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“…pro castro quod apud Sanctam Mariam de Monte fieri volumus” (for the castle we want to be erected near St Mary’s on the mountain)

In the heart of Puglia built directly on a rocky bank on top of a hill at an altitude of 540m,where you can see a good part of the Puglia region and the cities of the coast,proudly overlooks the most important building that has left the Emperor Frederick II Hohenstaufen of Swabia- The medieval castle “Castel del Monte” (Italian for ‘Castle of the Mount’).

This architectural masterpiece is located in a region of Apulia, comune of Andria, southeast Italy. It was built by the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II, on a land inherited from his mother Constance of Sicily.

Frederick was born on the 26th of December 1194 in Jesi. He was the son of Henry of Hohenstaufen and of Constance of Altavilla, the last descendant of the Norman dynasty.When only four years old, Frederick was left an orphan by both his parents by whom he inherited the Empire and the Kingdom of Sicily.

Frederick II of Hoenstaufen

In 1237, Frederick II gave orders to build a castle near Santa Maria di Monte Castro, as part of his network of strategically placed defensive castles and residences.

The castle is built in the shape of an octagon, with a diagonal size of 56 meters. The octagonal plan represents the intermediate figure between the square (the symbol of the earth) and the circle, representing the infinite sky.

There are Eight octagonal towers inserted on each of the eight corners.

But the shape, however, doesn’t make it look like a typical medieval castle, as it lacks the original elements that are necessary for proper defense: it has no ditches, no drawbridge, no basement, but very large, marble-covered rooms, worthy of a lavish royal residence. The 26 meter high walls and towers (which were even higher in the past) and the thick, quartz-bearing limestone walls make it more than ‘just a residence’.

View from the courtyard

The wall curtains, built in the local calcareous stone, are marked by a string-course molding. Eight windows with one light open on the lower floor, seven mullioned windows, and only one three mullioned windows, facing the city of Andria, on the upper one.

The castle has two stories and each of them has eight interconnected chambers.The halls have a trapezoidal shape and have been tiled with an ingenious technical solution.

The two stories are connected by three winding staircases inserted in as many towers.Some of the towers contain tanks for collecting the rainwater partly conveyed to the large tank sunk in the rock, under the central courtyard.

360° panorama of Castel del Monte’s courtyard

From the towers you get on the roof terrace, paved with stone slabs arranged in a herringbone pattern. The panorama view from these terraces was a great strategic advantage during the Middle Ages, as you could see enemies approaching from miles away.

The courtyard is characterized, as the whole building, by the chromatic contrast between the colors of the utilized materials: coral crushed stone, limestone, and marbles. The slab representing a parade of knights and a fragment of a figure is the only remains of the sculptures once making a fine show there.

A lot of disciplines, both artistic and scientific, and activities were cultivated and practiced at court. Among the music and poetry of course, up to falconry, Frederick’s favorite sport, but also a means of studying nature, as the treatise he wrote De Arte venandi cum avibus (about the art of hunting by birds of prey), complete with excellent miniatures, testifies.

Castel del Monte also has an advanced plumbing system, which used rainwater for the toilets and bathrooms of the fortress.

At the base of its construction, there is always the number 8.

There are not many records about the construction of the castle and the real purpose which is often a debate topic.

In a letter written on the 29th of January 1240 to Riccardo di Montefuscolo, his judge and officer in Capitanata, the Sovereign ordered him to buy lime, stones, and all that would be useful and necessary “…pro Castro quod apud Sanctam Mariam de Monte fieri volumus” (for the castle we want to be erected near St Mary’s on the mountain). And this is the only document about the Castle we have of those times and moreover susceptible of different interpretations because of the word actractum used in it.

On a first look the structure may seem like isolated but as a matter of fact, the castle stood not far from the road connecting Andria to Garagnone, two important settlements of the period.

This castle was a keystone in a communication system among the defensive constructions, but the lack of some defensive stereotype points like many of middle age castles around the world exclude the military function of the castle.

But the choice of the site, high ground position bathing in the sun almost every hour with shadows playing together with the changing colors of the building outlining the forms of the monument never fail to impress subjects, allies, and enemies.

the throne room fireplace

Castel del Monte was the most representative product of Frederick II’ vision and conception of “art serving power”.

Back in those days, all of the rooms were decorated with precious polychrome marble, mosaics, paintings, and tapestries, but unfortunately, Castel del Monte has been robbed by its treasures by looters and vandals. Most of the doors are still nicely decorated with colored marble, but nothing remains of the decor that gladdened the eyes of Frederick II.

tower celling

When Castel del Monte was acquired by the Italian State in 1876, the external wall curtains were seriously damaged by the atmospheric agents and in 1879 Engineer Sarlo started the first phase of the restoration work followed by architect Quagliati who conducted the works since 1928.

UNESCO included Castel del Monte on their World Heritage list in 1996. because they recognized the fortress as “[…] a unique masterpiece of medieval military architecture, a successful blend of elements from classical antiquity, the Islamic Orient and north European Cistercian Gothic.”

The fortress is depicted on the reverse of the Italian 1 euro cent coin.

If you want to visit Castel del Monte an important thing to know is:

Opening hours:

1st October – 31st March 9.00 – 18,30 (the ticket office closes at 18:00)

1st April – 30th September 10.15 – 19.45 (the ticket office closes at 19.15)

Closed on 25th December e 1st January.

Tickets:

Regular fee 5.00 euros, reduced fee €2.50 (18 to 25 years). Free for children under 18 and over 65 years.

You should not miss the opportunity to see this amazing structure and the location.

photo credit: Wikipedia Commons

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