Top 10 Historic Sites in Andria, Puglia

Reviewed By Seeking_True_Quality

As we walked uphill from the car park where we got off our bus, the two of us were very excited. We planned our visit to Castel del Monte a long time ago, as soon as we found out that it was in fact an existing building, where it was and what was its name! We saw the replica of this building much earlier in the movie 'The Name of the Rose', it was the famous Edifice, the largest library in Christendom, with its mysterious labyrinth. Describing that fictional library, Umberto Eco was inspired by Castel del Monte... The walk from the car park to the top of the hill was long, took us some 15 to 20 minutes, the view was obscured by the trees, but finally we arrived and there was it, this perfect octagonal building with eight octagonal towers, shining white on the midday sun. This ceremonial castle was built around 1240, probably as a hunting lodge for Frederick II, the Holy Roman Emperor of the Hohenstaufen dynasty, near the end of his reign. It is located not far from Castel Lagopesole, his headquarters, now in the region of Basilicata. We proceeded to the elegant and ornate main entrance. After we paid the entrance fee, we entered an inner octagonal courtyard with three doors leading to the ground floor. In the rooms of the ground floor there was an interesting exhibition, depicting the life of Frederick II. We reached the upper floor by a staircase located in one of the towers. Unfortunately there was nothing left from the XIII. century in those vaulted rooms - except the stunning marble decoration of the walls, because the Castle served as a prison for a long time. On our way out, we stopped in the souvenir shop to buy T-shirts and some books - an echo of that fictional library. For the two of us, lovers of history and geometry, Castel del Monte was a must!