Bari Swabian Castle, Bari, Italy

The Castello Svevo or Swabian Castle (Castello normanno-svevo), also known as the Houhenstaufen Castle, is a castle in the Apulian city of Bari.

Probably built in 1132 by Norman King Roger II, it was destroyed in 1156 by king William I of Sicily and rebuilt and reinforced in 1233 by the Holy Roman emperor Fredrick II. During the Angevin domination, it went through several transformation, and after being acquired by Duke Ferdinand of Aragon, was donated to the Sforza family and passed to Bona Sforza, Queen of Poland. After Bona's death, it was returned under the King of Naples and transformed into a prison and barracks.

The castle is surrounded by a moat on all sides, except the northern section, which was bordering the sea and can be accessed from the bridge and the gate on the southern side. It is mainly composed of the Aragon walls and the main Hohenstaufen tower, and is currently used for exhibitions.

According to the tradition, in 1221 Emperor Frederick II met St. Francis of Assisi in this castle. According to tradition, the emperor had a courtesan sent to Francis's room and watched through a peephole to see what would happen. When Francis sent the woman away, Frederick was impressed with his principles; the two spent the rest of the night in conversation. This story is not confirmed beyond doubt, but it is considered believable.

The castle it is currently used for exhibitions.

References:

Wikipedia

User Reviews

davide masi (3 years ago)
Terrible experience. 6 euro to get it and the portion accessible to visitors is minimal. Only a few rooms are open, the wall is not accessible and in the price is not inven included a guided tour. Also, the staff seems to be able to park their cars in the ground of the castle despite there are plenty of spaces in the streets just outside it.....only in Italy

Teodora Perieteanu (3 years ago)
Nice place, worth visiting when in Bari. The castle and the museum are free of charge, you can visit it by booking on the app.

Ahmed Dakroury (3 years ago)
No reception help, I understand it maybe bcuz of the pandemic, but at least leave some helpful notes for tourists! And the app is so user unfriendly.

necrosyther (3 years ago)
Very nice fort/castle. Contained great display halls of historic items. Would have been nice to be able to visit more of the castle and go on the walls. The area's you are able to visit are very limited. Was good for a free thing to do, but if I had paid I'd be unhappy with the amount of castle on show.

Porcu Raffaele (3 years ago)
The Bari castle, very very good! He is a caste with many sculpture and storic object Start at 600 a.c (don't sure). Impressively!

Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings

Photo from Flickr, copyright CONTROTONO

Historic Site of the week

Clementinum

The Clementinum is a historic complex of buildings in Prague. Until recently the complex hosted the National, University and Technical libraries, the City Library also being located nearby on Mariánské Náměstí. The Technical library and the Municipal library have moved to the Prague National Technical Library at Technická 6 since 2009. It is currently in use as the National Library of the Czech Republic.

Its history dates from the existence of a chapel dedicated to Saint Clement in the 11th century. A Dominican monastery was founded in the medieval period, which was transformed in 1556 to a Jesuit college. In 1622 the Jesuits transferred the library of Charles University to the Klementinum, and the college was merged with the University in 1654. The Jesuits remained until 1773, when the Klementinum was established as an observatory, library, and university by the Empress Maria Theresa of Austria.

Bari Swabian Castle

Address

Details

More Information

Rating

Interesting Sites Nearby

User Reviews

Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings

Finest Norman castles in Italy

Exploring the History of Northern Poland

Discovering Slovenia's Historic Wonders

Historic Site of the week

Clementinum