Our 2nd land/sea day will be filled with wanderings through the Alta Murgia national park, a massive park that covers over 168,000 acres across the hills, forests and farmland here. After a rather leisurely morning – we slept in a bit because of a stupid bird that sounds just like an alarm chirping at 3am – we strike out on the narrow lanes from the house toward our first destination: Castel del Monte, or Castle on the Mont. A relatively easy drive on empty roads, through farmland full of freshly harvested hay, passing these wild looking beehive shaped huts we think might be for olive harvesting, we arrive at the lower parking lot for the castle (following AllTrails directions) to find we are the first car there. Nice! TIE (Timing is Everything).
Parking paid, we begin our AllTrails Castel del Monte loop hike up the dirt paths that line the road until we reach the trailhead. Figuring we’ll do the hike first, then visit the castle, we follow what looks like the trail but turns out to be another trail which is part of a much longer biking/hiking that takes us away from the castle and down toward Corato and the sea. Hmmm….backtracking while following the AllTrails map, we arrive at the trail turn off shown on their map. Nope. Not happening! That trail totally overgrown and inaccessible, if it even is a trail. It looks like it follows a stone wall through the weeds, but we aren’t going to find out, no way in shorts. No way in long pants really – who knows what is living in those weeds and plants! Fail.
So, Plan B – Castle first. We’ll try to walk down the other side of the trail shown on AllTrails. Good call, as we walk through a very pretty little section of the forest which has an art installations representing fairy tales – like the “flea cave” that represents when Pinocchio ended up in the belly of the whale to save Gepetto and the “Fauna Clearing” that has iron statures of different woodland animals. The last installation is one that represents planets orbiting the earth, in reference to the Emperor Frederick II, who built Castel del Monte, and his interest in astrology and astronomy. Sweet little walk.
The trail ends at the visitor info center and a souvenir stand where the shuttle bus from the lower lot lets off. Ay yi yi! There are loads of people and loads of tours! Eek. We speed walk up to the castle, managing to beat them all, then speed tour through the place. Built in 1266 by the aforementioned Emperor, the castle is a massive octagonal shape with 2 floors, 8 towers and 16 rooms on 2 floors, standing 1800 feet above sea level, and visible from the water. Built from local limestone, the castle has served as a strategic military outpost, a focal point of communications between Frederick’s other castles, a prison for “illustrious” prisoners as well as a residence for the royals. Unfortunately, as is the case with many of these edifices, the interior has been looted over the centuries, leaving only a fraction of its decorations and marble and mosaic floors. It is a gorgeous structure, nonetheless, and even on a speed tour, totally impressive and amazing.
We start in the courtyard, awash in grandeur and limestone – then make our way around the ground floor with different exhibits and explanations.
Moving up the spiral staircase to the first level, we meander about all the different rooms, perusing the signage, learning about the different keystones that sit in the center of the cross vaults. And take loads of pictures of stunning views across the countryside and what is left of the decorations and stonework.
Next we visit the upper level which is brighter due to all the windows that look out across the countryside as well as down into the courtyard. Here there are more stunning views, as well as multiple fireplaces (or at least the carvings where the fireplaces once stood, and information on the “spoilation” of the castle (love the translations!). It is here we learn that many marble columns were taken from this castle to decorate the Royal Palace of Caserta, which we will be visiting in a few days. So the royals looted each other – even when they were on the same side? Who knew?
You can see the remains of the Coral breccia marble used for the door jambs and fireplaces up here too. As well as all the jambs and frames that have been stripped of their marble – either by royal looting or others. And finally finishing in the last spiral staircase with the keystones of men’s heads – who they were, we’ll never know, but they are still intact and incredible to see.
Great visit. Admittedly, we missed some focal points because we were just trying to stay ahead of the throngs, but that was well worth it to have the castle virtually to ourselves for the whole time we were there. Because back outside? The groups are descending. Oh my! TIE – tons of school groups, organized tours, random people – we had the place to ourselves, now it is teeming. Time to skedaddle – but not before taking more and more great photos of the incredible castle structure sitting so majestically up here on the “Monte.”
A quick bathroom stop later, we are making our way back down the clogged entrance pathway, getting almost knocked over by a huge woman who is part of a group that spans the entire wide walkway. There’s a wall here lady – it was you or the wall. Guess who I’m choosing! At least the castle views were nice, if the people weren’t. LOL.
We are still interested in hiking down the hill, but once again, the trail that is listed in AllTrails looks a little overgrown and sketchy to us so we demur, reversing our walk through the fairy tale woods, then down the road to the parking lot…..which is now jam packed with 30+ buses and about 40 cars! Wow! We timed this whole visit absolutely right.
Andiamo 