the octagonal castle
28Aug07
this is castel del monte in puglia, italy and i personally think it’s aesthetically the greatest castle ever built.
due to the lack of a moat it certainly isn’t the best in terms of defenses but this perfectly designed octagonal castle looks incredible.
it was built in 1240 on the orders of emperor frederick II who used the castle as a hunting lodge. the emperor was fascinated by mathematics and astronomy, a result of which can be seen in the design.
there’s a video below of composer philip glass performing in the castle for some reason…
check out the sources below for more detailed info.
Filed under: architecture, bizarre, construction, design, geek, history, interessant, photo, wow | 7 Comments
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Putting a castle on a hill is a pretty decent defense in itself. You can see an enemy approach a long way off, and it’s intimidating, too. But it makes moat-building much more difficult. If i had the choice, I’d take the hill.
why don’t you activate the complete feed, like in the other host?
regards
miss c – good point!
pechisbeque – whoops, i’ve activated the full feed.
I love this site; I can’t get enough. DD, are you single? HA. Just kiddin’.
Well, maybe not.
thanks a lot!
I bet the acoustsics are great in there. The castle doesn’t seem as interesting to me as other hilltop fortresses in Italy – I prefer some asymmetry – but it is awfully impressive!
This castle looks a lot like the monastery described in The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco.