Cultural Sites

The Trani Castle, located on the sea front of the majestic Romanesque cathedral, is one of the most important among those facts built by 'Emperor Frederick II in defense of his beloved United of Sicily. Strategically placed in the middle of a sparse whose shallow waters have always been considered a 'good natural defense of the city against attack from the sea, the castle of Trani was built on the model of the fortifications Crusades in the Holy Land. As for most of the fortifications of Puglia was the first domain of the Angevin and then Aragonese. With the 'evolution of firearms and threats of Turkish raids in the sixteenth century, was a necessary structural adjustment to improve its strategic and defense of the city. Prison until 1974 was

In the campaigns of Andria, nestled on the hill is the famous and legendary Castel del Monte. UNESCO World Heritage since 1996, the castle was built by Frederick II of Swabia around 1240. An essential element in the communication system of 'era, critics have always ruled out a military function for the absence of elements such as the moat and the drawbridge.

The son of Frederick II of Swabia, Manfredi wanted the 'building of this castle in the thirteenth century, at the foot of the Gargano, to defend the city of Manfredonia just created to accommodate residents of nearby Siponto become inhospitable due to the swamps and wars. During the Angevin took the quadrangular and complex installation and then be equipped, during the period aragonse, a second outer wall. Today the castle is home to the 'important National Archaeological Museum, open daily, accessible to wheelchair users full of exhibits illustrating the history of the' old territory Siponto and Gargano. It should be noted, for quality and uniqueness, the exhibition of the stele Daunian: rectangular slabs of limestone depicting

A few kilometers from Lecce, near Vernole, charming and almost unknown, the small village of Acaya is one of the few examples of a fortified city come down to our days almost intact. For Acaya, called in antiquity Segine, Baron Alfonso, recognizing the strategic value of the place, in 1506, he promoted the reconstruction of the castle to protect the village and, after him, his son Gian Giacomo gave the same characters of the ideal city of Cinquecento also redesigning the 'whole development plan and strengthening the military defenses.