Castel del Monte

Castel del Monte is the chateau, which impresses with its strict medieval, military architecture. It is located 55 km west of metropolitan Bari in southeastern Italy. Castel del Monte was built on a hill, visible from miles away.

Castel del Monte is the famous castle of Frederick II. It has an octagonal shape and is a Gothic portal, but the architecture of the fortress is of oriental elements. It is strange that around the building there is no firewall or ditch, which probably means it was not designed as a protective fortification. Strict facade of the castle Castel del Monte was built around 1240 to replace an earlier fortress.

As intended by the Emperor, the castle Castel del Monte is loaded with a strong symbolic meaning as to its location and with its absolute correct form was used primarily as a hunting residence of the ruler. Once covered with marble you can see there were marble columns rising, but later they were looted. After the death of Frederick, the building was used as a prison refuge from the plague epidemic.

The main entrance of the Castel del Monte is situated on the eastern side. The main wall of the building is 25 meters high, and each of the eight bastions 26 m, the sides of the main octagon are 16.5 m long and the whole palace has a diameter of 56 m.

The fortress is an octagonal prism with octagonal bastions at each corner. Each wall has 8 rooms. The octagon is designed as an intermediate symbol between a square that depicts the earth and the circle, symbolizing the sky. Frederick II may have been inspired to build in this shape by either the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem, which he demonstrated during the Crusades or the chapel in the Cathedral in Aachen.

An interesting fact is that Castel del Monte was depicted on the reverse side of the Italian cent. Since 1996 it has been included in the list of world heritage by UNESCO.