Welcome to the site Napoliforme

For the ancient Greeks, the lagoon, not yet completely enclosed by coastal dunes, was part of the underworld, and underground volcanic activity and hot mineral springs identified it as the infernal Acheron swamp (Palus Acherusia). The wealth of thermal waters was exploited in Roman times to build baths and villas while the lake was used for oyster and fish farming. It became marshy at the end of the Roman Empire, and in the Middle Ages it was used to macerate flax. According to tradition, the name Fusaro derives from the spindles immersed in the water. The area was only reclaimed in the 18th century and came back into fashion as an area rich in game when it became the destination for the boar and coot hunts of the Bourbon kings.The Fusaro Park (98 hectares of lake area) covers 135 hectares; along the banks it preserves stretches of reeds and Mediterranean shrubs and the historic garden is a triumph of palms, pines, oaks, eucalyptus, oleanders and exotic plants. The lake is connected to the sea by three canals and fish and shellfish farming continues as in the past. In the 19th century, King Ferdinand of Bourbon particularly favoured oyster farming, of which he was a keen consumer, so much so that he named the neoclassical villa (1825) built on the shores of the lake, opposite the hunting lodge, Ostrichina.In 1782 the king commissioned Carlo Vanvitelli to build the Casino Reale, later called Casina Vanvitelliana after the architect, on a small island in the lake and connected to the mainland and the surrounding park by a bridge. Thanks to its light shapes and colours that reflect the hues of the water and sky, the small Rococo building looks like a fairy-tale residence suspended over the water, creating a highly evocative scenic effect.