Castello normanno-svevo (Sannicandro di Bari)

On a low spur above the Apulian plain, this Norman-Swabian castle keeps an angular, watchful silhouette. Its irregular polygonal plan encloses a central courtyard, with nine towers set at pragmatic intervals rather than for symmetry. The masonry is workmanlike and sturdy, rising through two storeys; inside, most of the spaces are roofed with barrel vaults, a form favoured in the medieval Mediterranean for its strength and simplicity. Built by the Normans, who adapted local building traditions to their own defensive needs, the fortress later saw modifications under the Swabian Hohenstaufen. It is a place of thick walls and plain surfaces, where function dictated form. The courtyard offers a sense of containment, the towers a sense of surveillance. There is nothing decorative about it, the castle was made to hold ground, and it does.

Description via source. Coordinates and heritage data from the Atika atlas.