Castel del Monte (Apulia)

Infobox World Heritage Site
WHS = Castel del Monte


State Party = ITA
Type = Cultural
Criteria = i, ii, iii
ID = 398
Region = Europe and North America
Year = 1996
Session = 20th
Link = http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/398

Castel del Monte ( _it. Castle of the Mount) is a 13th century castle situated in the Apulia region of southeast Italy. It was built by the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II some time between 1240 and 1250; it has been despoiled of its interior marbles and furnishings in subsequent centuries. It has neither a moat nor a drawbridge and may in fact never have been intended as a defensive fortress.

Location

Castel del Monte is situated on a small hill close to the monastery of Santa Maria del Monte, at an altitude of 540 m. It lies in the "comune" of Andria, occupying the site of an earlier fortress of which no structural remains exist.

It was completed in 1249 and was used primarily as a hunting lodge by Frederick until his death in 1250. 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.

Description

The fortress is an octagonal prism with an octagonal bastion at each corner. Each floor has 8 rooms and an eight-sided courtyard occupies its centre. [citation|title=Castles of the Western World |first=Armin |last=Tuulse | Courier Dover |year=2002 |pages=60-61 |url=http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=eyVEPoVsWHEC&pg=PA60&dq=%22Castel+del+Monte%22&lr=&as_brr=3&client=firefox-a&sig=ACfU3U0nmiiJ20jU0auIQ5Pg-CdkFmb51Q#PPA60,M1 |isbn=0486423328] The octagon is thought to be 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 in Jerusalem, which he had seen whilst on Crusade, or by the Palace Chapel of Aachen Cathedral.

The main wall is 25 m high and the eight bastions each 26 m. The sides of the main octagon are 16.5 m long and those of the octagonal towers each 3.1 m. The castle has a diameter of 56 m. Its main entrance faces due east.

Modern era

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 government, which began the process of restoration in 1928.

Central to the plot of Umberto Eco's novel "The Name of the Rose" is an old fortress known as the 'Aedificium'. This was almost certainly inspired by Castel del Monte. [citation| title=The Key to "The Name of the Rose" |first=Adele J. |last=Haft |first2=Robert J. |last2=White |publisher=University of Michigan Press |year=1999 |isbn=0472086219] [citation | title=Castel del Monte |publisher=in-italia.com |url=http://www.in-italia.com/texti_13.asp]

Castel del Monte was named a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1996, who described it as "a unique masterpiece of medieval military architecture". [citation |last = World Heritage Committee | title = Report of the 20th Session, Merida 1996 | url = http://whc.unesco.org/archive/repcom96.htm#398]

Castel del Monte is depicted on the reverse of the Italian-issue 1 Euro cent coin.

Notes and references

External links

* [http://www.paradoxplace.com/Perspectives/Sicily%20&%20S%20Italy/Puglia/Castel%20del%20Monte/Castel%20del%20Monte.htm Paradoxplace Castel del Monte Photo Gallery]
* [http://www.proloco.andria.ba.it/eng/casteldelmonte.php Tourist Information in English about Castel del Monte]
* [http://www.historiaweb.net/castel_del_monte/gallery_castel_del_monte.html Photogallery of Castel del Monte]