Hidden Servants' Room Rediscovered at Royal Palace of Caserta

Restoration works at the Reggia di Caserta, the 18th-century royal palace commissioned by Charles of Bourbon and designed by Luigi Vanvitelli, have uncovered a long-hidden service room known as the 'saletta del calapranzo' (food lift room). Located between the kitchens and the Sala dell'Autunno, the room had been blocked for decades by a never-functioning argon gas fire suppression system installed in the 1970s. The system, which covered an entire wall and caused damage through large holes drilled for its installation, has now been removed. Alongside the room, a dumbwaiter used by servants to transport food to the Sala dell'Autunno—frescoed by Antonio de Dominicis—was also rediscovered, though its internal mechanism is missing. Restoration includes repairing wall surfaces, the iron gate that enclosed the system, the marble door frame, and decorative elements, as well as cleaning and waxing the terracotta floor. The museum aims to open the room to the public before Christmas 2020, integrating it into the Royal Apartments tour. This is part of a broader campaign under director Mauro Felicori (2015–2018) to recover and valorize service spaces designed by Vanvitelli, offering new narrative experiences of the UNESCO World Heritage site.