The cistern is topped by a vault with trapdoors, supported by thirty pillars. The interiors are lined with opus signinum, a mortar called earthenware, used to make the surface waterproof.
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