The Crown of Apulien
In the Southeast of Italy, in Apulien, emperor Friedrich the 2nd of Hohenstaufen let the Castel del Monte be constructed. 1240 he gave the order for the construction.
Since then the Castel filled countless people with enthusiasm for centuries and is called the "Crown of Apulien" for a reason.
For which use let he build the Castel del Monte until today stayed controversial and unclear. Is it a castle or a fortress? But it neither has slits nor drawbridges, a moat or postern-gates. Served it for representation? Already the entrance portal and the windows are extremely decorative. Or is it a building with a mysterious symbolism? Intense measurements and esoteric interpretations have adventurous theories about it. For sure the area of eight corners owns an obvious power of symbolism. Octagonal is the outer front, the inner courtyard and the eight towers on the eight corners.
For this octagonal form with its many axises of symmetry there is no obvious model between the earlier fortresses.
It reminds of the octagonal chapel in Aachen, where the coronation of the German king occurred, and of the octagonal Imperial Crown. Should the Castel reflect the ideal of the Empire with that?
But as unique as monument of architecture of the Middle Ages was, it was destructed over the years more and more, and not before the 20th century it was restored again. Since 1996 it is part of the World Cultural Heritage UNESCO.
- scale: 1:250
- measures L 35cm, W 35 cm, H 12 cm
- 6 sheets
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