The staircase

The piperno staircase that connects the lower vestibule to the main floor of the Villa is the most successful intuition and innovation brought by Luigi Vanvitelli to the country casino, originally designed by Gioffredo for Luzio Di Sangro. The result was such a triumph of well-balanced elegance, that even Vanvitelli himself admitted that not even royal construction sites could have reached such levels of brightness. The entire lower vestibular area was expanded in order to reach better perspective and symmetrical balance, an aspect that needed to be reviewed after the alterations made to the original project, but above all the basin on the ground floor was included in the architectural configuration, to enhance natural brightness and light paths. Walking up the staircase, it is possible to see that the large windows have been enlarged and set back. In line with Vanvitelli’s typical feel for scenographic element, two fake windows, realized in the trompe l’oeil technique, are placed next to the real windows, to give perception of increased volume, together with streamers, garlands and shells to decorate the scene.