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From Alberobello we visited the castel Del Monte . Now this was a castlel that looked fantastic from a distance . Norman in character built at the time of the Crusades and the Knights Templars. A castle that said much about religion, war and The Holy Land . This is what we could see. A castle that glinted white in the sunlight., It shone like bare bones stripped naked by the rays of the sun. And it was hot too . It shimmered . A castle that could see from its vantage point on the hilltop for miles and miles and miles. A castle with towers on each corner . You wouldn’t miss much from these battlements.
Castel del Monte the Castle of the Mountain is a 13t
h century citadel and castle situated near to the town of Andria in Apulia. It was constucted during the 1240's by the emporor Frederick II who inherited his land from his mother. In the 18th the castles interior marbles and furnishings were removed . It has neither drawbridge nor moat which is unusual . Apparently it is on the 1 cent euro Italian coin but I dont have any in my purse to check.
We parked up on the sosta cum car park. 7 euros to stay for a few hours or stay for the night. Electricity and water available . I guess when the crowds and there were many had gone home it might be a quiet place to sleep. There was a small shop selling the usual tat and a café and loads of buses. Millions of children on a school trip. The bus trundled in , the children piled off . They milled about in front of us, behind us and at the side of us. Not our idea of heaven. We had paid our 1 euro each for the shuttle bus to the castle 1.4 km distant up a nasty hill. The shuttle bus rolled in ,the children piled on. What about us OAP’s who had paid our hard earned money for the ride to the castle rather than climb up the rambling hillside? . Eventually they did let us on board and the bus trundled us to the castle . I don't think our knees would have survived the long hike up the hill.
It is a fantastic place and truly stunning in
both its setting and the way it has been built . Sion kept saying the Man from Del Monte he say yes and those amongst you of a certain age will understand this advert from the tv. The entrance fee cost us 8 euros each with no reduction for being old farts. Now if you don’t understand that one contact me privately and I will explain.
Inside it was bedlam with children hanging about around the payment kiosk, in the main entrance and in the hallway. We managed to do what we do best and that is push past them . This way we got into each room before they did. The castle inside is circular and each room follows the same pattern as the one previous. Each room are the remains of fireplaces all to the same design. Red porphury stone around the door lintels . Well I think it was porphury I should have taken more notice in my geology lessons at school all those years ago. In each room a big window with gothic arches and a ceiling of stone. On the second floor another circular walk around the interior of the castle . Again each room is the same as the last with the same window,the identical chimney breast,the same doorway and ceiling. There was no decoration other than these in any room.
If you went up you saw the same and if you came down the same but nevertheless it was mighty impressive .
Our stop for the night was a long drive away. We had to get up Italy as we were on mission now as the holiday was slowly coming to an end . Endless motorways with endless rows of traffic. The Adriatic to our right all the way. It looked lovely as we drove along . How we wish we had time to linger longer but sadly our holiday this time is coming to an end. Our stop for the night was going to be if it were open another sosta camper stop in a tiny seaside town on the Adriatic, off the tourist trail and in the middle of nowhere .
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