The village of Casertavecchia (ancient Caserta) located about seven km. from the present city, nestle on the Tifatini mountains, is one of the most charming and picturesque of ancient Campania.

The first historical information dates back to the IX century when the Longobards of Capua built the village of “Casa Hirta”(Bristly House) because of its impervious location.

In 1062 the Normans began to dominated South Italy and to build the cathedral at the request of the Bishop Rainulfo consecrated to Saint Michel the Archangel.

With the construction of the Royal Palace of Caserta, ordered by Charles of Bourbon in 1752, the ancient village was slowly displaced by the new city of Caserta, located near the Royal Palace, on the underlying plane.

Caserta vecchia still preserves its charming, a tangle of alleys and its middle-age buildings like the beautiful Romanic Cathedral: the sumptuous octagonal lantern ( a segmented dome), the bell- tower and the ruins of a fortress, which creates a dreaming, charming atmosphere.