Castel del Monte - Andria - Italy - Unesco World Heritage Site | PRIMA.TV - On-line International TV

Castel del Monte (Italian: Castle of the Mount) is a 13th century castle situated in Andria in the Apulia region of southeast Italy. It was built by the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II some time between 1240 and 1250; it has been despoiled of its interior marbles and furnishings in subsequent centuries. It has neither a moat nor a drawbridge and might in fact never have been intended as a defensive fortress.Castel del Monte is situated on a small hill close to the monastery of Santa Maria del Monte, at an altitude of 540 m. It lies in the comune of Andria, occupying the site of an earlier fortress of which no structural remains exist. It was completed in 1240 and was used primarily as a hunting lodge by Frederick until his death in 1250. It was later turned into a prison, used as a refuge during a plague, and finally fell into disrepair. It originally had marble walls and columns, but all were stripped by vandals. [edit]