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 (4 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 (4 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 (4 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 (4 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 (4 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!

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