Location: borgo di Castel del Monte,18 km from Andria (BT)

Topographic location: alta Murgia (on Murgia hills)

 Object: castle 

HISTORICAL/NAME/TIME SCALE Castel del Monte rises on a hill at an altitude of 540 meters. It was built by local craftsmen, as well as by Saracens and Nordic artisans and masons. It was built as a hunting lodge or astronomical observatory, by the Emperor Frederick II of Swabia in 1240. The fortress is an octagonal prism with an octagonal bastion at each corner. It was later turned into a prison by the Angevins, and used to celebrate the marriage of Bertrand and Beatrice d'Anjou in 1308. In 1552 it was bought by the Carafa, with the city of Andria, and then left unattended suffered countless devastation and looting. Since 1876 it is state property, which has restored it and made usable. In 1996, UNESCO has inscribed Castel del Monte on the List of World Heritage Sites for the perfection of its forms and for the harmonious union of cultural elements from northern Europe, the Islamic world and classical antiquity.