• City

  Trani

• Province

  Barletta-Andria-Trani

• Adress

  Piazza Re Manfredi, 16, 76125 Trani BT

• Date of construction

  1233

Description

The Castle of Trani is part of an imposing defensive system built by Frederick II of Swabia to protect the Kingdom of Sicily. It rises a short distance away from the famous cathedral, strategically located in the center of a bay, whose shallow waters have always been an excellent natural defense, both from the fury of the waves and from possible enemy attacks.

The Castle of Trani was built on the model of the Crusader castles of the Holy Land, in turn based on the Roman castra, with a quadrangular plan, reinforced at the top by four square towers of equal height. In the 16th century, with the advent of firearms, the castle was adapted with new defensive techniques, after which it was again the subject of adaptation works in the 19th century giving it prison functions. In the seventies it was handed over to the Ministry of Education, today the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities, which oversaw the restoration and the creation of a museum.

The original architectural layout has a quadrangular plan, with four square towers at the top, all equally high. The external face is rusticated; on the three sides that do not overlook the sea we find a wall with three external courtyards, while a moat filled with sea water separates the castle from the mainland. Over time the castle passed into the hands of different dynasties, first the Angevins, then the Aragonese, and then, up to the present day, they became state property. Only between 1385 and 1419 the castle was assigned to the mercenary captain Alberico da Barbiano.

Gallery