Castel del Monte is a rather mysterious building, the true purpose of which is now unknown to anyone. What is this castle without a ditch and a rampart, without a bridge and a room 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 only in 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 needed ...
However, further from the document it is not entirely clear what is meant - the beginning of construction or some kind of finishing work. In favor latest version says another document issued in 1241-1246. - 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 may have influenced to some extent the strict architectural forms of Castel del Monte. 
In 1250 Frederick II dies and the castle goes to his sons.
In 1266, after Frederick's son Manfred lost in 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 was 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 with a side of 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, 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 to the 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 another 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, unfortunately not preserved to our times. The walls also have other small windows that allow light to enter each room through the inner and outer walls. 
The interiors of the castle are 16 regular trapezoids, and are located eight on the first and second floors. Dressing rooms, toilets and spiral staircases are located in the corner turrets. It is noteworthy that the spiral staircases twist, as a rule, 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, the fortress has 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 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 directly enters 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 represents 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 whole 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 UNESCO World Heritage Site.
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.
Castel del Monte is rightfully called the Crown of Apulia. Its octagonal shape, lack of 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 on his right hand a ring decorated with a faceted emerald with eight gold petals?
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), over which a sphere or circle is located: the square is a symbol of the earthly, and the circle represents the sky. Between them there was sometimes 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 adding 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 spinning 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 you 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 allowed the entire area to be controlled. 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 castle walls, 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 experimentation 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 studies were done by order 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, a strange feeling of uneasiness arises. 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 14 motorway 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
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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 emperor's return to the Kingdom of Sicily from Germany. Frederick strengthened the northern coastal areas Sicily. Traces of his reign can be traced on the Adriatic and the Ionian coast. In Apulia, 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 of Italy for its unique octagonal shape. This is one of the most mysterious buildings commissioned by Frederick II. The castle, where the emperor may never have lived, but where, paradoxically, the imagination draws 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, you will see the main attraction of Puglia. 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 from Benevento to Brindisi, filled a gap in the immense 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 dominant significance.
The architectural features of the castle
Architecturally, the castle is one of the first examples of the Gothic style in Puglia. It is, however, a 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. On each of the two floors of the castle there are eight large rooms. Columns of red marble with Corinthian capitals are positioned in the corners of the rooms, supporting ornate 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 continually 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 castle's founder 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 the 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 scientific research, 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).
Castel del Monte is one of the most famous and visited places in Puglia; still, it is included in the UNESCO list of sites of the World cultural heritage... The Romanesque cathedrals of Puglia have just entered the struggle to be included in this list, and therefore most of these cathedrals can be viewed in silence and splendid isolation. Castel del Monte is packed with tourists, as is Matera. It's amazing that people so blindly trust uncles and aunts from UNESCO that they are ready to trudge into the wilderness, not paying attention to the masterpieces nearby)))
Once the courtyard was decorated with statues of ancient and medieval masters, but after the destruction of the Hohenstaufen family and until the end of the Bourbon monarchy, the castle was relentlessly plundered; some statues even ended up in Caserta. So now in the courtyard you can see several bas-reliefs (high, my camera did not master it), two portals - the entrances to the premises of the first floor, as well as three windows on the second floor.
One of the portals on the first floor: 
Inside the castle is empty - everything was stolen before us. The bare walls are decorated only with coral limestone portals, fireplaces and columns. 
These were all photographs of the first floor, followed by the second.
You can also lean out of the windows and try to see from a close distance those details of the yard that are poorly visible from below. 
That's all.
I have conflicting impressions of Castel del Monte. On the one hand, so much has been written about him by smart people (and read by the stupid, that is, by me) that the reality disappointed. Dragging so far away, guessing bus schedules - and all for the sake of bare walls. But, on the other hand, if I missed the UNESCO monument, then I would methodically eat my baldness for the rest of my life))) On the third hand, from the fortresses seen on the trip (Bari, Trani, Barletta, Melfi) Castel del Monte turned out to be the most interesting.
In any case, there is nothing to watch for more than an hour (I arrived at 12-15, and left at 15-00), so choose the right pair of buses "back and forth" for yourself. If I had assumed that the strike on the coming Friday would be so serious, I would still risk my bald head, omit the visit to Castel del Monte and change the program so that at least to get to Conversano. But what's done is done.
Perhaps the weather influenced my mood. In the photographs you see the sun, but this is all deception))) Although it was above 20 degrees, and the sun really was shining, a piercing cold wind was blowing, and I was in the same shirt. It was the same hurricane wind that caused us to land several times the day before at Bari airport. on the following days the jacket had to be taken always, as it was cool in the morning and in the evening.
Next time we will run through Andria (running ahead, forgive the pun, I will say that you can definitely skip Andria if your vacation is short), we will look at the cathedral and the small church of Sant'Agostino.
Castle Castel del Monte, whose name translates as "castle on the mountain", stands in the city of Andria in the Italian region of Apulia. It was once named Castrum Sancta Maria del Monte, as it was built on the site of the former monastery of St. Mary on the Mountain. True, by the time the castle was erected in the middle of the 13th century, nothing was left of the monastery.
The construction of the castle was started by order of the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II and lasted for about ten years. Already in 1250, the powerful structure was ready, although the interior decoration continued.
Castel del Monte, in the form of a regular octagon, is located 16 km from the city of Andria, in a place called Terra di Bari - Land of Bari. The same octagonal towers are built in the corners. The height of the castle reaches 25 meters, the length of the walls is 16.5 meters, and the width of the walls of the towers is 3.1 meters. The main entrance is located at east side, and on the west there is a spare portal. An interesting feature of the castle is that the two sides of the side tower are in contact with one of the sides of the main building.
I must say that the two-story Castel del Monte is not actually a castle in the full sense of the word, since it has no moat, ramparts and drawbridge. There are no warehouses, stables or a separate kitchen. Therefore, the purpose of Castel del Monte is still controversial among scientists. The generally accepted version is that the castle was the hunting residence of Emperor Frederick II. True, the richly decorated interiors make scientists argue further - this decoration for a hunting lodge was too magnificent and elegant.
Inside, the castle consists of 16 rooms, eight on each floor. The corner towers are occupied by wardrobes, toilets and spiral staircases, the latter twisting not to the right, but to the left. The location of the castle rooms is interesting: for example, two rooms on the first floor have no exits to the courtyard. Four rooms have only one door, and the passage halls have 2-3 portals. All rooms on the second floor are illuminated by sunlight twice a day throughout the year, and rooms on the first floor are illuminated only in summer. This strange design suggests that Castel del Monte was a kind of astronomical instrument: its upper part is a giant sundial, and the first floor serves as a calendar, the spaces of which are evenly illuminated during the summer and winter solstice. And this is another unsolved riddle ancient castle, which locals called the "Crown of Apulia".
