A crown of rock resting on a hill at 540 metres above sea level, overlooking the western Murge plateau in Puglia. This is Castel del Monte, fortress commissioned by Frederick II around 1240 and included by UNESCO in the World Heritage List in 1996. Considered universally a genius example of medieval architecture, the castle unites different style elements, from the Romanesque cut of the lions at the entrance to the Gothic cornice of the towers, to the classic art of the interior decorations to the defensive structure of architecture to the delicate Islamic refinements of its mosaics. The fortress was created according to an extreme geometric and mathematical rigour. The octagonal plan design and the number eight recur almost in an obsessive manner: there are eight rooms on the ground floor and first floor and there are eight imposing towers, the plan is obviously in an octagonal shape, distributed over each of the eight corners. It is believed that in the interior courtyard there was a pool also in an octagonal shape.
Unesco: Castel del Monte
Thanks a lot Gian Luca and Raffaella!
Date: Dec 31
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