From the Grottos di Castellana it takes about 1 1/2 hours to drive north to Castel del Monte, the imposing 13th century castle on a hill.
The approach is impressive. Driving through rather flat and unimaginative agricultural land, you unexpectedly see this mysterious structure from the distance rising on top of its hill in this remote area.
It was built in the 1240s in an octagonal layout with eight octagonal towers by the Hohenstaufen Emperor Friedrich II., who loved Apulia. Its purpose is not yet understood; it was possibly a hunting lodge.
After the dramatic long approach, the inside is quite disappointingly bare, all marble and furnishings have been removed in earlier centuries.
Strangely, I found a bit of news on Wikipedia, that a new strain of Streptomyces was found on the castle mount in the 1950s:
In the 1950s, soil around the castle was discovered to contain a bright red compound produced by a strain of the bacterium Streptomyces peucetius. A soil sample was isolated from the area surrounding the Castel del Monte, a 13th-century castle. A new strain of Streptomyces peucetius, which produced a red pigment, was isolated, and an antibiotic from this bacterium was effective against tumors in mice. Scientists named the drug daunorubicin and further development identified a related compound doxorubicin that finds use as a chemotherapeutic agent used to treat cancer. (Wikipedia).
The approach is impressive. Driving through rather flat and unimaginative agricultural land, you unexpectedly see this mysterious structure from the distance rising on top of its hill in this remote area.
It was built in the 1240s in an octagonal layout with eight octagonal towers by the Hohenstaufen Emperor Friedrich II., who loved Apulia. Its purpose is not yet understood; it was possibly a hunting lodge.
After the dramatic long approach, the inside is quite disappointingly bare, all marble and furnishings have been removed in earlier centuries.
Strangely, I found a bit of news on Wikipedia, that a new strain of Streptomyces was found on the castle mount in the 1950s:
In the 1950s, soil around the castle was discovered to contain a bright red compound produced by a strain of the bacterium Streptomyces peucetius. A soil sample was isolated from the area surrounding the Castel del Monte, a 13th-century castle. A new strain of Streptomyces peucetius, which produced a red pigment, was isolated, and an antibiotic from this bacterium was effective against tumors in mice. Scientists named the drug daunorubicin and further development identified a related compound doxorubicin that finds use as a chemotherapeutic agent used to treat cancer. (Wikipedia).
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