La Reggia di Caserta nei Viaggi in Italia di Goethe e de Moratín. Incipit di una ricerca di letteratura odeporica comparata

Most grand tourists in the XIX century have visited the Reggia di Caserta and described it in their memories, as we can read in Caserta nei ricordi dei viaggiatori stranieri by Aniello Gentile (1980). During his travels through Italy in 1786-1787 Johann Wolfgang von Goethe remarked that the Reggia “is in perfect harmony with a region that is itself a garden” and contributed with his words to the celebration of the palace. Meanwhile another Spanish writer and dramatist, Leandro Fernández de Moratín, visited the Reggia in 1793 and wrote his memories in Viaje a Italia (published later on in 1867). It is very interesting to see the German and the Spanish man approaching to Italy, to Caserta, to the people, to art and nature. In our essay we are going to compare their point of view about the palace, the gardens, the famous aqueduct by Vanvitelli and the people they meet. Their feelings and their attitude are sometimes similar and sometimes different, they mostly represent two different worlds and cultural approaches. Our aim is to let them meet through a comparative method which is always very close to the text.