The aqueduct Carolino or Vanvitelli was time off for the longest bridge in Europe, with its length of 41 kilometres. Had, indeed, the task of bringing the water from the foot of Mount Taburno (Benevento) up of the Royal Palace. The aqueduct that goes on top of the structure was begun in 1753 It was completed in 1770. The work of Vanvitelli has acquired relevance in historical, architectural and beyond, It is having been the place of one of the crucial battles in the Italian units where a defense of the city of Maddaloni and Caserta sided army 5600 men led by Nino Bixio. In the border areas between the provinces of Benevento and Caserta it develops one of the great masterpieces, for beauty and boldness, the architectural genius of Luigi Vanvitelli (1700- 1773): Aqueduct, long 38 kilometres, commissioned by King Charles III of Bourbon, hence the name "Carolino", UNESCO in 1997 and whose work began in March 1753 per alimentare gli spettacolari giochi d’acqua nei giardini della Reggia di Caserta e il non lontano complesso produttivo di San Leucio. The conduct, inaugurated on 7 May 1762, born in Sannio at the foot of the massif of Taburno - Camposauro and draws water to the sources Fizzo, in the municipality of Bucciano; and through the towns of Moiano Sant'Agata de 'Goti and this leaves the Province of Benevento to enter the Land of Work, in tenimento of Valle di Maddaloni. In the area of ​​this municipality they can admire "The Bridges": with 529 meters in length and 55.80 tall, and with three rows of arches, they constitute the most spectacular segment, charming and universally known masterpiece of hydraulic engineering. The calculations of Vanvitelli and his staff and the skill of the workers had made it possible to overcome the technical difficulties, in particular to be able to give to the conduct, which he was to transport 700 liters of water per second, an average gradient of only half a millimeter per meter path: this because the Fizzo springs are located at an altitude of meters 254 s.l.m. and the waterfall at the Royal Palace 203.50.

UNESCO admission criteria

This great work of hydraulic engineering was included by UNESCO in 1997 among the assets to be protected in the World Heritage List on the basis of criteria (i), (ii), (iii) e (iv). Represents, indeed, a masterpiece of human ingenuity as well as one of the most important public works carried out by the Bourbons. Originally its realization stems from the supply water to the city that would be built around the Royal Palace and enhance the water resources of the city of Naples, hitherto served by the seventeenth-century canal Carmignano. The conduit was a modern infrastructure along which rose gardens and real estates intended both for recreation purposes for productive purposes.

History, art and culture

L 'Aqueduct Carolino (also known as Aqueduct of Vanvitelli) the aqueduct is created to power the complex of San Leucio (Caserta), and which also it provides the water supply of the Royal Palace (or better to the real delights constituted by the Park, from the English Garden and the Bosco di San Silvestro), withdrawing water at the foot of Mount Taburno, from the sources Fizzo, in the territory of Bucciano (BN), and transporting it along a path that winds, mostly buried, for a length of 38 kilometres. The conduit, long 1,2 meters high and 1,3 meters, It is marked by 67 torrini, with a square plan and pyramidal constructions intended to cover vents and to access for inspection. The aqueduct works, designed by Luigi Vanvitelli commissioned by King Charles of Bourbon (from which the nickname of Carolino), They took off in March 1753. The 2 August 1754 King Charles gave to the title of city Airola as a formal reward for the exploitation of sources of Bucciano, who at the time it was a house of the same Airola. The finished work was inaugurated on 7 May 1762. Of particular architectural value and 1997 UNESCO World Heritage (along the entire aqueduct, the Royal Palace and the San Leucio Complex) It is the bridge, still perfectly preserved, that through the Valley of Maddaloni connects Mount Logano (ad's) with the upstream Garzano (West). such construction, commonly known as "The Ponti della Valle", It rises with a mighty tuff structure with three rows of arches for a length of 529 meters and with a maximum height of 55,80 meters, modeled on Roman aqueducts. From artificial cave located at the end of the great park designed by Vanvitelli and completed by his son Carlo, a branch leading to the building Belvedere, the famous silk mill, commissioned by Ferdinand IV for the production and silk weaving, It built recovering the ancient sixteenth-century lodge of the Acquaviva, which still retains the Renaissance style gardens enhanced with sculptures and fountains groups, as well as the nineteenth century gardens where a large tank receives the waters of the Carolino to operate the "rotone water" of the mill. And finally, after crossing the Old Forest, a branch of the Carolino reaches Carditello, model farm always desired by Ferdinand IV.