Castel del Monte

Castel del Monte is a spectacular perfectly symmetrical octagonal castle with octagonal towers at each of its eight corners. It is not the shape that is singular since many octagonal buildings date from late Roman times - ex. the interior of Charlemagne's chapel at Aachen, Germany is octagonal. Castel del Monte is an intricate elaboration of eight sided shapes multiplied in astonishing precision. It was built in the 13th century by Frederick II (1194-1250), the last Hohenstaufen Holy Roman Emperor and the most learned ruler of his time, who contributed to the design of many buildings.

The building draws on Gothic, Norman, Greek and Byzantine ideas, as one might expect, but also on the most powerful thinking about design and mathematics in the Islamic world. The ground plan perfectly illustrates all possible forms of an eight sided polygon; four symmetrical axis, simple octagon, eight-pointed star formed by two intersecting squares and the pointed star polygon, universally known as the Islamic eight-pointed star.

Castel del Monte
Located 18 km south of Àndria in Puglia.
Open: 9 am to 2 pm and 3:30 pm to 6 pm.