Castle of Barletta

History

Hypotheses on the origin of the first nucleus of the present castle attest to its origins between 1046 and 1050 by the Normans and are based on the custom, typical of this people, of fortifying the lands close to those to be conquered by providing them with towers, in view of the subsequent occupation of the neighboring territory. For this reason Count Peter the Norman in view of a later attack on the city of Trani, held strenuously until 1054, under Byzantine rule, took possession of the undefended lands of Barletta, erecting a fortress for defensive purposes in the southeastern area of the present building. In those same years he had the first town wall built, within which the settlement was divided into the two nuclei of Santa Maria, near the castle and the ancient mother church, and San Giacomo, to the west around the church of the same name.

The handover between the Norman count and his son Peter II, which took place in 1067, and the ensuing wars of succession to power involving the Hauteville family of Sicily, made Apulia an open field of war, and brought the territory of Barletta under the power of William I of Sicily, who succeeded his father in 1154, his elder brothers having died. Following the destruction of Bari, William, between 1156 and 1162, enlarged the castle's edifice, building two more towers, connected by a simple wall, to which a fourth was later added on the southwestern side, thus constituting a pseudo-trapezoidal layout fortress. In 1172 William II, son of William I, on his return from Taranto and on his way on pilgrimage to the sanctuary of Monte Sant'Angelo, stayed in the castle of Barletta, making substantial donations in favor of the Barletta clergy.

Of the Norman period, which ended with the death of Tancred, cousin of William II, in 1194, only the southeast tower of the castle remained, severed in height and incorporated during the 16th-century interventions in the southern curtain of the Spanish structure. The profound restoration of the castle that took place in the 1980s, given the direct inaccessibility of the tower, allowed its internal visibility through the recovery of a hole on the ground floor protected by a metal grating. …

Description

The castle is located in the square of the same name within the Santa Maria district, northeast of the city. It is a strategic point in city life, as well as a strong urban core: in fact, the urban fabric of Barletta developed from the dual ecclesiastical and military polarity given by the proximity of the cathedral of Santa Maria Maggiore and the castle.

The dimensions of the outer sides of the castle, measured at the base of the frame of the corner bastions, are variable, with the east front, the longest of all, being about 127 meters long, the west front, shorter by three meters, and the south and north ones, both about 120 meters long. The diagonal between the tips of the ramparts measures about 125 meters, within which there are two tiers of superimposed casemates with a diameter of 16 meters. The height of the west front, the tallest one given the presence of the bomb disposal laboratory building, corresponds to about 24 meters while the north front, the shortest, has a maximum height of 19 meters. The walls of the castle vary in thickness from 5 to 12 meters and are built of limestone cut into squared and barely rusticated blocks, much of which was taken from buildings destroyed during the sack of 1528.

It is surrounded by the gardens, named after the Cervi brothers, on all sides except the north front, and is separated from them by the wide and deep moat, which at its lowest point reaches ten meters in depth from the floor level of the castle access bridge. The building possesses a polar layout of a quadrangular shape, with the characteristic pentagonal lance-shaped ramparts at the four corners and the four arms of the building joining them together. In the middle is the square courtyard. …

The castle in mass culture

The castle has been lent several times to cinematography for the making of a number of films, including:

The Gospel According to St. Matthew (1964) by Pier Paolo Pasolini;

Otello (1986) by Franco Zeffirelli;

The Knights of the Quest (2001) by Pupi Avati.

Since 1992, the municipal library, named after Sabino Loffredo, has been located in the southeastern wing of the castle of Barletta, in many of the rooms that were once home to the Frederician domus. It is accessed from the courtyard, descending a flight of stairs that covers a difference in height of about one meter.

The castle and moat to the north are home to large and small cultural events, lectures and musical concerts. Notable events include the annual Novello al Castello food and wine festival, with seminars and lectures on the local wine industry, and the contemporary art exhibition "Intramoenia Extra art," held as a one-time event from May 16 to August 30, 2009.