Castel del Monte on the map. Del Monte Castle (Castel Del Monte)

Castel del Monte or "Mountain Castle" is one of the most mysterious attractions of the city of Terra di Bari (Land Bari), located in the Apulia region. In ancient times, the castle wore another name - Castrum Sante Maria Del Monte. This is due to the fact that he stood on the spot where he was a monastery of St. Mary on Mountain. In the middle of the XIII century, the monastery was completely destroyed, and in his place it was decided to build a beautiful castle.

Soon, the Emperor of the Roman Empire of Friedrich II gave an order for the construction, which continued for ten years. In 1250. majestic building It was completed, but the interior decoration of the castle continued.

Castell del Monte has the right octagonal shape. The angles are installed octagonal turrets. In the height of Monte Castle reaches 25 meters, the length of its walls is 16.5 meters, and the width of the tower walls is 3.1 meters. The entrance to the building is located on the east side and there is also a spare entrance to west. A distinctive feature of this castle is the opposition of one of the sides of the main building with two sides of one of the side towers.

It is important to say that in fact the castle of Monte is not quite a castle, since he has no lifting bridge, RVA and shafts. In addition, there are no such fitness of the room as kitchen, warehouse and stable. Given this, it can be said that the building is more like a two-storey mansion, which was considered anything other than the hunting residence of Emperor Friedrich II. However, the interior of the structure is so elegant and beautiful that some scientists still cannot decide on the purpose of this construction, since it looked very rich for a hunting house.

Inside Castel Del Monte has 16 different rooms, eight on the floor. In the angular towers there are wine ladders, wardrobes and toilets. Very curious is the location of the rooms: the passing halls have 2 or 3 outputs, in two rooms on the first floor there is no exit to the courtyard, and in four rooms installed on one door. The method of illumination of the castle premises is also rather unusual. The rooms on the first floor are illuminated only in the summer, and the rooms on the second floor - year-round twice a day illuminates the sunlight.

With the castle Castel del Monte is associated with a large number of mysteries and secrets. Many scientists believe that the building was a kind of astronomical device. The second floor was something like sunny hours, and the first one played the role of the calendar, evenly covered by winter and summer sun. However, this is nothing more than the assumption of scientists. The mystery of this castle, which people called the "Crown of Apulia" and remains unsolved.

Address, opening hours, how to get there

• Castel Del Monte
• The address: Castel Del Monte, SS170Dir, 76121 Andria Bt, Italy
123 4567
• Coordinates: 41.084292 , 16.271342
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Majestic Castel Del Monte (Castel Del Monte) is one of the most famous sights. italian region Apulia. Moreover, it will not be an exaggeration and a statement that it is one of the most mysterious castles in the world.

Unlike other mystical seats, amazing castle Not hidden from curious eyes over the mountains and forests. On the contrary, he is noticeable from afar. You are going on the freeway and you see, here he, handsome, rises on top of the hill. And it does not matter that the name of the structure is translated as "Castle on Mount", literally perceive the name of Castel del Monte is capable only one who has not seen the real mountains in life. Built on the castle at the very place where Mary del Monte monastery was located until the thirteenth century, from here and the first name of the structure, which today few people remember - Castrum Sancta Maria de Monte.

In the photo: View of Castell del Monte

Today, a folk crowd does not run out to Castel del Monte. For this, thanks to the magical world of cinema and Italian director Matteo Garrone in particular, because it was in the unusual halls of this monumental structure that he settled the characters - the king, which rubbed Bloch, and the princess that the eccentric dad was married to the cannient. What is curious, until the twentieth century, the castle was in an abandoned state, and the shepherds spent the night. Today architectural constructions It is on the care of UNESCO, as a result, it was laundered and put in order, only the interior decoration of the halls was not preserved - the same Matteo Garrone had to hastily fill the space of the premises brought into the castle requisite.

In the photo: Filming "Scary Fairy Tales"

Garrone chose Castell del Monte to film the fairy tales of Naples Jambattists Basil for no accident, because the place is mysterious to the impossibility. Although located in 16 kilometers from the city of Andria Castell del Monte and wears the honorary title of one of the most famous medieval castles In the world, in its essence, he is not.

Frame from the film "Terrible fairy tales", Princess and King on the roof of the castle

The fact is that in understanding the normal person of the Middle Ages, the castle could be built only for one of the two goals. The goal is the first, it is the main - defense and control of the terrain. In this case, one or another Senor erected a small fortress, as a rule, on the top of the mountain, helped to reflect the attacks of the enemy, and at the same time, and generally influence the situation in the area. The second task is a fortified place to stay. Sometimes the locks grow up to the sizes of cities, take, for example, and their powerful walls again allowed to restrain the hordes of enemies.

But the Castel del Monte for defense is not intended at all. Where are the fortress walls and ditch with water? Where at least some decent protective fortifications? For life, this place also seems unsuitable. Of course, another Walter Scott in his "Ivanho" wrote that the concepts of "comfort" in the Middle Ages did not exist, but this castle and on medieval standards were far from the dwelling senior. Well, that all the halls inside are connected to each other, but most importantly, there is no place for the stable and there is no kitchen. So, most of all the lock is similar to a sort of ancient art object, built ideas for, similar houses sometimes design modern architects who have received an absolute card blanche for the implementation of their creative designs in a compartment with an unlimited budget.

This association is very relevant, if you know about who built Castell del Monte. I built a castle on the mountain itself Emperor Friedrich II Staufen - the legendary person in all respects. He not only managed to win the title of Emperor of the Sacred Roman Empire from competitors and head the sixth crusade, but also was considered one of the most educated people of his time. Knew Greek, Latin and arabic languages, I founded the university in Naples, where not only Christians were taught, but the Jews with Arabs, and this, by the way, the top of the tolerance for medieval standards. From the Christian prejudices, Friedrich II as a whole was very far, here are the indicative examples: the emperor insisted that the physicians study the anatomy on the corpses, and Friedrich treated the warmth to Fibonacci and even satisfied mathematical tournaments.

In the photo: Engraving with the image of Friedrich II

He had an emperor and a tendency to the writer: his peru is attributed to an essay of a falcon hunt, and in his yard he created the Sicilian school of poetry. At the same time, like all progressive people of their time, Friedrich II was a fan of a wide variety of mystical teachings, studied astronomy and astrology. With the personal life of the emperor, too, everything was interesting, he earned a reputation as a blue beard, because he was married four times, however, his last marriage with the permanent mistress Bianca Lunchia did not recognize the church. Children Friedrich II finished the great set - 20 legitimate, bastards for obvious reasons no one scrupulously calculated.

Castell del Monte Friedrich II built from 1240 to 1250, that is, in the last decade of his life. The name of the architect is unknown, but many historians do not believe without reason that they were the emperor himself - the intricate design turned out to be in the end. The fact is that, like many medieval mystics, Friedrich was obsessed with a number eight, which symbolizes infinity, and it can be traced in the lock structure constantly.

Start standing with the fact that the castle, if you look at it from above, is the right octagon, and an octagonal tower is erected on every corner of the building. The inner courtyard of the castle with its form also repeats the octagon. In the castle there are only two floors, the roof is flat, and the main entrance to Castel del Monte looks strictly to the east, because, as they thought to the Middle Ages, the benefit of the news came to us from the east.

In the photo: windows overlooking the courtyard of the castle

On each floor of the castle - 8 rooms, all of them are connected to each other, so that Castell del Monte can be easily bypass around the perimeter. The rooms are made in the form of trapez, and the windows are burned in the walls. Toilets, wardrobes and screw staircases are located in angular turrets. With stairs, by the way, in the castle, a separate story - usually in all the locks they are "spinning" to the right, as it is optimal for the defense of the object, but in the Castell del Monte them, on the contrary, "wrapped" to the left, that is, as it makes them Nature, because it is left to the left of the shells of mollusks or a snail shells.

In the photo: Stairs in Castel del Monte

All castle rooms are absolutely the same, the rooms differ from each other only by the location of the doors and the number of windows. The elements of the decor again dominates the number eight: on the capitals of the columns - on eight leaves, on bas-reliefs in the rooms - eight leaves or colors of clover.

Still from entertaining, in the second floor windows twice a day are falling straight rays of sunlight (with the first floor this rule only works in the summer), so many suggest that the mysterious castle is nothing but huge sundialAnd at the same time an astronomical device. In addition, twice a year during the summer and winter solstice, sunlight is evenly distributed between all the rooms of the first floor. This, of course, is also no coincidence, here are many historians and suggest that the first floor of Castell del Monte is a peculiar analogue of the solar calendar.

Here it would be possible to calm down, but here you have another adulter reason for reflection - twice a year, April 8 and October 8, the sun's rays pass through the windows of the castle in the courtyard in such a way that they fall strictly to that part of the wall, where in the days of Friedrich II was cut out some bas-relief, now lost. Well, and that everything becomes quite difficult, it is worth remembering that October in the thirteenth century was considered the eighth month of the year.

Friedrich II died, not having time to finish the construction of the castle, - the building of Castell del Monte was completed, but interior decoration I did not finish the end. After the death of the emperor in Europe, there were legends that Friedrich did not die, but disappeared in an unknown direction in order to reform the church and establish the universal fraternity and peace. This sees a certain symbolism, because the octagon, repeated in the structure of Castel del Monte, symbolized the transition from the world of living in the kingdom of the dead, and at the same time the union of the sky from the ground.

Everything is very simple - the square was considered a symbol of the Earth, the circle is the symbol of the sky, and the octagon is an intermediate figure, which denoted as unity and the transition. However, the scientists are far from mysticism believe that the repeated use of the octagon is simply sending to the dome of the rocks in Jerusalem, because the dome over the cornerstone of Friedrich II saw during his crusade.

Encrypted in Castel del Monte and biblical symbolism. The fact is that in the castle exactly five waterborns and five fireplaces, many are associated with the phrase of the Baptist of John from the Gospel of Luke: "I am baptized in water into repentance, but going for me stronger than me; I am not worthy to incur shoes it; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and Fire. " So, it is easy to assume that Castel del Monte was for Friedrich II an analogue of the temple, erected by his personal project, and this fully corresponds to the ambitions of the emperor.

By the way, this hypothesis confirms another curious detail. If you carefully look at the entrance to the castle, then you can see an encrypted giant letter F. Be inside the Tomb of Friedrich II - Associations with Pyramids would be inevitable, and so Castell Del Monte seems to be a kind of personal portal of the emperor, erected by his plan and in his honour. At least when you stand in the courtyard of the castle and, crumpled, look at the sky, sharpened in the octagon of powerful, isolated from the limestone of the walls, the feeling of involvement in the medieval magical tradition occurs even in the most accurate materialists. Yes, and the energy of this place is special, in the style of the most "terrible fairy tales" Matteo Garron.

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Castel del Monte is one of the most famous and at the same time the most mysterious castles in the world. It stands on a high hill near the city of Andria and literally reigns over the surrounding landscape. It is from such a location and the name of the fortress occurs, which can be translated from Italian, like "Castle on Mount" or Nagorno Castle. BUT local residents Proudly refer to his Crown Puglia, which means "Corona of Apulia", indeed, from afar, the castle is very reminded by the crown.

According to historical documents, the construction, now called the Nagorno-castle, was founded on the order of the Emperor Friedrich II Gogenstaofen in 1240. Emperor Heinrich was one of the most mysterious figures of the Middle Ages. Unlike many of his predecessors and heirs, he was perfectly educated and all his life was more fond of sciences than the root matter or state affairs.

The emperor was very friendly with Heinrich Background, the Grand Master of the Teutonic Order, and they say, reached the highest degrees of initiation. In particular, there is information that in 1228, Friedrich II presided over the secret "round table", whose participants were representatives of all the largest knightly orders of that era, including Islamic. What secrets were discussed at this meeting, it remains only to guess.

Anyway, Castel del Monte, how can not be better answered the tastes of this strange monarch. The construction is not too much like a traditional castle. For example, it does not have a moat, protective shaft and lifting bridge. It seems that the castle was built with somewhat different than defensive, goals. In addition, in the plan, it is the right octahedron, which is also uncharacteristic for the lock architecture not only of that time, but also the lock architecture in general. In the form of an oct often built cult structuresbut not the military.

Official historical sources claim that the Nagorny Castle served the Emperor with a hunting residence, however, it hardly believed in it. There are no big stables in the castle, no places where it could be stored, and the interior had once dried up in luxury, which had nothing to do with the traditional decoration of hunting houses, even imperial.

Light gray limestone served for the castle building material, and all the door and window openings are lined with a marble-like marble. The main entrance to the citadel was an oriental portal, but there was also the second cut in the opposite western wall.

From afar Castel del Monte looks like a single gray monolith, since in each of the eight walls of the castle is only two windows that look disproportionately small for such bulk. On the first floor, window openings have the form of a single arch, and on the second - double. The widest window with as many as three arches is located on the second floor of the northern wall.

The deaf, who do not have neither windows, no doors, the tower of the castle were previously served by economic premises, they had a screw staircases, as well as restrooms, dressing rooms and storage rooms. All the halls of the inner premises have the same shape and differ from each other only the location of the doorways, forming a kind of labyrinth, the way out of which is not easy to find.

Scientists are still arguing with such an unusual layout, and for which it is necessary to confuse the visitors of this geometrically impeccable structure. Many researchers tend to think that Castel Del Monte was a kind of scientific temple, where each detail carried a deep philosophical meaning.

For example, the locking stairs of the lock are not rooted, as required by the rules for doing the battle, and to the left, like sink at the snail.

In addition, the external two-story building, as often happens, it is only the vertex of iceberg. Traditions say that there existed in the castle extensive network Dungeons where multi-kilometer underground strokes associated Castel del Monte with neighboring cities and even very remote locks.

Castel Del Monte is the only European castle built in the form of an oct. The same form in the plan has its eight towers. In the courtyard, of course, also octagonal, the octagonal pool was once located. It was carved from marble monolith and presumably served for the so-called "baptism in wisdom" - the rite common in the Templars. (By the way, by an unexplained reason, the architect of the castle committed suicide with himself, to spout the veins in this pool).

Total in the castle 16 halls, 8 on each floor. All decoration of the walls, the number of eight - 8 leaves of Akant to the capitals of each column, 8 four-lines in tympany are carried out. In general, this number here is represented everywhere in countless options and combinations.

Where did such love for the eight come from? In numerology, this number on the one hand is associated with infinity, and on the other - serves as a kind of mediator between the earth and heavenly world. This is a key number of cosmic laws. In Christianity, the number 8 is associated with the Second Coming of Christ, which is often referred to as the eighth day of creation. That is why baptized fonts often have an octagonal form. Also, the octagon is a symbol of a labyrinth, which means that the eternal travel of a person from birth to death.

But this is not all oddities. There is a very convincing hypothesis that Castel Del Monte could be a kind of astronomical laboratory. Strict orientation on the sides of the light and clearly adjusted the location of the windows give a very interesting game of light and shadow, which is especially noticeable in the days of autumn and spring equinox.

On September 23 and March 20, the shadow of the castle from 11 to 13 hours is located exactly at an angle of 45 degrees to the walls, and on December 22 and June 22 (in the days of solstice) the walls are cast a smooth rectangular shadow. At the same time, the castle itself is strictly in the center of the perfect rectangle.

In all the premises of the second floor, the sun penetrates twice a day, and on the first floor only in the summer. But on the days of solvent, all the halls of the lower floor of the castle are illuminated equally in time and intensity. Thus, it can be said that the first floor is an improvised calendar, and the second is a kind of sunny clock.

After the opening of these amazing patterns, scientists came to the conclusion that Castell del Monte embodies deep sacred knowledge. In favor of this hypothesis, another fact says - there are almost no large fireplaces in the castle, designed for heating rooms or cooking, but in abundance there are small, suitable, except for magic rites and alchemical experiments.

However, after the death of the Emperor Friedrich II, Nagorno Castle rarely visited with vengeial specials. From time to time it was used as a place of weddings and other celebrations. By the XVII century, the castle turned out to be in complete launch, was plundered, and then turned into prison. Only in 1876, he moved to the property of the Italian state, after which his long restoration began. At the beginning of the twentieth century, Castell del Monte was opened for tourists.

With its unusual architecture, the castle attracts many people of art, in particular, it is his strange internal planning that served as the basis for creating the mysterious hall of the monastery library in the famous film "Rose Name".

Since 1996, the castle has been enrolled in the list of world objects cultural heritage UNESCO. But even now, turning into one of the most popular attractions. southern Italy, Castel del Monte is not in a hurry to openly open all its secrets. It remains to hope that one day there is that scientist who will be able to link together all the oddities and the patterns of architecture of this mysterious citadel and, finally, to solve her true destination.

Castel-del Monte castle that translated from Italian means "Mountain Castle", is located in the province of Bari, the Italian region of Apulia. Sometimes the castle is called "Crown of Apulia". This is one of the significant and most famous castle structures of the time of the rule of Emperor Friedrich II. At the end of the XX century, he was recognized as a monument World Heritage UNESCO.

The history of the creation of the castle is shut-off the curtain of the mystery. Erected between 1240 and 1250, the "Mountain Castle" is the central object of the narration of a plurality of legends and myths concerning the causes of the construction of such an unusual structure that are still unknown.

The twenty-five-meter walls of the castle build the right octagon, in each corner of which there is a tower, which is above the walls exactly one meter. Interestingly, the towers also have the form of the right octagon, and the central portal of the structure is directed strictly east.

In contrast to protective and defensive structures of those times, in Castel-del Monte there is no artificial ditch, a bulk shaft and a suspended bridge, and the screw staircases inside the lock are not revealed, as they are taken in all buildings of this type, and to the left, by analogy with nature which all twists this way, whether it is a snail shell or a funnel in a reservoir. The windows in the towers are located in such a way that the rays of the sun, passing through them, turn the castle into a huge sundial, calendar or some other astronomical device, the purpose of which remains a mystery today.

Castell del Monte is a rather mysterious structure, the true purpose of which is not known now to anyone. What is this castle without a RVA and shaft, without a bridge and premises for storing stocks in case of siege, without a kitchen and stables, but with a portal resembling church?

This is one of the most prominent castles of the Emperor Friedrich II. Another name of the castle is the "Corona of Apulia".

Castell del Monte is located in Apulia 16 km from the city of Andria, in the place called Terra Di Bari at a low hill near the Santa Maria Del Monte monastery at an altitude of 540 m above sea level. It is believed that the castle was built on the site of an ancient fortress, from which, however, no traces were preserved.


The construction of the castle is mentioned only in one document that came to the present day. It is dated on January 29, 1240 and it states that the Emperor of the Sacred Roman Empire of Friedrich II Staufen (it. Friedrich II Von Hohenstaufen) orders the governor and Richard de Montefuscolo judge to buy lime, stone and everything you need ...
However, then from the document it is not entirely clear what is meant - the beginning of construction or some finish work. In favor latest version Says another document released in 1241-1246. - Statutum de Repaire Castrorum (a list of fortifications that require fixing). In it, Castell del Monte is indicated as the already built castle.


Unfortunately, no reliable evidence was preserved that Friedrich II ever rested in the castle or used it as a hunting residence.
The emperor was one of the most educated people of his time, knew Greek, Arabic and Latin. At the courtyard of Friedrich, mathematical competitions were arranged, in which Fibonacci took part, which perhaps to some extent influenced the strict architectural forms of Castell del Monte.

In 1250, Friedrich II dies and the castle passes to his sons.
In 1266, after the son of Friedrich Manfred lost in the struggle for the throne of Sicily and Naples and died, young children Manfred - Friedrich, Heinrich and Enzo - were sharpened in the castle the winner of this confrontation by Carl Anzhuy for many 33 years.
Subsequently, the castle was almost abandoned and only occasionally was used as a place for holding wedding ceremonies.
In the middle of the XVII century, Castell del Monte served as a shelter for noble families who found the salvation from the plague here.

In Castel Del Monte two floors with a flat roof. Outside the castle is the right octagon, whose side is 16.5 meters. At every corner of the building there is an octagonal tower. Strictly in the middle of heights around the perimeter passes a small cornice that shares the floors from each other. The second cornice separates the base of the building and passes at an altitude of about 2 meters. The courtyard is also the right octagon, the height of the walls of which, counting from the surface of the courtyard, is 20.5 meters, the height of the angular towers is slightly more.


Each corner is wary of the octagonal tower, the courtyard, also has eight corners. The whole architectural idea is closely related to the figure of eight, which in numerology is considered a symbol of infinity and peace, occupies a mediation position between the world of the Earth and the sky. It makes it possible to think about the special purpose of the castle, perhaps he was an observatory of medieval times, perhaps he was engaged in alchemy or occult.

Panorama of the courtyard Castell del Monte

The main entrance is facing strictly east. From the opposite, the western side is the second entrance. The entire building is built from polished limestone, and the framework of windows, columns and portals - from marble. Each side of the outer wall has two windows - one single-line on the first floor and another two-year-old on the second floor. Only a window coming to the north, on the second floor has three arches.

Three outlets on the first floor lead to the courtyard. In addition, there are also three doors on the second floor, which led to a wooden balcony, unfortunately, unaccling to our times. Also in the walls there are other small windows, thanks to which the light penetrates each room through the inner and outer walls.

The inner premises of the castle are 16 correct trapeats, and are located eight on the first and second floors. Wardrobe, toilets and screw staircases are in angular turrets. It is noteworthy that the screw staircases are tightened, as a rule, to the right, as it is necessary for the defense of the building. Here, on the contrary, the screw staircases are tightened to the left, as if repeating the shape of the snail shell.

All rooms of both floors have the same shape, but they differ in the location of the doors. Two rooms located on the first floor are connected to the street oriental and western portals, but they do not have access to the courtyard of the fortress, but are connected to other halls. Halls having several doors are called passing.

Also in the fortress there are four end halls two on the first and second floors having only one door. In each end, there is a fireplace and an entrance to the toilet, which is located in the adjacent tower. Restrooms are always well ventilated through the holes in the walls and washed with water from the tanks, which were installed on the roof of the castle. One of the final halls on the second floor is called throne hall. The window in it is east and is located above the main portal. In this room there is no fireplace and passage to the toilet.
At the same time, there are no bedrooms in the castle, no residential rooms, no kitchen, no services for servants.

In the premises of the second floor, the sunlight directly penetrates twice a day. round yearAnd in the first floor room, the straight sun rays penetrate only in the summer. Thus, the upper part of the fortress is a huge sundial. Two days a year - during the summer and winter solvent, the sun rays are evenly distributed between all the rooms on the first floor.
Thus, the first floor could serve the inhabitants of the castle as a calendar, and all the construction can be considered as an extraordinary astronomical device.




In 1876, the Castle bought a state, he was renovated and put in order. In 1996, Castel del Monte was introduced by UNESCO to the World Heritage List.
And now, every wishes can admire the Castel del Monte, a castle similar in shape on the crown, in which Friedrich II was crowned and in an absolutely strategically disadvantageous position among the open space.