Altamura Castle

About

Altamura Castle (Italian: Castello di Altamura) was a castle located in the city of Altamura, now completely demolished. It was located over today's piazza Matteotti and a few remains of it are still visible inside the adjacent buildings, which were built partly with stones and structural elements from the castle. In a warehouse are an ogival arch and some stone coats of arms. A few other remains are found in the adjacent buildings, which were built in the 19th century. The square on which stood the castle was previously named piazza Castello (which means 'Castle square'). In Altamura dialect, the square is called u cuastidde (/u kwa'stɪdːᵊ/), which means 'the castle'.

History: The castle was probably built before Altamura was founded by king Frederick II (1243) and it was probably the seat of the feudal lord governing the nearby cluster of villages. Those villages were then displaced into the city right after the city was founded (1243). The proof that the castle was built before lies in some remains of the castle, that were visible until the demolition; Domenico Santoro (1688) wrote that there were insignia of Norman kings near the windows of the castle's church. The castle...