Monte castle. Castle of Castel del Monte in southern Italy: description, history

Castel del Monte or "castle on the mountain" is one of the most mysterious sights of the city of Terra di Bari (Land of Bari), located in the Puglia region. In ancient times, the castle had a different name - Castrum Sancta Maria del Monte. This is due to the fact that he stood at the place where the monastery of St. Mary on the Mountain was located long before him. In the middle of the 13th century, the monastery was completely destroyed, and in its place it was decided to build a beautiful castle.

Soon, the Emperor of the Roman Empire Frederick II gave orders for construction, which lasted for ten years. In 1250, the magnificent building was completed, but the interior decoration of the castle continued.

Castel del Monte has a regular octagonal shape. Octagonal turrets are installed in the corners. The Monte Castle is 25 meters high, the length of its walls is 16.5 meters, and the width of the tower walls is 3.1 meters. The entrance to the building is on the east side and there is also an emergency entrance on the west side. A distinctive feature of this castle is the contact of one of the sides of the main building with two sides of one of the side towers.

It is important to say that in fact, Monte Castle is not exactly a castle, as it does not have a drawbridge, moat and ramparts. In addition, there are no such necessary premises for the castle as a kitchen, a warehouse and a stable. Considering this, we can say that the building looks more like a two-story mansion, which was considered nothing more than the hunting residence of Emperor Frederick II. However, the interior of the building is so elegant and beautiful that some scientists still cannot determine the purpose of this building, since it looked very rich for a hunting lodge.

Inside Castel del Monte there are 16 different rooms, eight per floor. The corner towers contain wine staircases, wardrobes and toilets. The arrangement of the rooms is very curious: the halls have 2 or 3 exits, two rooms on the ground floor do not have access to the courtyard, and four rooms have one door each. The method of lighting the castle premises is also quite unusual. The rooms on the ground floor are illuminated only in summer, while the rooms on the second floor are illuminated by sunlight twice a day all year round.

A large number of mysteries and secrets are associated with the castle of Castel del Monte. Many scientists believe that the building was a kind of astronomical device. The second floor was something like a sundial, and the first one played the role of a calendar, evenly illuminated for the winter and summer solstice. However, this is nothing more than an assumption of scientists. The mystery of this castle, which people called the "Crown of Puglia", remains unsolved.

Address, opening hours, how to get there

• Castel del Monte
• Address: CASTEL DEL MONTE, SS170dir, 76121 Andria BT, Italy
123 4567
• Coordinates: 41.084292 , 16.271342
http: //site/crop_t/200/150/images/places/1961_1.jpg

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Castel del Monte is a rather mysterious building, the true purpose of which is now unknown to anyone. What kind of castle is this without a ditch and a rampart, without a bridge and premises for storing supplies in case of a siege, without a kitchen and a stable, but with a portal resembling a church one?

This is one of the most outstanding castles from the time of Emperor Frederick II. Another name for the castle is "Crown of Apulia".

Castel del Monte is located in Puglia, 16 km from the city of Andria, in a place called "Terra di Bari" on a low hill next to the Santa Maria del Monte monastery at an altitude of 540 m above sea level. It is believed that the castle was built on the site of an ancient fortress, from which, however, no traces have survived.


The construction of the castle is mentioned in only one document that has survived to this day. It is dated January 29, 1240 and indicates that the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II Staufen (German Friedrich II von Hohenstaufen) orders the Governor and Judge Richard de Montefuscolo to buy lime, stone and everything you need ...
However, further from the document it is not entirely clear what is meant - the beginning of construction or some kind of finishing work. Another document, issued in 1241-1246, speaks in favor of the latest version. - Statutum de reparatione castrorum (list of fortifications that need to be repaired). It lists Castel del Monte as an already built castle.


Unfortunately, there is no reliable evidence that Frederick II ever rested in the castle or used it as a hunting residence.
The emperor was one of the most educated people of his time, he knew Greek, Arabic and Latin. At the court of Frederick, mathematics competitions were held, in which Fibonacci took part, which, perhaps, to some extent influenced the strict architectural forms of Castel del Monte.

In 1250 Frederick II dies and the castle passes to his sons.
In 1266, after Frederick's son Manfred lost the fight for the throne of Sicily and Naples and died, Manfred's young children - Frederick, Henry and Enzo - were imprisoned in the castle by the winner of this confrontation, Charles of Anjou for 33 years.
Subsequently, the castle was almost abandoned and only occasionally used as a place for wedding ceremonies.
In the middle of the 17th century, Castel del Monte served for the last time as a refuge for noble families who had found salvation here from the plague.

Castel del Monte has two floors with a flat roof. Outside, the castle is a regular octagon, the side of which is 16.5 meters. There is an octagonal tower at each corner of the building. Strictly in the middle of the height, a small cornice runs along the entire perimeter, which separates the floors from each other. The second cornice separates the basement of the building and runs at a height of about 2 meters. The courtyard is also a regular octagon, the height of the walls of which, counting from the surface of the courtyard, is 20.5 meters, the height of the corner towers is slightly higher.


Each corner is crowned with an octagonal tower, and the courtyard also has eight corners. The entire architectural concept is closely related to the number eight, which in numerology is considered a symbol of infinity and peace, occupies an intermediary position between the world of the Earth and Heaven. This makes one think about the special purpose of the castle, perhaps it was an observatory of medieval times, perhaps, they were engaged in alchemy or occultism.

Panorama of the courtyard of Castel del Monte

The main entrance faces strictly east. On the opposite, west side, there is a second entrance. The entire building is built of polished limestone, and the window frames, columns and portals are made of marble. Each side of the outer wall has two windows - one single-arched on the first floor and the other double-arched on the second floor. Only the north-facing window on the second floor has three arches.

Three exits on the ground floor lead to the courtyard. In addition, on the second floor there are also three doors that lead to a wooden balcony, which unfortunately has not survived to our times. There are also other small windows in the walls that allow light to enter each room through the inner and outer walls.

The inner rooms of the castle are 16 regular trapezoids, and are located eight each on the first and second floors. Dressing rooms, toilets and spiral staircases are located in the corner turrets. It is noteworthy that spiral staircases, as a rule, twist to the right, as this is necessary for the defense of the building. Here, on the contrary, spiral staircases twist to the left, as if repeating the shape of a snail's shell.

All rooms on both floors have the same shape, but they differ in the location of the doors. Two halls, located on the first floor, are connected to the street by the eastern and western portals, but they do not have an exit to the inner courtyard of the fortress, but are connected to other halls. Halls with several doors are called walk-throughs.

Also in the fortress there are four end halls, two on the first and second floors, with only one door. Each end hall has a fireplace and an entrance to the toilet, which is located in a tower adjacent to the hall. The lavatories were always well ventilated through holes in the walls and washed with water from the tanks that were installed on the roof of the castle. One of the final rooms on the second floor is called the throne room. The window in it faces east and is located above the main portal. This room lacks a fireplace and a passage to the toilet.
At the same time, the castle has no bedrooms, no living rooms, no kitchen, no rooms for servants.

Sunlight penetrates directly into the premises of the second floor twice a day all year round, and direct sunlight penetrates into the premises of the first floor only in summer. Thus, the upper part of the fortress is a huge sundial. Two days a year - during the summer and winter solstice, the sun's rays are evenly distributed between all rooms on the ground floor.
So, the first floor could serve as a calendar for the inhabitants of the castle, and the entire structure can be considered as an extraordinary astronomical device.




In 1876, the castle was bought by the state, it was restored and put in order. In 1996, Castel del Monte was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.
And now everyone can admire Castel del Monte, the crown-like castle in which Frederick II was crowned and located at an absolutely strategic disadvantage among the open space.

The unique medieval Castel del Monte is the most famous of the many castles built in 13th century Italy by Frederick II. He was engaged in strengthening the Adriatic coast from invasion. The construction of the castle on the mountain began at the beginning of the century, soon after the return of the emperor to the kingdom of Sicily from Germany. Frederick strengthened the northern coastal regions of Sicily. Traces of his reign can be traced on the Adriatic and the Ionian coast. In Puglia, he built from scratch or rebuilt fortresses on Mount Gargano, Monte Sant'Angelo, Fiorentino in Lucera, Melfi, Bari, Barletta, Gioia del Colle and other places. Some of them were on sites previously fortified by the Norman founders of the Kingdom of Sicily. In general, including the island of Sicily, Calabria and Apulia, Frederic built or restored about two dozen fortresses during his reign.

The unique medieval castle on the mountain is widely known outside Italy for its unique octagonal shape. This is one of the most mysterious buildings commissioned by Frederick II. The castle, where, perhaps, the emperor never lived, but where, paradoxically, the imagination paints his presence, appears before the gaze at an altitude of 540 meters above sea level. The A16 Bari-Canosa motorway leads to Castel del Monte, turning onto the Andria-Barletta motorway after 18 kilometers, the main attraction of Puglia will appear. The full name of the castle is Santa Maria del Monte. It was named after the church, an earlier building, now lost.

History of Castel del Monte

The construction of the castle began in 1240 and ended in 1249. There is not enough information about its original purpose. Most likely it was not intended as a fortress. There are no typical defensive structures, such as ditches, drawbridges, underground passages, to confirm the hypothesis of defensive purposes. However, the walls of both the outer and inner perimeters are striking in their thickness of two and a half meters. There is some evidence that the castle was built on the site of an earlier Norman fortress. In any case, its location on the mountain, next to the Roman Trajan road leading from Benevento to Brindisi, filled a gap in the grand chain of castles and fortresses built by Frederick. And its location on the top of a single high hill on a huge flat plain undoubtedly gives it a dominant meaning.

Architectural features of the castle

In terms of architecture, the castle is one of the first examples of the Gothic style in Puglia. It is, however, a very special gothic style. The whole structure is octagonal. The castle is built in the shape of an octagon with a diagonal of 56 meters, with octagonal towers attached to each corner. The courtyard is also an octagon. The entrance is framed by a magnificent arched portal. The main gate, supported by lions, faces the sea to the east. Between the outer towers are Gothic windows framed by elegant pink marble columns with capitals. The window above the main entrance is wider than on the other sides and is framed with patterns. Eight large rooms are located on each of the two floors of the castle. Columns of red marble with Corinthian capitals are positioned in the corners of the rooms, supporting ornamental vaulted ceilings. Wide marble steps lead to the windows. Fragments of the original mosaic floor have been preserved in some places.

The riddle of the shape of the base of the castle is continuously interpreted by all kinds of esoteric, astrological and geometric theories. Numerology and magical-mystical symbolism of the "eight" in Castel del Monte haunts lovers of supernatural theories. The number 8 has secular, religious and mythological meanings.

Possible symbolism in the octagonal architecture of the castle:

• inverted infinity symbol;
• unification of divine infinity and human mortality;
• Fibonacci number sequence element;
• harmony symbol;
• the number of divine justice;
• 8 angels carrying arsh in Islam;
• the number of compass directions;
• musical interval octave;
• Buddhist wheel of life with eight spokes dhamma chakra;
• magic heavenly number;
• the great eight from ogdoad Egyptian mythology;

Emperor Frederick II Hohenstaufen

The figure of the founder of the castle is amazing. The grandson of Frederick I Barbarossa, who drowned in 1190 during his third crusade to Palestine, and the son of Henry VI and his wife Constance, Frederick became king of Sicily at the age of 4. He had a long time to cultivate in absolute monarchy on his way to rule the Holy Roman Empire. Having been officially married four times and having connections on the side, he left at least 20 descendants to the world. He was not your typical ruler: he was fluent in six languages, including Arabic, in which he read the Qur'an, showed an interest in medicine, understood philosophy, wrote poetry and honored science.

Frederick II (Holy Roman Emperor)

The Byzantines and Normans before him left magnificent ecclesiastical architecture in Apulia, and Frederick II added the Cathedral of Altamura to this. However, his real weakness was the construction of castles, some of which were used as hunting lodges. He built about 200 fortresses in southern Italy and Sicily, some of which were so large that they looked more like palaces.

Left without proper care since the eighteenth century, the castle was devastated, stripped of marble and furniture, and to top it off served at various times as a refuge for shepherds, bandits and refugees. In 1876, without waiting for the final destruction, it was bought by the Italian government. Restoration work was carried out in parallel with proper research and development, from 1928 to the eighties of the last century. For its uniqueness, UNESCO included Castel del Monte in the list of World Heritage Sites in 1996. The castle was honored to be accommodated in the Italian Eurocentre.

Castle operating mode

Open: from 9:00 to 18:30 - October 1 to March 31, from 10:15 to 19:45 - from April 1 to September 30. Closed from December 25 to May 2. Guided tours cost 2.5 euros (for students) and 5 euros (for adults).

Something we have not paid attention to locks on VO for a long time, but there are so many of them that ... well, you simply cannot tell about all of them. Just think: in France today there are more than 600 of them, but before there were even more - about 6,000! There are more than 2000 of them in Spain, and 250 are safe and sound. And there is also England, Germany, the Czech Republic and even the same Poland, where one of the largest brick castles in the world rises - Marienburg Castle. In the Kaliningrad region, the ruins of ancient castles rise everywhere, and in one of them - Shaaken, entertaining "medieval performances" are played out with the most real "knightly horseradish", beer and fried herring. And each, by the way, is unique, because they were built in different places, at different times and from different materials. And their builders also had different means. For example, the Beaumaris castle in England was built in just some 18 months, from 1278 to 1280, and all because 400 bricklayers and 1000 laborers worked on it, and there were more than 2000 people working there. Now let's see what it cost to feed such a horde: half a liter of grain per person per day (1800 hectoliters in six months!), And also meat, beer, salted fish. So it is not surprising that the castle of his father - King Henry, his son - Richard the Lionheart, paid for 12 years later!

This is what the castle of Castel del Monte looks like, located on a low hill in the middle of a plain and flowering orchards.

There were castles, fortresses and castles for residence, there are known "royal castles" and castles that belonged to the lords, castles about which everything is known and castles filled with secrets. And today our story will go about one of these castles. And this castle is called Castel del Monte, which in Italian means "castle on the mountain" or "mountain castle".

The castle is located in the south of Italy, just 16 km from the city of Andria, so getting to it is not difficult. Well, it is interesting primarily because it is the memory of Emperor Frederick II Hohenstaufen, whom his contemporaries called "a crusader without a cross and without a campaign", while others (it is clear that first of all these were his court poets and the courtiers themselves !) were magnificently called "The Miracle of the World".

It was built (if we compare it with the same Beaumaris) for quite a long time, from 1240 to 1250. Hordes of Mongols ravaged the fields and cities of Europe, blood poured everywhere, and here people hewed stones for themselves, mixed lime and, not in a hurry, carried the stone to the construction. The usual padding for a team of two bulls was 2.5 tons, but they could drive no more than 15 km a day with such a load, so it is not hard to imagine how much time and effort it took to transport only building material here to the plain. The architect of the castle is unknown (although it is possible that Frederick himself was involved in the construction). At first, the castle was named castrum Sancta Maria de Monte after the Maria del Monte monastery located there. But nothing remained of him, so this cannot be stated with certainty. It is believed that this is one of the most outstanding castles of the era of the life of Emperor Frederick II. The castle also has one more name - "Crown of Apulia", which in a certain way is associated with its shape. It must be said here that Emperor Frederick was known to his contemporaries as one of the most educated people of that time, that he could speak Greek and Arabic, and, of course, he wrote and spoke in Latin and invited poets and artists to his court as from the West and from the East. Mathematical competitions were held at his court, in which the famous mathematician Fibonacci took part, and perhaps this somehow influenced the strict architectural form of the castle.

The fact is that Castel del Monte has the form of a regular octagon 25 m high, at the corners of which towers rise, also built in the form of octagons 26 m high.The length of each side of the main octagon is 16.5 m, and the lengths of the sides of the octagonal small towers is 3.1 m. The main entrance to the castle is oriented to the east and is located between two towers. Another entrance is directly opposite the first.

Although Castel del Monte is called a castle, this structure in the exact sense of the word is not a castle. It has no ditch, shaft, and no drawbridge. It has no storage rooms, no stables, no kitchen. The entrance to it is designed as a portal of a Gothic cathedral. And its functional purpose is completely incomprehensible. It was suggested that it might have become the emperor's hunting residence, but its inner chambers, according to some researchers, were too richly decorated and furnished for a simple "hunting lodge".

Purely structurally, Castel del Monte is a two-storey stone structure with a flat roof. Exactly at half its height, a small cornice runs along the entire perimeter, dividing the floors. The second cornice, which separates the basement of the building, runs at a height of about 2 m. Since the "castle" has the shape of an octahedron, its courtyard also has the same shape of a regular octagon.

The entire building of the castle looks like one single monolith, and in fact it is so. It was built of polished limestone blocks, but the columns, frames of the castle windows and its portals are made of marble. There are two windows on the outer wall - with one arch on the first floor and two on the second. But for some reason, one window on the second floor, facing north, has three arches.

And now let's count a little and find out that the entire building is associated with the number eight, and in numerology it is a symbol of peace and infinity, and is located between the world of Heaven and Earth. All this smacks of the most real occultism. And Frederick was very inclined towards him. In general, he was a great rationalist. For example, he denied the divine origin of the stigmata of Francis of Assisi - an unprecedented case for a Christian, and on the grounds that, they say, they appeared on his palms, and Christ could not be nailed to the cross in this way, since the bones of the palm were not strong and could not stand would be the weight of his body! Truly divine stigmata should appear on the wrists, between the radius and ulna!

The 16 internal chambers of the castle are shaped like regular trapezoids, eight in number on each floor. At the same time, wardrobes, toilets and spiral staircases leading upstairs are located in the corner turrets. It is interesting that these stairs do not twist to the right, as would have been the fashion of those years for defense purposes, but to the left, like a snail's shell. Moreover, it is known that Friedrich himself was not left-handed.

Three portals on the first floor lead to the courtyard of the castle, but apart from them, there are also three doors on the second floor, which were supposed to open onto a circular wooden balcony, which has not survived to this day. There are also small windows in the walls overlooking the courtyard. Thus, light enters its interior spaces through both the outer and inner walls. There were no battlements either on the walls or along the perimeter of the turrets and ... the question legally arises, how would the people who were supposed to live in this castle, if necessary, set out to defend it?

Although all rooms, both on the first and second floors, have the same shape for all, they still differ from each other in the location of the entrance doors. The two halls of the first floor have exits to the outside of the castle through the east and west portals, but they do not have exits to the courtyard, although they have doors to other halls. That is, you will not get from hall number 2 except through the courtyard to hall number 3, although only a wall separates them. You need to go out into the courtyard, go to hall number 4 and from there you get to hall number 3! But from room number 4, you can freely forgive into rooms 5,6,7,8. That is, in addition to the passage halls, which have 2-3 doors, the castle also has those in which there is only one door. And there are 4 such halls - again, two on each of the floors. Each of these 4 rooms has a fireplace and a passage to the toilet located in the adjacent tower. The toilets were arranged in such a way that they were well ventilated through vents in the walls and even - oh, the miracle of the architecture and construction art of that time - could be flushed with water from the tanks on the roof. There is a hall that is usually called the throne room. Its window faces east and is located above the main portal. However, it does not have a fireplace or a toilet.

And now the most interesting thing: these very windows are in the walls of the first and second floors. Through them, direct sunlight necessarily penetrates into each room on the second floor twice a day all year round, but on the first floor this happens only in summer. That is, what happens? The upper part of the castle is essentially a huge sundial, and the first floor can serve as a calendar at all. That is, this entire castle is nothing more than a giant astronomical instrument? Quite possible. No documents about its construction have survived. Rather, there is one document dated January 29, 1240, in which the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II Staufen orders the Governor and Judge Richard de Montefussol to buy lime, stone and everything needed for construction. There is also a document from 1241-1246. - "List of fortifications in need of repair." But in it Castel del Monte is already listed as a built castle, not a castle under construction. There is also no evidence that Frederick II ever visited this castle at all or used it as his hunting residence. And in 1250 Frederick II died altogether and the castle passed to his sons.

It was then that the truth of the saying that "nature rests on children" was confirmed. If Frederick successfully resisted the two popes, was excommunicated three times, managed to return Jerusalem to Christians without war, having signed an agreement with Sultan al Kamil on the transfer of the holy places of Palestine to them, then his son Manfred died without having achieved the throne of Sicily and Naples, and his young children: Frederick, Henry and Enzo, his winner Karl of Anjou imprisoned in this castle for 33 years. And then this castle was completely abandoned and it was only occasionally used for wedding ceremonies, and the local nobility also escaped there from the plague.

In 1876, the castle was acquired by the state, restored and put in order. And in 1996 UNESCO included it in the World Heritage List, so today it is being watched, put in order, and the flow of tourists to it does not diminish!

P.S. There is no way to just go and see this castle? Then it's at your service ... a model in a scale of 1: 150, which is assembled from small bricks! This is what people have reached nowadays - they also offer such original "prefabricated models". The quality can be judged by the photograph. The manufacturer is the Spanish company Aedes Ars, but the photo of the assembled castle was kindly provided to us by the “Shipyard on the table” company.

Castel del Monte is rightfully called the Crown of Puglia. Its octagonal shape, no corridors, octagonal towers, octagonal courtyard and fountain all suggest a secret message. To whom and from whom? Why did the owner of the castle, the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, wear a ring decorated with a faceted emerald with eight gold petals on his right hand?

Death of the Emperor

At the end of November 1250, during another hunt in the forests of his beloved Apulia, Frederick II suddenly felt a strange weakness and pain in his stomach. Soon the pain and fever became unbearable and the emperor ordered to stop halfway, in an exquisite domus area(now - Torremaggiore). This place became the last refuge for the emperor: dysentery slowly burned the weakened body and on December 13 the light went out in his eyes. It was rumored that the emperor was poisoned by his illegitimate son Manfred ...

The Emperor's castle took 10 years to build. Its geometrically intricate design is still the subject of debate. Emperor Frederick II, as you know, being an educated person and a philanthropist, created a mathematical school at the court, in the work of which the great Fibonacci took part.

However, the castle-palace, so unusual for Puglia, fits well into the symbolism of faith: the octagon is a symbol of resurrection and rebirth. Ancient religious temples often included architectural compositions in the form of a square (rectangular base), above which a sphere or circle is located: the square is a symbol of the earthly, and the circle represents the sky. Between them, sometimes there was a transitional figure of an octagon, which could symbolize the position of a person. Suffice it to recall the ancient basilicas and baptisms of the 4th century. (baptisteries), a similar form of which emphasized the importance of baptism as an act of man's union with God, temporary with the eternal.

It is known that Frederick II, being in Jerusalem, was delighted with the view of the Dome of the Rock sanctuary on the Temple Mount. The Aachen Chapel, in which the emperor was crowned, also has an octagonal shape. Even the addition of the numbers of the date of death of the emperor (1250) gives the magic number 8. If this is not enough, then we can add that Frederick II wore an eight-pointed crown.

Castle or fortress?

The castle was faced with marble - a very unusual application of a noble stone in defensive construction for those times. The castle was not protected by a moat and earthen rampart. There are no storage facilities for ammunition, there is nothing to remind that the defenders were preparing for a siege. Even the spinning of the spiral staircases did not comply with the rule of freedom of the right hand in defense. There are no loopholes, and the windows of the castle are too large, which could easily be used as a weak point if one wanted to set fire to the building from the outside. Such ostentatious frivolity can be taken as a message: Frederick II was not afraid of anyone, although he had many enemies.

A few members of the imperial retinue were in Castel del Monte. The location of the castle on the top of the hill made it possible to control the entire area. Only trusted and trusted persons could approach the castle, and the servants consisted not of local peasants and artisans, but of residents of the remote towns of Monopoli, Bitonto and Bitetto. This means that secret meetings could take place outside the walls of the castle, unusual religious rites or alchemical experiments could be carried out.

Alchemy

It is quite possible that experiments on metal transformation were carried out in the castle. The small fireplaces in the chateau rooms were not suitable for receiving large numbers of guests and lavish banquets. But they were perfect for heating reagents, and the strategic position of the castle did not allow outsiders to smell the unusual smell of burning. The niches could well accommodate distillers and furnaces for heating.

In the castle, daring experiments were carried out at night to transmute the despicable metal into gold and secret searches for the fifth indestructible substance. The castle was quite suitable for experiments and occult practices. It is noteworthy that the emperor's retinue included none other than Michele Scoto- astrologer, magician, fortuneteller - one of the theorists of alchemy. The treatises of this scholar brought good dividends to the emperor. Especially the one that describes the conversion of copper to silver.

The desire to improve matter, inherent in alchemists of the 13th - 17th centuries, gave rise to a wave of charlatanism and outright speculation. Very often, these surveys were done at the request of wealthy and enterprising sponsors.

Castel del Monte undoubtedly deserves the attention of not only specialists. According to numerous testimonies of tourists, when visiting the castle, there is a strange feeling of uneasiness. The walls radiate unusual energy and sometimes it seems that you are completely immersed in the distant world of the XIII century with all its passions, cruelty, naivety and quirks.

The castle is under the protection of UNESCO. Since 1996, it has become part of the historical sites protected by the World Heritage Fund.

How to get to Castel del Monte

The castle is located in the commune of Andria, province of Bari.

By car:

On the A motorway 14 Bologna - Taranto

From the A 16 Bari - Naples motorway, exit at: Andria-Barletta S.S. 170.

Gallery of images of the castle of Castel del Monte