The finest castle in Europe, the Castel del Monte, should in no way be omitted from this quest for Frederican castles in the Bari provincial area. 18 Km. from Andria on a hill 540 m. high and overlooking a vast expanse, it is famous for its octagonal structure, Each of its sides measures 16.50 m; its geometric harmony depends on the fact that there are eight 25 - metre Octagonal towers.

It was very probably built as a hunting residence by Frederick II (keen on hunting with falcons) between 1229 and '49. At this point it should be stressed that the Hoenstaufen - the family from whom the Swabians descended - had used the octagonal structure for several constructions. This fact has caused some reseachers to believe that the Egisheim Castle in Alsace should be seen as theprototype of the Castel del Monte. It is situated on a hill on which there was a Benedictine monastery with a church dedicated to St. Mary of the Mount. It stands at an intermediate point between the Castle of Melfi and the Royal Foggia Palace, where the political and administrative activities of Frederick were conducted. In 1249 the King's illegitimate daughter, Violante, got married there. However, following the fall from grace of the Swabians, it was mostly used as a prison - its perimetral, external walls are 2.55 m. thick and its internal ones 2.41 m. The first ones to bave been imprisoned there, by Carlo d'Angió, in 1265, were apparently Frederick's grandchildren (Manfredi's sons), Enrico, Federico and Azzolino. Noble families of Andria took refuge in the castle during the plague of 1665. Later, abandoned as of the XVII Century, it was stripped of its marble and sculptures, and inhabited by shepherds and brigands. Recovered by the state in 1876, it saw some restoration initiatives at long last. Stylistically it can be said to belong to the beginnings of Gothic architecture in Southern Italy, despite the presence of the Romanesque and Arabic-Norman cultures. The eight angular towers perform a primarily static role, dampening the so-called "thrust forces". They are also used as a means of access to the upper floor (via spiral staircases) or to bathrooms and store-houses.

About half-way up the entire structure is walled up in a way that reflects the division of the two internal floors, made up of eight equal, trapeze, shaped rooms. Every facade, set between two towers, has two remarkable windows i.e. a mullion (light) on the floor above (except the one in relation to the front and back door), and a Gothic two-mullion window above (except for a three-mullion on the Andria facing side). In the entrance portal, in coralline breccia, situated on the East facade, note the pronounced Gothic influence in the pointed arch, the two lions (held up by columns), the pointed tympanum and the drip-stone overhang, even if there are clear signs of classical inspiration in the Augustan Triumphal Arch.

On entering we can see that the first and second rooms which link up, are in fact off from the six others in as much as they used to constitute a vestibule. To gain access to the other staircases on the ground floor we must go through the inner courtyard - also octagonal - crossing the Gothic portal of the second room. This portal consists of a single piece coralline breccia, with a double-pointed arch on its mullions, clearly manifesting Muslim influences.

Overlooking the courtyard on the next floor up are three door-windows of refined classical manufacture, framed by two mullions that support an archivolt decorated with foliage. Before they linked up with a wooden gallery, in the middle of which there was an octagonal marble basin.

Moving on into the eighth room (with its fireplace), we can admire what little remains of the floor's inlaid geometry: hexagons in white stone and black wedges feature here and are also to be found in the other rooms.
Going up the pretty helicoid staircase situated in the tower, relish the cupola, a work of art attributed to Niccoló Pisano. Having reached the threshold of the upper floor note the vault; its six robust ribs set on shelves have extremely realistic caryatids, sculptured in various positions. The rooms on the first floor - the same size as those on the ground floor - are more illuminated and slender. Feast your eyes upon the tri-styled (pillars). Their pretty capitals have foliage and are mounted on walls covered with cipolin marble, in contrast to the upper part (characterized by zones of "opus reticulum" alternating with series of stones). From the fifth room we reach the falconer's tower with its three-vault cupolas. One of these is exposed as it was formerly used as a falcon aviary. Note the two masks of exquisite classical mould; they represent a women's face and a faun's face, as well as serving to hold up the ribs.

Going up from here onto the terrace, we notice that the courtyard area is enclosed by a double sloping roof. The inner roof diverted the water to the tank of the court by means of lead tubes set in the masonry, whereas the external one diverted water to the piping of the towers' bathrooms.

The fact that the number "eight" keeps cropping up in the structure has made some people suppose that such an obsession concealed a magic significance. In the esoteric doctrine "8" symbolized infinity both horizontally and vertically, and is also the number of the wind-rose and the foundation number of the univerdsal authority. In Christian symbology "8" represents the union of the Infinite (God) and the Finite (man). Infact, in the IV Century, the Bishop of Milan, Ambrogio, introduced the octagonal shape for baptistries in order to underline the importance of being baptised. Whether, on conceiving this structure, Freederick II intended to link the Infinite to the Finite (and symbolically the East to the West) is only one possible interpretation that should (debatebly) be taken with a pinch of saltr Just out of curiosity: note that the sum of the numbers of the year that Frederick died - 1250 - is eight.

There are even those who maintain that the dimensions chosen for the various architectural sections were calculated according to how the sun moves durillg the year. If - instead of the castle on the hill - there were only a 20.5 m. - tall pole (equal to the original height of the walls before it was altered by the construction of the parapet a couple of dozen years back), then, at midday on Sept 23rd, when the sun goes into the Libra Zodiac zone, the shadow projected by the pole would be as long as the courtyard. Thus, when the sun enters the successive star-sign zones (Scorpio, Sagittarius and Capricorn), the shadow would determine, respectively, the width of the castle's rooms, the theoretical circumference delineated by the castle (including its towers) and the layout of the exterior octagonal enclosure, the past of which is much debated.
According to another brain-wave, the fact that the octagon in the courtyard is not a standard one - or rather, that no one side is the same - does not costitute a worker error, so perfect is the execution of the other parts of the castle. However, there does seem to be a relationship between the tilt in the Earth's axis and the phenomenon of the precession of the equinoxes, where by the values ofthe courtyard design represent the centrality of the Earth or of the emperor's power. Recently someone put forward the hypothesis that the castle constitutes a medieval re-interpretation of the numerical relationships present in the pyramid of Cheops.These are some of the theories inspired by the Castel del Monte. Thus, in conclusion, we have only to let ourselves get absorbed in its uniqueness.