Castle del Monte (Castel del Monte) rises alone on the secluded hill of Western Murge in the desert area of the city of Andria, province of Bari, at an altitude of 560 meters above sea level. The castle complex received its modern name only at the end of the 15th century; the original name has not been preserved. The castle Castel del Monte was named after the ancient settlement of the same name at the foot of the hill, on which was the small monastery of Santa Maria del Monte. Often the locals of Andria call it the “Crown of Apulia”.
Historians believe that Castel del Monte was intended as a hunting residence, but the interior of the rooms was too richly decorated and furnished with luxurious furniture for such purposes.
Castel del Monte is a two-story structure with a flat roof. Externally, the palace is a regular octagon with the length of each side equal to 16.5 meters.
At each corner there is a magnificent octagonal tower. Exactly in the center of the height along the entire perimeter of the castle complex there is a narrow cornice, which serves as a visual separation of the floors. The upper cornice separates the base of the palace and is located at a height of 2 meters.
The courtyard of Castel del Monte is shaped like the building itself. The height of the structure on the inside of the courtyard is 20.5 meters, only the corner towers proudly jut into the sky. On the roof of the castle there is a neatly laid out paved terrace in the shape of a herringbone, which offers stunning panoramic views of the sea.
The façade of the central entrance faces the east. There is a second emergency entrance on the western wall. The building is built of polished limestone, and only the round columns, decorative window frames and facades are made of high-quality marble. Each of the external walls has two windows, the first has a single arch, the second has a double arch. A striking decoration of the northern side on the second floor is a single window with three arches. The interior apartments are shaped like a regular trapezoid. The castle has only 16 full rooms - eight on each floor. Despite the fact that all apartments have a similar shape, they differ in the location of the doors. The two large halls of the Castel del Monte have exits on both sides of the building and connect with neighboring halls, while they do not have an entrance to the courtyard. In addition to the passage rooms, the fortress also has end rooms with one door into the corridor. The most striking of these rooms is the Throne Room.
The corner towers serve as wardrobes, bathrooms and spiral staircases. Moreover, the arrangement of the Castel del Monte latrines proves the high level of sanitary standards in the civilized society of the Middle Ages. All toilets were well ventilated through vents made in the walls and flushed with water from tanks installed on the roof. An interesting fact is that the stairs do not traditionally twist to the right, but to the left, similar to the physiology of nature, as, for example, a snail’s shell twists to the right.
There is a legend that the romantic and mysterious Castel del Monte has a secret eighteen-kilometer underground tunnel to the Ducale di Andria castle, and a four-kilometer passage to the Castello di Canosa fortress.
The Castel del Monte castle was built by the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II, who thought out a bright and original design for the fortress. Historians still argue about the timing of construction of the complex. According to some documents, it becomes clear that the decree of Frederick II was issued in 1237 and states the construction of a new castle in Santa Maria di Monte.
From other documents it appears that the king's decree dates back to 1240 and encouraged the restoration of the fortress, previously built by Lombard Robert Giscard and his son Roger Norman in 1073. In any case, Castel del Monte acquired its modern appearance under Frederick II and has similarities with other fortifications of this era, designed for protection against external enemies, such as Barletta, Bari, Brindisi, Cosenza, Gioia del Colle, etc.
In 1266, in a war for dominance over the territories of Sicily and Naples, Frederick's son Manfred was defeated and killed. This brought an end to the rule of the Swabian dynasty in Italy. The winner of the Battle of Benevento, Charles of Anjou, imprisoned Manfred's minor children - Friedrich, Heinrich and Enzo - in the castle, where they spent 33 years. After this, Castel del Monte was used from time to time for wedding ceremonies.
In 1459, the fortress came into the possession of the noble Italian family of Lord Ferrante of Aragon. And in 1656, the castle last served as a residence for noble families of Italy fleeing the plague, which was raging in the city of Andria. And after some time, Castel del Monte was empty and only in the 19th century it became the home of shepherds, local bandits and marauders. During this period, the castle was looted, precious marble materials were stripped from the walls, and the rich sculptures were sold.
In 1876, the fortification came into the possession of the noble Carafa family, which began its restoration and reconstruction.
Currently, the Castel del Monte castle is a monument of medieval architecture and is open to all tourists.
Cost of excursions (if you buy a ticket on the spot): adults - €3; children under 18 years of age, visitors over 65 years of age and people with disabilities (upon presentation of an identity card) - free of charge; students from 18 to 25 years old - €1.5.
Tour time: ~ 30 min. Opening hours: March - September from 10.45 - 19.45; October - February 09.45 - 18.45, closed on Christmas and New Year.
Castel del Monte. Apulia.
Those. The castle on the mountain was built in the 13th century by Emperor Frederick II.
This is one of the most mysterious castles in the world, full of secrets and symbols.
The church of Santa Maria del Monte once stood here, of which not a trace remains. In 1240, Frederick II ordered the construction of a castle on this hill. The Emperor died in 1250, i.e. Only 10 years were allotted for the construction of the grandiose castle.
It is unknown who the architect was, according to whose design the massive structure was erected, and its purpose is also unknown.
Frederick II was on friendly terms with the Teutonic Grand Master Hermann von Salz. Some literary sources say that the emperor himself reached the highest circles of initiation and even presided over the “round table” in 1228, where representatives of all knightly orders, both Christian and Muslim, gathered.
The construction of the castle was clearly not without the influence of the Templars and is a philosophical construction, a material embodiment of mathematical, astronomical and esoteric knowledge.
The castle has a clear connection with the number 8.
The plan is octagonal, located on two floors.
Castel del Monte. Apulia.
The octagon is a symbolic figure, a transitional state between the square – a symbol of the earth and the circle – a symbol of the sky.
The corners of the octagon are surrounded by turrets, also with eight sides, similar to those built by the Templars.
The eight trapezoidal rooms on the first floor are identical to the eight rooms on the second floor; spiral staircases rotate counterclockwise in the turrets (although in other buildings of the time all staircases were built clockwise).
Castel del Monte. Apulia.
Almost all rooms have connecting doors and create the impression of an endless labyrinth.
The castle has no bedrooms, no living rooms, no kitchen, no servants' quarters.
Castel del Monte. Apulia.
In the courtyard there was an octagonal fountain or pool carved from a single piece of marble. According to the plan, the fountain symbolized the Holy Grail and served for the “Tears of the Lord” ritual, i.e. the rite of “baptism in wisdom” practiced by the Templars. Under the fountain there was a huge cistern for collecting rainwater, and it also received water from five other cisterns located under five of the eight towers. The tanks were combined into a hydraulic system and used for sewage. This is one of the oldest examples of medieval sewerage that has survived to this day.
Interior details continue the theme of eights: 8 four-leaf flowers on the right cornice of the tympanum of the portal and 8 of the same on the left; 8 leaves on the capitals of all columns; 8 leaves on the vault key. In different rooms there are decorations made of 8 sunflower leaves, 8 acanthus leaves or fig leaves.
The number 8 is special. It is a symbol of infinity and a mediator between heaven and earth.
If you follow this version, then it is not a castle at all, but a temple of secret knowledge with the main entrance, similar to a church portal and turned east to meet the rising sun.
The position of the sun generally plays an important role in the design of the castle, so at noon on the day of the autumnal equinox, the walls of the courtyard cast a shadow exactly equal to the length of the courtyard, and on the days of the winter and summer solstices, ideal rectangles appear, outlining the walls of the castle so that the castle itself is exactly in the center .
The picture is completed by two lions sitting on columns at the entrance and looking at the horizon at the points where the sun rises on the summer and winter solstice.
If you don’t get carried away with the esoteric version, you can remember that Frederick II was a great fan of falconry and even wrote a book with his own illustrations dedicated to ornithology and bird hunting, the first scientific work in this area during the Middle Ages.
The Emperor loved to hunt in these places, and Castel del Monte could have been a hunting castle, which was also used for ceremonial events. For example, the wedding of his daughter Violanta with the Count of Caserta Riccardo Sanseverino.
Castel del Monte. Apulia.
It remained abandoned for many centuries. In 1876, the castle was bought by the state, it was restored and put in order. In 1996 it was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.
And now everyone can admire the castle, similar in shape to the crown in which Frederick II was crowned and located in an absolutely strategically disadvantageous position among open space.
The majestic Castel del Monte is one of the most famous attractions in the Italian region of Puglia. Moreover, it would not be an exaggeration to say that this is one of the most mysterious castles in the world.
Unlike other mystical places, the amazing castle is not hidden from prying eyes behind mountains and forests. On the contrary, it is noticeable from afar. You're driving along the freeway and you see, there he is, a handsome man, towering at the top of the hill. And it doesn’t matter that the name of the building translates as “castle on the mountain”; only those who have never seen real mountains in their life can take the name Castel del Monte literally. It was built as a castle on the very spot where the Maria del Monte monastery was located until the thirteenth century, hence the first name of the structure, which few people remember today - castrum Sancta Maria de Monte.
In the photo: view of Castel del Monte
Today the crowd of people visiting Castel del Monte never stops. For this, many thanks to the magical world of cinema and the Italian director Matteo Garrone in particular, because it was in the unusual halls of this monumental building that he settled the characters - a king who raised a flea, and a princess whom an eccentric father married off to an cannibal. Interestingly, until the twentieth century the castle was abandoned, and shepherds spent the night there. Today, the architectural structure is under the care of UNESCO, as a result, it was washed and put in order, but the interior decoration of the halls was not preserved - Matteo Garrone also had to quickly fill the space of the premises with props brought to the castle.
In the photo: filming of the film “Scary Tales”
Garrone chose Castel del Monte for the film adaptation of the tales of the Neapolitan Giambattista Basile for a reason, because this place is mysterious to the point of impossibility. Although Castel del Monte, located 16 kilometers from the city of Andria, bears the honorary title of one of the most famous medieval castles in the world, it is not essentially a castle.
Still from the film "Penny Dreadful", the princess and the king on the roof of the castle
The fact is that in the understanding of a normal person of the Middle Ages, a castle could only be built for one of two purposes. The first goal, which is also the main one, is defense and control of the area. In this case, one or another lord built a small fortress, usually on the top of a mountain, which helped repel enemy attacks, and at the same time generally influence the situation in the area. The second task is a fortified place to live. Sometimes castles grew to the size of cities, for example, and their powerful walls again made it possible to hold back hordes of enemies.
But Castel del Monte is not intended for defense at all. Where are the fortress walls and the moat with water? Where are any decent defensive fortifications? This place also seems unsuitable for living. Of course, Walter Scott wrote in his “Ivanhoe” that the concept of “comfort” did not exist in the Middle Ages, but this castle, even by medieval standards, is far from the home of a self-respecting lord. It’s good that all the halls inside are connected to each other, but, most importantly, there is no space for a stable and there is no kitchen. So, most of all, the castle looks like a kind of ancient art object, built for the sake of ideas; such houses are sometimes designed by modern architects who have received absolute carte blanche to realize their creative ideas, coupled with an unlimited budget.
This association is very appropriate if you know who built Castel del Monte. The castle on the mountain was built by Emperor Frederick II Staufen himself, a legendary figure in all respects. He not only managed to win the title of Holy Roman Emperor from his competitors and lead the Sixth Crusade, but was also considered one of the most educated people of his time. He knew Greek, Latin and Arabic, founded a university in Naples, where not only Christians, but also Jews and Arabs taught, and this, by the way, was the height of tolerance by medieval standards. In general, Frederick II was very far from Christian prejudices; here are illustrative examples: the emperor insisted that doctors study anatomy on corpses, and Frederick also warmly treated Fibonacci and even organized mathematical tournaments.
In the photo: engraving of Frederick II
The emperor also had a penchant for writing: an essay on falconry is credited to his pen, and at his court he created the Sicilian school of poetry. At the same time, like all progressive people of his time, Frederick II was a fan of a wide variety of mystical teachings and studied astronomy and astrology. The emperor’s personal life was also interesting; he earned the reputation of Bluebeard, since he was married four times, although his last marriage with his constant mistress Bianca Lancia was never recognized by the church. Frederick II sired a great many children - 20 legitimate ones, but for obvious reasons no one scrupulously counted the bastards.
Frederick II built Castel del Monte from 1240 to 1250, that is, in the last decade of his life. The name of the architect is unknown, but many historians, not without reason, believe that it was the emperor himself - the resulting design was very intricate. The fact is that, like many medieval mystics, Frederick was obsessed with the number eight, which symbolizes infinity, and it can be traced constantly in the structure of the castle.
It’s worth starting with the fact that the castle, when viewed from above, is a regular octagon, and an octagonal tower is erected at each corner of the structure. The shape of the castle's courtyard also follows the octagon. The castle has only two floors, the roof is flat, and the main entrance to Castel del Monte faces strictly east, because, as they believed in the Middle Ages, the good news came to us from the east.
In the photo: windows overlooking the castle courtyard
Each floor of the castle has 8 rooms, all of them connected to each other, so you can easily walk around the perimeter of Castel del Monte. The rooms are made in the shape of trapezoids, and windows are cut into the walls. Toilets, wardrobes and spiral staircases are located in the corner turrets. By the way, the stairs in the castle are a different story - usually in all castles they are “twisted” to the right, since this is optimal for the defense of the object, but in Castel del Monte they, on the contrary, are “twisted” to the left, that is, the way they do nature, because mollusk shells or snail shells are twisted to the left.
In the photo: stairs in Castel del Monte
All rooms of the castle are absolutely identical, the rooms differ from each other only in the location of the doors and the number of windows. The decorative elements are again dominated by the number eight: on the capitals of the columns there are eight leaves, on the bas-reliefs in the rooms there are eight leaves or clover flowers.
Another interesting thing is that direct rays of sunlight fall into the windows of the second floor twice a day (with the first floor this rule only works in the summer), so many assume that the mysterious castle is nothing more than a huge sundial, and at the same time an astronomical one device. In addition, twice a year during the summer and winter solstice, sunlight is evenly distributed among all rooms on the first floor. This, of course, is also no coincidence, so many historians suggest that the first floor of Castel del Monte is a kind of analogue of the solar calendar.
Here you could calm down, but here’s another interesting reason for reflection - twice a year, on April 8 and October 8, the sun’s rays pass through the windows of the castle into the courtyard in such a way that they fall strictly on that part of the wall where in the time of Frederick II, a certain bas-relief was carved, now lost. Well, to make things even more complicated, it’s worth remembering that October in the thirteenth century was considered the eighth month of the year.
Frederick II died before finishing the construction of the castle - the building of Castel del Monte was completed, but the interior decoration was not completed. After the death of the emperor, there were legends in Europe that Frederick did not die, but disappeared in an unknown direction in order to reform the church and establish universal brotherhood and peace. There is a certain symbolism in this, because the octagon, repeated in the structure of Castel del Monte, in the Middle Ages symbolized the transition from the world of the living to the kingdom of the dead, and at the same time the unity of heaven and earth.
Everything is very simple here - the square was considered a symbol of the earth, the circle was a symbol of the sky, and the octagon was an intermediate figure, denoting both unity and transition. However, scientists who are far from mystical believe that the repeated use of the octagon is simply a reference to the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem, because Frederick II saw the dome over the cornerstone during his crusade.
Biblical symbolism is also encrypted in Castel del Monte. The fact is that the castle has exactly five water tanks and five fireplaces, many associate this with the phrase of the Baptist John from the Gospel of Luke: “I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who comes after me is stronger than I; I am not worthy to carry His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” So, it is easy to assume that Castel del Monte was for Frederick II an analogue of a temple, erected according to his personal design, and this fully corresponds to the ambitions of the emperor.
By the way, this hypothesis is confirmed by another interesting detail. If you look closely at the entrance to the castle, you will notice a giant letter F encrypted there. If the tomb of Frederick II were inside, associations with pyramids would be inevitable, and so Castel del Monte seems to be a kind of personal portal of the emperor, built according to his plan and in his honor. At least, when you stand in the courtyard of the castle and, raising your head, look at the sky, imprisoned in the octagon of powerful walls made of limestone, a feeling of belonging to the medieval magical tradition arises even in the most inveterate materialists. And this place has a special energy, in the style of those “Scary Tales” by Matteo Garrone.
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Yulia Malkova- Yulia Malkova - founder of the website project. In the past, he was the editor-in-chief of the elle.ru Internet project and the editor-in-chief of the cosmo.ru website. I talk about travel for my own pleasure and the pleasure of my readers. If you are a representative of hotels or a tourism office, but we do not know each other, you can contact me by email: [email protected]
For some reason we haven’t paid attention to castles in VO for a long time, but there are so many of them that... well, you simply can’t tell about them all. Just think: in France today there are more than 600 of them, but before there were even more - about 6000! There are more than 2,000 of them in Spain, and 250 are intact. And there is also England, Germany, the Czech Republic and even the same Poland, where one of the largest brick castles in the world stands - Marienburg Castle. In the Kaliningrad region, the ruins of ancient castles rise everywhere, and in one of them, Schaaken, entertaining “medieval performances” are played out with 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 at their disposal. For example, Beaumaris Castle in England was built in just 18 months, from 1278 to 1280, and all because 400 masons and 1000 laborers worked on it, and in total there were more than 2000 people working there. Now let’s see what it cost to feed such a crowd: half a liter of grain per person per day (1800 hectoliters for six months!), and also meat, beer, and salted fish. So it is not surprising that the castle of his father, King Henry, was paid for by his son, Richard the Lionheart, for 12 years!
This is what Castel del Monte looks like, located on a low hill in the middle of a plain and blooming orchards.
Well, this is what it looks like from above today.
There were castles-fortresses and castles for living, there were known “royal castles” and castles that belonged to lords, castles about which everything is known and castles filled with secrets. And today our story will be about one of these castles. And this castle is called Castel del Monte, which in Italian means “castle on the mountain” or “mountain castle”.
It has survived very well to this day, and that’s not surprising. It had never been subjected to sieges, no one lived in it, and there were no villagers nearby who could dismantle it into stones.
The castle is located in the south of Italy, only 16 km from the city of Andria, so getting to it is not difficult. Well, it is interesting primarily because it is a memory of Emperor Frederick II of Hohenstaufen, whom his contemporaries called some “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) !) was pompously called the “Miracle of the World.”
Image of Frederick II from his book De arte venandi cum avibus (On the Art of Hunting with Birds), late 13th century. (Vatican Apostolic Library, Rome)
It was built (if compared with the same Beaumaris) for quite a long time, from 1240 to 1250. Hordes of Mongols ravaged the fields and cities of Europe, blood was shed everywhere, and here people were cutting their own stones, mixing mortar and, not in a very hurry, transporting stone to the construction site. The usual load for a team of two oxen was 2.5 tons, but with such a load they could travel no more than 15 km a day, so it’s not hard to imagine how much effort and time it took to transport just building material here to the plain. The architect of the castle is unknown (although it is possible that Frederick himself participated in the construction). At first, the castle was given the name castrum Sancta Maria de Monte, named after the Maria del Monte monastery located there. But nothing remains of him, so this cannot be said with certainty. It is generally considered that this is one of the most outstanding castles of the era of Emperor Frederick II. The castle also has another name - “Crown of Apulia”, which is in some way connected with its shape. Here it must be said 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, wrote and spoke Latin and invited poets and artists from the West to his court , 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 entrance to the castle was clearly intended only for people, and not for horses, and this was at a time when all the nobility traveled only on horseback. Even women.
The fact is that Castel del Monte has the appearance 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 small octagons towers is 3.1 m. The main entrance to the castle is oriented to the east and is located between two towers. The other entrance is directly opposite the first.
This is what the castle looked like in 1898.
Although Castel del Monte is called a castle, this building is not a castle in the strict sense of the word. It has no moat, rampart, and no drawbridge. There are no stores for supplies, no stables, no kitchen. The entrance to it is designed like the portal of a Gothic cathedral. And its functional purpose is completely unclear. It was suggested that perhaps it should have become the emperor’s hunting residence, but its interior chambers, according to a number of researchers, were too richly decorated and furnished for a simple “hunting lodge.”
The entrance resembles a cathedral portal.
Purely structurally, Castel del Monte is a two-story stone structure with a flat roof. Exactly at half its height, along the entire perimeter there is a small cornice dividing the floors. The second cornice, which separates the base of the building, runs at a height of about 2 m. Since the “castle” has the shape of an octagon, its courtyard has the same shape of a regular octagon.
We enter its courtyard...
... look up and see a regular octagon!
The entire castle building looks like one single monolith, and that is essentially what it is. It is built from 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.
The layout of the castle is also a mystery in its own way. Well, why not connect all the rooms with passages? Why was it necessary to do exactly this?
Now let’s do a little math and find out that the entire building is connected with the number eight, and in numerology it is a symbol of peace and infinity, and is located between the worlds of Heaven and Earth. All this smacks of real occultism. And Frederick was very inclined towards him. And 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 withstand would be the weight of his body! Truly divine stigmata would appear on the wrists, between the radius and ulna bones!
External windows of the first and second floors.
The 16 interior rooms of the castle are shaped like regular trapezoids, eight on each floor. At the same time, in the corner turrets there are wardrobes, toilets and spiral staircases leading upstairs. It is interesting that these stairs do not curl to the right, as was 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.
Left-handed staircase?
Three portals on the first floor lead into the castle courtyard, but in addition to them, on the second floor level there are also three doors that should have opened onto a circular wooden balcony, which has not survived to this day. There are also small windows in the walls facing the courtyard. Thus, light penetrates into its interior through both the external and internal walls. There were no crenellations either on the walls or along the perimeter of the turrets and... the question legitimately arises, how would the people who were supposed to live in this castle intend to defend it if necessary?
Second floor window. Inside view.
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 on the first floor have exits outside the castle through the eastern and western portals, but they do not have exits to the courtyard, although they do have doors to other halls. That is, from hall No. 2 you cannot get to hall No. 3 except through the courtyard, although only a wall separates them. You need to go out into the courtyard, go to hall No. 4 and from there get to hall No. 3! But from room No. 4 you can freely go to rooms 5,6,7,8. That is, in addition to the passage halls, which have 2-3 doors, there are also those in the castle in which there is only one door. And there are 4 such halls - again, two on each floor. Each of these 4 rooms has a fireplace and a passage to the toilet, located in the adjacent tower. The toilets were designed in such a way that they were well ventilated through vents in the walls and even - oh, a miracle of the architecture and construction art of that time - they could be flushed with water from the tanks located on the roof. There is a room that is usually called the throne room. Its window faces east and is located above the main portal. However, it has neither a fireplace nor a toilet.
Typical Gothic cross-domed vault.
And now the most interesting thing: these same windows are in the walls of the first and second floors. Through them, direct sunlight necessarily penetrates into every room on the second floor twice a day all year round, but on the first floor this only happens in the summer. That is, what happens? The upper part of the castle is essentially a huge sundial, and the first floor can even serve as a calendar. So this whole castle is nothing more than a giant astronomical instrument? Quite possible. No documents about its construction have survived. More precisely, 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 necessary for construction. There is also a document from 1241-1246. - “List of fortifications requiring repair.” But in it, Castel del Monte is already indicated as a built, and not a castle under construction. There is also no evidence that Frederick II ever visited this castle or used it as his hunting residence. And in 1250, Frederick II died and the castle passed to his sons.
Although Frederick was a knight, he did not like to fight. He achieved his goals through negotiations. Therefore, his biographers had to resort to outright forgeries. For example, in this miniature depicting the Battle of Giglio (1241), Frederick is shown on the left wearing a helmet with a crown, although in fact he did not participate in it. "New Chronicle" by Giovanni Villani. (Vatican Apostolic Library, Rome)
It was here that the truth of the saying that “nature rests on children” was confirmed. If Frederick successfully resisted two Popes, was excommunicated three times, managed to return Jerusalem to Christians without war, having signed an agreement with Sultan al Kamil on transferring 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 were imprisoned by his conqueror Charles of Anjou in this castle for 33 years. And then this castle was completely abandoned and was only occasionally used for wedding ceremonies, and the local nobility were saved there from the plague.
Such “heads” were used very often in the architecture of that time.
In 1876, the castle was acquired by the state, restored and put in order, and in 1996 UNESCO added it to the World Heritage List, so today it is looked after, put in order, and the flow of tourists to it does not subside!
Model of the Castel del Monte castle by Aedes Ars.
P.S. Isn’t it possible to just go and see this castle? Then this is at your service... a model on a scale of 1:150, which is assembled from small bricks! This is what people have come to today - they also offer such original “prefabricated models”. The quality can be judged from the photograph. The manufacturer is the Spanish company Aedes Ars, and the photo of the assembled castle was kindly provided to us by the company “Shipyard on the Table”.
There are many beautiful places on the planet that receive increased attention from tourists. The south of Italy is known throughout the world for its extraordinary architecture, and the eastern region of Puglia is no exception. Many buildings are of interest not only because of their original designs. Buildings, the purpose of which remains a big mystery to posterity, become the subject of discussion among tourists and the object of many years of research by scientists.
Bari: attractions of the Middle Ages
The capital of the region is famous for its religious monuments. Nicholas with the myrrh-streaming relics of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, the Church of St. Sabinus are the main attractions of the ancient city. Around Bari there are medieval historical monuments, which tourists from all over the world come to admire.
The most famous building is the Castel del Monte, called the most mysterious building in Europe. The regular octagon, literally imbued with symbolism, excites the minds of specialists.
The conflicting identity of the castle owner
To understand the architectural features of a capital structure, it is necessary to get to know its owner - an ambiguous person who evokes different feelings among historians.
The controversial personality of Emperor Frederick II of Hohenstaufen has given rise to many controversies and opinions. It is known that his cruelty and thirst for power knew no bounds. For his lack of religious feelings, he was excommunicated from the church, which did not prevent him from winning the Crusade.
The emperor who returned Jerusalem to the Christian world was considered a very educated man. The surviving ancient document describes the decree of Frederick II on the start of large-scale construction of a castle near the monastery of Santa Maria del Monte. Work began on the high hill at the beginning of 1240, lasting about ten years.
The fate of the historical monument
It is believed that the emperor himself took part in the development of the grandiose project of Castel del Monte, but no documentary evidence of his residence in his brainchild was found. After the death of the crowned lady, the castle was inherited by her sons, but after some time it was abandoned and served as a shelter for local shepherds. After repeated acts of vandalism in 1876, it was taken under state protection.
There is a legend that says that the powerful emperor did not die in 1250, but simply hid from the whole world, planning to reform the church and establish peace on earth.
Riddles that don't yet have answers
Not all scientists agree on the start date of the construction of Castel del Monte. It is known that there were serious financial difficulties in 1239, due to which the construction of other fortresses in the empire was suspended. This is one of the first mysteries that experts are still working on to this day.
The second, concerning the true purpose of the monumental structure, torments all historical researchers. There is an official version according to which the building was originally built as a residence for the emperor who loved falconry. However, the spiral staircases inside the castle twist to the left, counterclockwise, in a completely different direction than was customary. In the huge room there is not even a hint of rooms for supplies, servants, stables, and the interior decoration is too luxurious for a hunting lodge.
Castle or something else?
Situated on a high hill, the octagon with towers at the corners is unlike other castles. It does not have the required drawbridge, rampart or moat, and the main entrance is designed in the form of the portal of a Gothic temple facing east.
The architectural creation, which is a two-story structure with a flat roof, was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1999.
The symbolism of the eight
The octagonal plan of the building, located in the city of Bari, whose sights are known throughout the world, made the building famous. Despite the fact that the building looks intimidating, it was never a defensive structure. Eight trapezoidal rooms on the ground floor, not intended for receiving guests, and the same number of rooms on the second, corner turrets with eight sides are full of surprises. The symbolic number is repeated in architectural details a huge number of times.
The courtyard once housed a marble pool, symbolizing the Holy Grail. Needless to say, it also had an octagonal shape. And underneath there were water tanks, combined into a special hydraulic system - the oldest sewer system of the Middle Ages.
The interior of Castel del Monte is surprising: all its details continue the theme of the figure eight - the symbolic figure of infinity, considered the transition from earth to heaven.
Calendar and sundial
The main feature of a historical monument is its ability to show time. The first floor is a kind of calendar that counts down time. Each room on the second floor receives direct sunlight twice a day throughout the year (for rooms on the first floor this is only true in summer), turning the structure into a giant sundial.
At noon on the autumnal equinox, the massive walls of the castle cast a shadow that is equal to the length of the courtyard. Gradually it lengthens until it “contains” the entire structure.
A place for occult rituals?
The kingdom of geometry, numerology, and all kinds of secret signs most likely served as a meeting place for communities conducting occult rituals, or as an astronomical observatory in which alchemy was practiced. Frederick II's retinue included the famous astrologer and magician Michele Scoto, whose name was mentioned by Dante in his work, describing the hell of sorcerers.
The construction of Castel del Monte was not without the influence of the Templars. The stone crown of Apulia, as the mysterious masterpiece of world architecture is also called, was the material embodiment of esoteric, astronomical and mathematical knowledge.
Citadel of Secret Knowledge
The national monument is adored by tourists who admire the original stone work, which has no analogues. Travelers coming to the south of Italy certainly visit the legendary castle, the image of which is minted by the country's government on small coins. The majestic building is in no hurry to give away all its secrets, but it is all the more interesting to look into the citadel of secret knowledge.
