VILLA PANDOLA SANFELICE DI LAURO STANDS ON THE BASTIONS OF THE ANCIENT CASTLE WALLS, FLANKED BY AN AVENUE OF ORANGE AND LEMON TREES

VILLA PANDOLA SANFELICE IN LAURO

Villa Pandola Sanfelice di Lauro stands on the bastions of the ancient walls near Lancellotti Castle. It is accessed from the gate in Piazzetta Teresa Sanfelice by an avenue lined with orange and lemon trees that follows the course of the ancient bastions, before opening out on the left into a small rise covered with dense vegetation that includes precious specimens such as a century-old Araucaria Imbricata tree and a Washingtonia palm tree which stands over thirty metres tall. The garden is also home to an enormous Taxus Bacchata, as well as some Yucca Elephantipes and various types of palms, as well as roses, agapanthus, Japanese jasmine and other species of flowers.

At the entrance, a grand hall with a marble floor divides two salons, one called the "Salon of Mirrors" and the other the "Salon of the Battles", appropriately named for the subject of the numerous paintings that adorn the walls. Following on from the salons is a small chapel. All the rooms feature original Neapolitan majolica floor tiles made by 19th-century manufacturers.

Ascending the marble staircase, visitors will enter the "Music Room" on the left, which boasts a Grand Concert piano from the first half of the 19th century, after which comes the "Green Salon", embellished with a beautifully sculpted white marble fireplace and, among other items, two landscape paintings, one depicting the mouth of the Garigliano River and the other the coastal tower of Torre Astura. A library and the master bedroom, known as the "Admiral's Room" and furnished with original Empire-style furniture, are also on this floor.

To the right of the "Music Room" is the large dining room with its beautiful grey marble fireplace and valuable Neapolitan still life paintings on the walls. All the fireplaces in the Villa are fully functional and used regularly. This is followed by a modern kitchen that opens onto a spacious terrace covered by a wisteria pergola, while the ancient grand kitchen is located on the ground floor inside the original building. The terrace faces west, enabling guests to enjoy drinks and conversation with friends or have lunch or dinner under the pergola, witnessing the splendid sunsets over the Caserta plain in the evening. The "Red Salon" also faces onto the terrace, next to which are two bedrooms, one with twin beds and the other with a double bed. Two more bedrooms are adjacent to the "Admiral's Room", providing sleeping space for up to ten guests distributed among five bedrooms. Each room has its own bathroom.

There is a magnificent fountain at the rear of the Villa, displaying the stone coat of arms of the Orsini family, feudal lords of Lauro in the 15th century, and offering refreshment for those seeking some respite when the weather is hot.

THE HISTORY OF VILLA PANDOLA SANFELICE

Villa Pandola Sanfelice, located in Lauro on the border between the provinces of Naples and Avellino on the bastions of the ancient walls near Castello Lancellotti, enjoys an extraordinary panorama over the Vallo di Lauro and the Caserta plain. It was originally a dependency of the ancient Church of Santa Maria Maddalena, dating back to the 16th century. In the 19th century, the property was extended with the addition of grand halls and the main staircase.

The Villa was purchased in the mid-18th century by Gaetano Pandola, whose family had achieved significant economic and social standing over time due to their strong business acumen. Gaetano's brother, Canon Francesco, played a crucial role in saving the town of Lauro, which had intensely resisted its massacre and destruction by the French troops of General Championnet in 1799.

Following the marriage of grandson Gaetano to Irish noblewoman Emilia Higgins, the family openly supported liberal ideas and the unification of Italy under the Savoy monarchy. They had strong ties of friendship with the entire Neapolitan liberal elite, including Luigi Settembrini, Carlo Poerio, Francesco De Sanctis and Guglielmo Capitelli. The Villa houses memorabilia, ancient military uniforms, documents and correspondence that occasionally become the subject of thematic exhibitions. These are contrasted with court dresses and evidence of the pro-Bourbon sympathies of the Sanfelice family, to whom the Villa passed by inheritance through the marriage of the last Pandola with Marquis Giuseppe Sanfelice di Monteforte. These two components, liberal-Risorgimento and loyalty to the Bourbons, are clearly reflected in the furnishings and mementos that are preciously conserved in the Villa.

The history of the Pandola family, reconstructed through archive documents, is contained in the book "Emilia e i suoi, una famiglia del Sud dentro il Risorgimento" (‘Emilia and her family, a southern household caught up in the Unification of Italy’) written by Anna Sanfelice Visconti and published by Aracne Editrice International. During the Second World War, the ground floor of the Villa was requisitioned by British troops who established a small field hospital there. The Villa was saved from the destruction that would have been caused by the mines placed by the Germans in the retaining wall to defend their retreat by the sealing off of the main road running alongside it using the debris from the explosion.

The current owners, Anna Sanfelice Visconti di Modrone and Enrica Sanfelice Pasolini dall'Onda, inherited the house in 1999 from their maternal aunt Teresa, the youngest daughter of Giuseppe Sanfelice, who dedicated her entire life to educating young people through music and sport. Over the course of eighteen years, the heirs have restored the interior of the Villa and carefully preserved all its furnishings, thereby conserving the unique atmosphere and charm of a historic house lived in by the many generations that preceded them.

FACILITIES AND SERVICES: ACCOMMODATION, WEDDINGS AND PRIVATE EVENTS IN CAMPANIA

The Villa has five bedrooms, three of which are doubles and two twins, accommodating a total of ten guests. Each room has its own bathroom, two with bathtubs and three with showers, as well as cold and hot air conditioning. Two foldable cribs are available for children under the age of three, free of charge. The so-called "Red Salon" is also equipped with cold and hot air conditioning. Linen is changed once a week, except in the case of contingencies. The Villa has a large laundry room with a washing machine and hot air dryer. Two caretakers provide two hours of daily cleaning and can cater to specific guest requests. The ground floor is connected to the first floor where the bedrooms are located, and there is a lift for the convenience of anyone with mobility problems.

The large antique kitchen is equipped with a five-burner gas stove, a large electric oven, a refrigerator and a dishwasher. The kitchen on the first floor has an economy five-burner stove, a big electric oven, a refrigerator with freezer, a microwave oven and dishwasher, in addition to small household appliances. There are two televisions connected to a satellite dish.

PLACES OF INTEREST IN THE VICINITY

The Villa is in a particularly favourable location for excursions to the major tourist destinations in Campania:

Caserta and its Royal Palace, Pompeii, Herculaneum, Oplontis and the Amalfi Coast are all within an hour's drive.

The remarkable though lesser-known Roman Amphitheatre and Mithraeum of Santa Maria Capua Vetere, the Palazzi and Cathedral of Capua and the splendid Lombard Basilica of Santa Maria in Formis are also within a short distance.

The Complex of the Paleochristian Basilicas of Cimitile, the 1^st-century A.D. Roman Villa, the High Medieval frescoes of Pernosano, the magnificent Castello Lancellotti and other monuments of Lauro are likewise within easy reach.

It goes without saying, of course, that Naples with its wealth of artistic treasures is only about thirty-five kilometres away.

For those wishing to venture further afield, the Temples of Paestum and the magnificent Certosa di Padula will reap rewards for those willing to travel a few dozen kilometres more.