Castel Del Monte – Castles and Cathedrals

The period of Norman rule, and especially the subsequent period characterized by domination sveva and the extraordinary figure of Federico II, they see a strengthening of the role of cities and at the same time a significant development of inland areas. It is structured in this era a new military and defense system, who sees the castles – places generally along the shoreline or on the heights overlooking the territory and cities – such cornerstones of this new territorial organization.

Examples are, and of course to Castel del Monte, of Barletta and Trani Castle, the Bisceglie Castle, Minervino and Canosa. Together with the great fortifications, to represent the most striking image of this city are some of the most beautiful cathedrals of Apulian-Romanesque style, all built between the eleventh and thirteenth centuries, mainly in local stone and the oldest crypts.