CASTEL DEL MONTE
It's a castle situated on an hill in Andria (Apulia). It was built during the 1240s by the Emperor Frederick II
It also appears on the Italian version of the one cent Euro coin
The architecture seems to reflect the position of the sun and the zodiac signs,while the whole construction is a miracolous product of the golden ratio: during winter and summer solstice, the sunrise and sunset trajectory marks a perfect rectangle on Castle's perimeter,whose ratio between its length and width is exactly the Golden number 1,618.
Main entrance
Number 8 the design principle Its design uses an octagonal floor plan flanked by eight towers and eight rooms on the castle’s two floors. In the centre there is an eight-sided courtyard once fitted with an octagonal fountain. The eight towers contain spiral staircases, and nearly all the 16 rooms have intercommunicating doors.
View from the courtyard
Throne room
Fireplace remain
Hints to the Fibonacci sequence Before the crusade, Frederick II founded the University of Naples and met the great matemathician Leonardo Fibonacci, who introduced the Arabic numeral system in Europe. This does not explain the obsessive repetition of the number eight in the construction of Castel del Monte, but it has led the historians to think that the figure 8 is a symbol of infinity and resurrection. They pointed out that shadows in the octagonal courtyard form the Golden ratio used in the Fibonacci sequence.
Frederick II “Stupor Mundi� The holy Roman Emperor Frederick II built many castles in his beloved Puglia, but Castel del Monte is definitely the most famous one.