Duration: 5 Hours
Best seen as a 5-hour tour experience from Bari or Trani with your private driver and local guide, other starting locations can be considered, please contact us to enquire. Your driver will pick you up at your hotel, and along with your local expert English speaking guide you head to the impressive Castel del Monte. In 1996 UNESCO added the castle to its world heritage sites. It is one of the best-preserved medieval castles in Southern Italy.
The Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II built many castles in his beloved Puglia, but this one is the most famous one. Driving through the Apulian countryside with its old olive trees and vineyards we will pass the outskirts of Andria and finally reach the hill where Castel del Monte is situated, which is visible from miles away.
Your guide will then walk you inside the eight interconnected chambers of each one of the 2 stories; from the terraces one can see miles away, easy to understand why it was such a great strategic advantage during the Middle Ages, as you could see enemies approaching from all sides.
Learn of the many legends based on the castle’s features having to do with the number 8 including, an octagonal shape, an octagonal courtyard, 8 octagonal towers, 8 rooms at the ground floor and 8 rooms at the first floor. The shape, however, doesn’t make it look like a castle, as it lacks the original elements that are necessary for proper defense: it has no ditches, no drawbridge, no basement, but very large, marble-covered rooms, worthy of a lavish royal residence…
Inclusions:
- Private local expert English speaking guide & all transportation
