Castel del Monte

A dazzling beauty. It is a large octagonal building erected by Frederick II in the 13th century on the top of a hill overlooking the Murge plateau. It is usually said to be a 'castle', but the interpretations of its use and role are the most varied and imaginative, from a place of representation, to a hunting lodge (Frederick was a great lover of falconry), to a spa facility. What is undisputed is the dazzling beauty of its forms: an octagonal plan, with eight octagonal towers and a courtyard of the same shape. A wall of white stone, marble and coral breccia, giving the building a pinkish hue, and a height of 24 metres. A place that once contained marble, mosaics and rich furnishings of which few traces remain today. However, it is precisely the severe structure of its bare interior that helps to instil the image of a place that is almost metaphysical in its beauty. Everything in the 'castle' is number and magic: the number eight recalls cosmic balance and infinity, and its assiduous repetition tells of an architectural experiment consciously realised, at the highest level, and without precedent. Since 1996 it has been on the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites. 

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