Castel del Monte - Italy
N 41° 05.097 E 016° 16.220
33T E 606700 N 4548964
Castel del Monte is a 13th-century citadel and castle situated in Andria in the Apulia region of southeast Italy. It stands on a promontory, where it was constructed during the 1240s by the Emperor Frederick II.
Waymark Code: WMR6MD
Location: Puglia, Italy
Date Posted: 05/17/2016
Views: 3
It has neither a moat nor a drawbridge and some considered it never to have been intended as a defensive fortress.
The castle's construction is mentioned in only one contemporary source, a document dating to 1240, in which the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II ordered the governor of Capitanata to finish some works in it. It was never finished and there is no proof that the emperor used it as a hunting lodge as commonly stated. It was later turned into a prison, used as a refuge during a plague, and finally fell into disrepair. It originally had marble walls and columns, but all were stripped by vandals or re-used in constructions nearby.
Frederick was responsible for the construction of many castles in Apulia, but Castel del Monte's geometric design was unique. The fortress is an octagonal prism with an octagonal tower at each corner. The towers were originally some 5 m higher than now, and they should perhaps include a third floor. Both floors have eight rooms and an eight-sided courtyard occupies the castle's centre.
Frederick II may have been inspired to build to this shape by either the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem, which he had seen during the Sixth Crusade, or by the Palace Chapel of Aachen Cathedral.
Type: Building
Reference number: 398
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