Castel del Monte, Apulia
13th-century octagonal castle built by Frederick II in Apulia.
Castel del Monte is a 13th-century citadel and castle situated on a hill in Andria in the Apulia region of southeast Italy. Built during the 1240s by King Frederick II, it is famous for its bold octagonal plan and classicizing details, and was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1996.
Quick Facts
- Location
- Andria
- Built
- 1240–1250
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
Castel del Monte was built during the 1240s by King Frederick II, who inherited the lands from his mother Constance of Sicily. It sits on a small hill at 540 meters altitude, near the monastery of Santa Maria del Monte. A 1240 document shows Frederick ordered the governor of Capitanata to finish works, but the castle was never completed and there is no proof he used it as a hunting lodge as commonly thought. It originally had marble walls and columns, but all were stripped by vandals or reused in nearby constructions. The castle has neither a moat nor a drawbridge, and some considered it never intended as a defensive fortress, though archaeological work suggests it originally had a curtain wall.
Reader's Guide
Castel del Monte is significant for its unique octagonal design, which is unusual in castle architecture. Historians debate its purpose, with theories ranging from a hunting lodge to a symbolic intermediate between square (earth) and circle (sky). Frederick II may have been inspired by the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem or the Palatine Chapel of Aachen Cathedral. The castle later served as a prison under Charles I of Anjou, housing Manfred's sons and other Hohenstaufen supporters. In the 18th century, its marbles and ornamentation were looted, with Bourbon members reusing columns at their palace in Caserta. Purchased by the Italian State in 1876, restoration began in 1928. During World War II, the U.S. 15th Army Air Force headquartered a secret navigational aid station called Big Fence there. In the 1950s, soil around the castle yielded a bacterium that led to the chemotherapeutic drug doxorubicin. The castle inspired the 'Aedificium' in Umberto Eco's novel The Name of the Rose and was a set for the film Tale of Tales. It also appears on the Italian one cent Euro coin.
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