The circular temple: architecture in deep nature

Have you ever seen up close a small circular temple lost in the wildest vegetation?

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During our visit to the Royal Palace of Caserta, in an area of the rather neglected gardens, I would say almost abandoned, we reached the circular temple, of which very little information was provided to us, except that it was a work strongly desired by the king Ferdinand IV and designed by the architect Vanvitelli, author of the planning of the entire palace.

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Lost in the woods, in the past the temple was the center of a real labyrinth, now lost due to the poor maintenance of the garden in the last century. Access to the temple takes place from four dirt roads, and consists of a circular marble base, composed of three steps that accompany the visit in the most intimate part of the structure. It is evident, in the center of the temple, a pedestal on the upper part of which probably rested a bust of which today there is no longer a trace, probably taken away a long time ago, before the palace became an asset of the Italian state.

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The round bases of the five columns rest on square-shaped stone pedestals, as if it were the creator's intention to defend the columns from below. But from what? It is possible that the area was subject to flooding, since nearby there are some mountains from which the icy water that fills the enormous fountains of the palace of Caserta rises. There are no particular engravings or decorations along the columns and on the capitals. Although a sacred place, the style is very simple indeed. The floor is marked by a circle that runs around the pedestal without the statue and five lines depart from here, in correspondence with the columns, to mark trapezoidal geometric figures. Again, it is not known whether there was a particular reference or pure freestyle by the author.

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Particular attention deserves the internal perimeter of the dome, consisting of a frame representing the skulls of some animal. Representation that stands out in the simplicity of the work itself, is probably a warning for those who access the small temple, something similar to a warning in case there are actions adverse to the place where you are. Very mystical.

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Despite the simplicity of the temple, the environment is truly impressive. We are lost in the wilderness, no external noise, only the chirping of birds and the sound of the wind are the company. Well, you could even argue that it's a wonderful place to spend some time, if it weren't for those skulls glaring at you in all directions.

The circular temple is undoubtedly a work that must be contextualized to the time in which it was designed and built, the mid-nineteenth century, therefore a somewhat impromptu work but it certainly always has a great charm, don't you think?

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