Associazione Città Italiane Patrimonio Mondiale UNESCO

A feature that is very much characteristic of Castel del Monte is the repeated use of the number eight and the octagonal layout. The castle was built around 1240 on the orders of Frederick II of Swabia.
There are eight trapezoid-shaped rooms both on the ground and first floors that overlook the octagonal courtyard at each corner of which is located an eight-sided tower.
The castle stands proud and solitary on a rocky summit overlooking the Murge hills. Its octagonal shape also forms the courtyard that is opened on to at the lower level by single arched openings. The single Gothic opening at ground level is the only opening facing Andria, the city that Frederick II held dear for its constant loyalty.
The castle is noted for the blending of coexisting of cultures that while in essence very different from one another, blended perfectly together and this integration reflects the many sides of Frederick II’s personality. Reminders of the Romanesque past are to be seen in the lions protruding from the gateway and the Gothic is brought to mind by the ogives between gateways and vaulted arches, by the capitals and the fine intermingling of the expressionism of the telamons and the tower corbels. Classical influences are found in the friezes and cornices of the doors-windows facing on to the courtyard, in the acanthus leaves on some of the marble capitals and in the gateway layout. The remains of the floor mosaic in the 8th room on the ground floor would suggest Muslim influence.
An ingenious solution was found for covering the sixteen trapezoid-shaped rooms. The area was divided into a central span that was square-shaped and cross-vaulted with two keystones, non-load bearing supports and two lateral triangles closed with barrel ogives. The huge fireplaces of which little remains were used more for heating than for cooking.
Many different materials were used in building the castle: limestone on the outer walls, breccia corallina for the entrance/exit and the gateways, marble on the three-sided columns on the ground floor. The walls of the rooms were probably covered with slabs of breccia corallina and marble.
Three spiral staircases led to the upper rooms that at one time communicated by means of a suspended catwalk positioned over the courtyard at first floor level. Another very interesting point is the presence of numerous bathrooms that were very common at that time in the Arab world but extremely rare in the West.
Castel del Monte is radically different from other Swabian castles that are very numerous in Puglia. It even today intrigues scholars who remain uncertain about what its purpose really was.
Although lacking some of the key elements typical to a mediaeval military stronghold such as a moat and drawbridge, the castle’s geographical positioning perched on a hilltop commanding an excellent field of vision may have had an important role in strategic defence. It is perhaps comparable to the chain of watchtowers that lined the coasts and communicated with inland defence positions.
It is also abundantly clear that Frederick II wanted Castel del Monte to carry a strong symbolic message that reflected the importance of the Empire.
The cultural content on the other hand was a strong reflection of the multi-faceted character of an enlightened king that shared among his interests such matters as mathematics, poetry, philosophy and astronomy. He was ahead of his time in recognising renaissance concepts and these particular characteristics led to him being called “Stupor Mundi” the (wonder of the world).