Capodimonte, Pizzeria opens around historic oven. The first Margherita pizza is said to have been baked here.

In the Real Bosco di Capodimonte, from Saturday, October 28, 2023, the Bistro Cafeteria and Pizzeria of the Giardino Torre are open. In fact, the restoration works of the Casamento Torre, the central core of the eighteenth-century Garden of Delights of the Bourbons, have been completed, with the intention therefore of recovering its original destination as a farm and productive garden, but also as a place of delights, a permanent laboratory of Mediterranean cuisine based on the principles of biodiversity and sustainability, and an educational center of food education and botany.

Set up in the rooms of the ancient Casamento, the Caffetteria Bistrot is an ideal place for a pleasant stop for breakfast, a snack, a freshly squeezed citrus juice or a freshly baked cake; for a lunch based on seasonal delicacies from the estate’s gardens and other small artisans in the area. The philosophy is that of short supply chain, of seasonality: from the gardens to the table. A simple, traditional cuisine inspired by the principles of the Mediterranean diet, the current season, as well as the great tradition of Neapolitan cuisine.

Instead, around the historic oven, found in the Corte del Casamento, the Pizzeria del Giardino was opened. The idea is to recover the historical memory of the place. The oven, commissioned by Ferdinand II, was the delight first of the Bourbons then of the Savoy family. It is said that the first pizza Margherita was prepared here in 1889, in honor of Queen Margherita, consort of King Umberto I. The historic oven, which will be used only on special and celebratory occasions, has been joined by a new wood-burning oven for the pizzeria’s regular operations on Saturdays and Sundays. Completing the offerings is the Shop Delizie Reali, where preserves, juices, jams and liqueurs made from products grown and harvested in the Tower Garden can be purchased.

The Tower Garden will be open daily starting Oct. 31, Tuesday through Sunday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Out of respect for the site, in order to preserve the Garden and botanical heritage, a maximum number of 150 people at a time will be allowed to enter. The entrance fee is 5 euros for adults (free admission for children under 12). For those who make reservations at the Bistro, admission is free.

The Garden and Tower Cottage

Located on the northeastern edge of the Bosco di Capodimonte, the Giardino e Casamento Torre was the Royal Fruttiera of the Bourbons, a garden of delights, nursery and farm. Careful research and study guided the recovery of the places in their entirety of architecture and landscape, under the direction of the company “Delizie Reali Scarl” winner in 2018 of the European call for tenders for the program of enhancement and management of the buildings and appurtenances of the Capodimonte Woods, has returned these places to the public. The restoration work, by the companies Euphorbia srl and Minerva srl, involved the vast botanical heritage and the 18th-century buildings: the Casamento Torre, the core of the composition; the Giardino dei Fiori, the most precious area of the complex, adjacent to the tower, where it is still possible to admire the 19th-century grove of camellias, the fountains and the 18th-century greenhouses; the Purpigniera Garden where, in ancient times, ornamental plants were grown in pots and where two seed-bulb houses, a mulberry tree, and an espalier of lemons of the sfusato di Amalfi and Calabresella varieties are still preserved.

In 1817, the mandarin tree was planted in the Giardino Torre to brighten the Bourbon table in winter, and the first “stove” was built here to shelter pineapples. The site reopens with about 600 plants including citrus fruits - orange and mandarin, chinotto, bergamot, grapefruit and lemons - fruit trees of pear, peach, apricot, plum and cherry; exotic fruits dear to the Bourbons including currants, pineapple and raspberries; vegetables and herbs. At the center of the Real Fruttiera stands out with its 20-meter height a majestic specimen of Canforo, among the most important monumental trees in the Real Bosco di Capodimonte, and all around, just as in Bourbon times, tomatoes and papaccelle, friarielli and squash, eggplant, cabbage and zucchini are grown.

The Delizie Reali (Royal Delights ) project also includes La Stufa dei Fiori Tisaneria e Bistrot, born from the recovery of the 19th-century greenhouse adjacent to the former Palazzina dei Principi, which will open in spring 2021, and is part of the broader plan of the Capodimonte Museum and Real Bosco wanted by director Sylvain Bellenger to give a new destination to the 17 Bourbon buildings on the Neapolitan site and until now inaccessible. The management of the Garden and Casamento Torre envisages a series of integrated activities (agricultural production, processing and transformation of vegetables and fruits, education, cultural promotion, conscious and sustainable catering, food education and ethnobotany) and the participation of an active community made up of cultural associations, social cooperatives, and small virtuous businesses in the area.

Capodimonte, Pizzeria opens around historic oven. The first Margherita pizza is said to have been baked here.

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