San Leucio, today a neighbourhood of Caserta, takes its name from a small Longobard Church on the top of the homonymous hill.
The Acquaviva Family, princes of Caserta, in 1500 built a castle here, used as a hunting cottage. The castle was called ‘Belvedere’, for the panoramic view of the Royal Palace of Caserta and its gardens, of the Vesuvius volcano and of the blue Gulf of Naples.
In the second half of 1700, this feudal property was purchased by Charles III Bourbon as a hunting cottage. In 1759 Charles III became the King of Spain and his son, Ferdinand IV inherited the Kingdom of Naples and of the Two Sicilies. The young King continued the territorial strategy undertaken by his father about the Royal Sites. The first attention paid to San Leucio dates back to 1773, when the property was enlarged, enclosed and provided with a cottage used to rest during hunting parties, becoming the favourite site of the young King, since it was the ideal place to plunge into nature, far from the pompous life at court. In 1778, the tragic episode of the death of the King’s first son, Carlo Tito, pushed Ferdinand and his wife to leave the town of San Leucio and to use it for a different purpose.