Castel del Monte (

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

for "Castle of the Mountain"; Barese: ''Castìdde du Monte'') is a 13th-century

citadel A citadel is the most fortified area of a town or city. It may be a castle, fortress, or fortified center. The term is a diminutive of ''city'', meaning "little city", because it is a smaller part of the city of which it is the defensive core. ...

and

castle A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...

situated on a hill in Andria in the

Apulia Apulia ( ), also known by its Italian language, Italian name Puglia (), is a Regions of Italy, region of Italy, located in the Southern Italy, southern peninsular section of the country, bordering the Adriatic Sea to the east, the Strait of Ot ...

region of southeast Italy. It was built during the 1240s by

King King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...

Frederick II, who had inherited the lands from his mother Constance of Sicily. In the 18th century, the castle's interior marbles and remaining furnishings were removed. It has neither a

moat A moat is a deep, broad ditch dug around a castle, fortification, building, or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. Moats can be dry or filled with water. In some places, moats evolved into more extensive water d ...

nor a

drawbridge A drawbridge or draw-bridge is a type of moveable bridge typically at the entrance to a castle or tower surrounded by a moat. In some forms of English, including American English, the word ''drawbridge'' commonly refers to all types of moveable b ...

and some considered it never to have been intended as a defensive fortress. However, archaeological work has suggested that it originally had a curtain wall. The castle is famous for its bold octagonal plan, and classicizing details of the architecture. In 1996, Castel del Monte was named a

World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

, which described it as "a unique masterpiece of medieval military architecture". Described by the ''

Enciclopedia Italiana Institute Giovanni Treccani for the publication of the Italian Encyclopedia (), also known as Treccani Institute or simply Treccani, is a cultural institution of national interest, active in the publishing field, founded by Giovanni Treccani ...

'' as "the most fascinating castle built by Frederick II", it also appears on the Italian version of the one cent Euro coin.

Location

Castel del Monte is situated on a small hill close to the

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of Monasticism, monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in Cenobitic monasticism, communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a ...

of Santa Maria del Monte, at an altitude of . When the castle was built, the region was famously fertile with a plentiful supply of water and lush vegetation. It lies in the ''

comune A (; : , ) is an administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions () and provinces (). The can also have the City status in Italy, titl ...

'' of Andria,

province of Barletta-Andria-Trani The province of Barletta-Andria-Trani () is a provinces of Italy, province in the Apulia region of Italy. The establishment of the province took effect in June 2009, and Andria was appointed as its seat of government on 21 May 2010. It was creat ...

, occupying the site of an earlier fortress of which no structural remains exist. A document dating to 1240, in which Frederick II ordered the governor of Capitanata to finish some works in the castle. It was never finished and there is no proof that he used it as a hunting lodge as commonly thought. 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 reused in constructions nearby.

Description

Because of its relatively small size, it was once considered to be no more than a " hunting lodge", but scholars now believe it originally had a curtain wall and did serve as a

. Frederick II 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 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. Each of the main rooms has vaulted ceilings. Three of the corner towers contain staircases. The castle has two entrances, an unobtrusive service entrance and an ornate main entrance. Frederick II's main entrance featured elements from

classical architecture Classical architecture typically refers to architecture consciously derived from the principles of Ancient Greek architecture, Greek and Ancient Roman architecture, Roman architecture of classical antiquity, or more specifically, from ''De archit ...

such a

pediment Pediments are a form of gable in classical architecture, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the cornice (an elaborated lintel), or entablature if supported by columns.Summerson, 130 In an ...

supported by rather thin fluted

pilaster In architecture, a pilaster is both a load-bearing section of thickened wall or column integrated into a wall, and a purely decorative element in classical architecture which gives the appearance of a supporting column and articulates an ext ...

s, and may have been influenced by Frederick II's interest in Greco-Roman architecture. The octagonal plan is unusual in castle design. Historians have debated the purpose of the building and it has been suggested that it was intended as a hunting lodge. Another theory is that the octagon is an intermediate symbol between a square (representing the earth) and a circle (representing the sky). Frederick II may have been inspired to build to this shape by either the

Dome of the Rock The Dome of the Rock () is an Islamic shrine at the center of the Al-Aqsa mosque compound on the Temple Mount in the Old City (Jerusalem), Old City of Jerusalem. It is the world's oldest surviving work of Islamic architecture, the List_of_the_ol ...

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

, which he had seen during the

Sixth Crusade The Sixth Crusade (1228–1229), also known as the Crusade of Frederick II, was a military expedition to recapture Jerusalem and the rest of the Holy Land. It began seven years after the failure of the Fifth Crusade and involved very little actua ...

, or by the Palatine Chapel of

Aachen Cathedral Aachen Cathedral () is a Catholic Church, Catholic church in Aachen, Germany and the cathedral of the Diocese of Aachen. One of the oldest cathedral buildings in Europe, it was constructed as the royal chapel of the Palace of Aachen of Holy Rom ...

. Occasionally used as a hunting lodge under

Manfred of Sicily Manfred (; 123226 February 1266) was the last King of Sicily from the Hohenstaufen dynasty, reigning from 1258 until his death. The natural son of the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II, Manfred became regent over the Kingdom of Sicily on b ...

, the castle become a state prison under the latter's victor,

Charles I of Anjou Charles I (early 1226/12277 January 1285), commonly called Charles of Anjou or Charles d'Anjou, was King of Sicily from 1266 to 1285. He was a member of the royal Capetian dynasty and the founder of the House of Anjou-Sicily. Between 1246 a ...

: here Manfred's sons Henry, Azzo and Enzo were kept as prisoner after 1266, as well as other Hohenstaufen supporters. The main wall is high and the eight bastions each . The sides of the main octagon are long and those of the octagonal towers each . The castle has a diameter of . Its main entrance faces east. In 1226 Frederick II met Leonardo Fibonacci in Pisa, and the geometry of the construction was highly influenced by the Fibonacci series and the

Golden ratio In mathematics, two quantities are in the golden ratio if their ratio is the same as the ratio of their summation, sum to the larger of the two quantities. Expressed algebraically, for quantities and with , is in a golden ratio to if \fr ...

Modern era

In the 18th century, the castle's marbles and other ornamentation were looted. Members of the

House of Bourbon The House of Bourbon (, also ; ) is a dynasty that originated in the Kingdom of France as a branch of the Capetian dynasty, the royal House of France. Bourbon kings first ruled France and Kingdom of Navarre, Navarre in the 16th century. A br ...

took the marble columns and window frames and reused them at their palace in Caserta. What remains now includes fragments of a knight and a reused Roman relief, while in the Provincial Gallery of Bari there is a head fragment and a cloaked, headless bust, sometimes interpreted as Frederick II. After having been abandoned for a considerable length of time, the castle was purchased in 1876 for the sum of 25,000 lire by the Italian State, which began the process of restoration in 1928. During the Allied occupation of World War II, the United States 15th Army Air Force headquartered a secret navigational aid station called Big Fence at the castle. In the 1950s, soil around the castle was discovered to contain a bright red compound produced by a strain of the bacterium '' Streptomyces peucetius''. Scientists named the drug daunorubicin and further development identified a related compound doxorubicin that finds use as a chemotherapeutic agent used to treat cancer. Central to the plot of

Umberto Eco Umberto Eco (5 January 1932 – 19 February 2016) was an Italian Medieval studies, medievalist, philosopher, Semiotics, semiotician, novelist, cultural critic, and political and social commentator. In English, he is best known for his popular ...

's novel ''

The Name of the Rose ''The Name of the Rose'' ( ) is the 1980 debut novel by Italian author Umberto Eco. It is a historical fiction, historical murder mystery set in an Italian monastery in the year 1327, and an intellectual mystery combining semiotics in fiction, ...

'' is an old fortress known as the 'Aedificium'. This was almost certainly inspired by Castel del Monte. It was also the set for the film '' Tale of Tales''. The castle has been often mistakenly linked to the

Knights Templar The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon, mainly known as the Knights Templar, was a Military order (religious society), military order of the Catholic Church, Catholic faith, and one of the most important military ord ...

and it has been regarded as a "mysterious" construction even by notable historians. Italian historian Raffaele Licinio often condemned those esoteric views and interpretations, stressing that Castel del Monte was just one of the castles of the fortification system developed by Frederick II, and it is not in any way linked to the Templars.

Castel del Monte DOC wine

Around the castle is the

Italian DOC wine The following four classification of wine, classifications of wine constitute the Italy, Italian system of labelling and legally protecting Italian wine: * ''Denominazione di origine'' (DO, rarely used; ; 'designation of origin'); * ''Indicazione ...

region of Castel del Monte that produces red, white and ''

rose A rose is either a woody perennial plant, perennial flowering plant of the genus ''Rosa'' (), in the family Rosaceae (), or the flower it bears. There are over three hundred Rose species, species and Garden roses, tens of thousands of cultivar ...

'' wines. Most of the wines are blends but

varietal A varietal wine is a wine made primarily from a single named grape variety, and which typically displays the name of that variety on the wine label.The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition, 2000.winepros.com.au. ...

wines can be produced as long as at least 90% of the wine is composed of the same grape. The reds are usually a blend of 65–100% Uva di Troia, up to 35% of Sangiovese, Montepulciano,

Pinot noir Pinot noir (), also known as Pinot nero, is a red-wine grape variety of the species ''Vitis vinifera''. The name also refers to wines created predominantly from Pinot noir grapes. The name is derived from the French language, French words fo ...

and Aglianico. The ''roses'' include 65–100% Uva di Troia and/or Bombino nero with the other red

grape varieties This list of grape varieties includes cultivated grapes, whether used for wine, or eating as a table grape, fresh or dried (raisin, currant, sultana). For a complete list of all grape species, including those unimportant to agriculture, see ''V ...

filling out the rest. The whites are composed mainly of Pampanuto (65–100%) with other local white grape varieties filling out the rest. Red and ''rose'' grapes are limited to a

harvest Harvesting is the process of collecting plants, animals, or fish (as well as fungi) as food, especially the process of gathering mature crops, and "the harvest" also refers to the collected crops. Reaping is the cutting of grain or pulses fo ...

yield of 14 tonnes/ ha and must make a wine with a minimum of 12% alcohol level (11% in the case of ''rose''). White wine grapes are limited to a harvest yield of 15 tonnes/ha and must make a wine with a minimum alcohol of 11%. If the wine is to be labeled a '' Riserva'', the wine must be aged at least two years with one of those years in

oak An oak is a hardwood tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' of the beech family. They have spirally arranged leaves, often with lobed edges, and a nut called an acorn, borne within a cup. The genus is widely distributed in the Northern Hemisp ...

/wood and must have a minimum alcohol level of 12.5%.P. Saunders ''Wine Label Language'' pg 135 Firefly Books 2004

Gallery

Castel del monte, esterno, portale principale 00.jpg, Entrance Castel del Monte, Italy 15.jpg, Stairs inside the castle Castel del monte, cortile 01.jpg, Courtyard Castel del Monte BW 2016-10-14 13-04-18 stitch.jpg, View from the courtyard Castel del monte, interno, finestra 01.jpg, Throne room Castel del monte, interno, stanze, camino 01.jpg, Fireplace remains Castel del Monte 3 FoNo.jpg, Tower ceiling

References

Sources

* * *

External links

*�
Official Castel del Monte website
*�
Tourist Information: Castel del MonteCastel del Monte
UNESCO Collection on Google Arts and Culture

*[https://web.archive.org/web/20070825023201/http://www.paradoxplace.com/Perspectives/Sicily%20%26%20S%20Italy/Puglia/Castel%20del%20Monte/Castel%20del%20Monte.htm Paradoxplace.com: Castel del Monte photo gallery]
Castel del Monte in ApulienCastel del Monte, between Fact and Fiction
{{DEFAULTSORT:Castel Del Monte (Apulia) Buildings and structures completed in 1250 Monte Museums in Apulia Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor Historic house museums in Italy Buildings and structures in the Province of Barletta-Andria-Trani Frazioni of the Province of Barletta-Andria-Trani Andria World Heritage Sites in Italy