Palazzo Reale, Naples, Italy

As you might expect in a Neopolitan palace, this is an imposing building with high painted ceilings and marble floors.  It leans towards the baroque more than a little but it is well worth a visit if you are in naples for more than a day.  It is one of the four residences used by the Bourbon Kings of Naples during their rule of the Kingdom of Two Sicilies, and you can see that those Bourbons were not much into roughing it.

This imposing palace was designed by Domenico Fontana and built in 2 years, from 1600 to 1602, for the Spanish king Filippo III. Ironically, he never made it to Naples, and the castle was used by later kings who enlarged it in the 18th century. Luigi Vanvitelli worked on the facade , closing some of the arches to strengthen the walls and creating niches.

One of the highlights of the palalce for me is their spectacular collection of enormous tapestries.  The craftsmanship and artistry that goes into weaving tapestries of the quality of what is found in this collection is beyond me, but what I do know is that the end results are magnificent.