During work to reorganise the park surrounding the Castello Reale a number of test trenches were dug in order to check the stratigraphy of the large terrace north of the complex. The latter is occupied by a garden with an octagonal fountain laid out in the second half of the 18th century. Two trenches (B and C) investigated the brick-built foundations of the fountain, and nearby (trench A) a lead pipe was uncovered which had presumably been laid in a later period. Other test trenches (D and E), at 21 m and 43 m south of the fountain, showed the preparatory phases for the creation of the 17th century garden and the masonry channel for draining the water from the octagonal pool, which cut an earlier road. The excavation evidence is confirmed by archival documents recording that the earthwork for the garden was constructed, in the central years of the 17th century (1647-1662), by the dumping of massive quantities of earth behind the wall of the rectangular plain situated north of the castle. This was undertaken in order to create a wooded area. From 1761 to 1765 the area was again altered, by levelling and new dumps of earth, turning the wood into a garden. This phase was attested by holes left by the removal of trees (trench D), the construction of the fountain and the opening of new avenues.