Castel del Monte

A gorgeous castle! Castel del Monte is super unique and just stunning to see and visit! The castle has been built with various materials, of which sadly enough only few can be seen. The views that you can experience are amazing. Sadly you now have to pay for parking 5€ for a car and if you want to take the bus up to the castle this is another 2€ per person…

Amazing Swabian castle dating back to about 1290! It is surrounded by a forest and you only need a few hours to see everything. Bring some good hiking shoes, unless you are able to pay for parking close to the castle. We went during the week and it was not very busy. There are a few great videos inside the castle, which stays amazingly cool in the summer heat!!

Great sight, small but beautiful! It is possible to add a hike to the visit. We got tickets and audio guide on sight. There are friendly stray dogs around the castle, we were not bothered by them.

We parked at the big parking lot. Then bought tickets in the souvenir shop for the bus and took it. The walk looked pretty too but it was too hot for us.

Take the local guide Maria Zingaro! She will guide you through the importance of this monument. What was ment to be and it's very important history for mankind, not only Italian. The details I leave for local guide

Super interesting octagonal castle from the 1240s built by Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor, Hohenstaufen of Swabia and King of Sicily. Example of Medieval architecture located on a hill some kilometers away from Andria overseeing a large plain. Castel del Monte is surely one of Apulia’s symbols: a medieval fortress erected in the 13th century on the western Murge plateau on the outskirts of the beautiful town Andria, along the Adriatic coast of southern Italy. Built on a hill 540 metres above sea level, the fortress of Castel del Monte in Andria is considered a brilliant example of medieval architecture, reflecting the humanistic culture and vast education of its founder, Holy Roman Emperor and King of Sicily. The octagonal castle is surrounded by an octagonal tower at each corner. Mysterious and an almost inhumanly exact geometric shape, some theories claim that the octagon represented the union of the circle and the square. The octagonal layout gives Castel del Monte the configuration of an elegant stone crown, and is present in all the castle's rooms. There are eight rooms on the ground floor, and eight on the first floor. There are eight towers surrounding the building, all with an octagonal layout and each arranged on one of its eight corners. This obsessive recurrence of the number eight makes the fortress of Castel del Monte an esoteric place that has fascinated the best scholars for centuries. But the fortress has more mysteries for you to slowly discover during your visit. The building is accessed through the entrance portal, a large Arab-style arch with a Greco-Roman tympanum and Gothic double-arched windows. The light colour of the limestone and white marble façades also characterises the interior, now stripped of the decorations that once adorned it. The light illuminating the ground floor comes from eight single-arched windows located on each of the eight sides of the floor plan. The same number of windows can be found on the upper floor, with one small difference: seven windows are double arched, while only one, that facing Andria, is triple arched. You really cannot miss to visit it if you are in Apulia. #castle #fortress #apulia #italy #monument

Castel del Monte is a 13th-century masterpiece commissioned by Emperor Frederick II. Unlike typical medieval castles, it lacks defensive features like a moat or drawbridge, hinting it was built more for symbolism and intellect than warfare. Its perfect octagonal plan—mirrored in its towers—has fueled centuries of speculation about astronomical alignments, sacred geometry, and esoteric meaning. Blending Romanesque, Gothic, and Islamic architectural styles, the castle embodies Frederick II’s cultural openness and scientific curiosity. Today, it stands isolated on a hilltop, its symmetrical silhouette dominating the surrounding landscape, making it one of Europe’s most iconic and mysterious monuments.

Castel del Monte is an amazing building - we had seen it on television and were so pleased to visit it in person. It is sad that successive rulers stripped much of the marble, but what is left is an amazing colour! The Coral brecchia is also amazing - I don't think that I have seen it before. The views from the windows on the upper levels are wonderful . Definitely worth a visit.