Castel del Monte

Castel del Monte – Medieval Architectural Wonder
A medieval castle on the southeastern coast of Italy is famous for its symmetrical repetition of octagonal forms in the citadel’s layout, the towers, and the courtyard. Castel del Monte’s iconic constellation of octagons has been a source of wonder and mystery as experts have struggled to understand the purpose of this monument, starting with the snowflake geometry of the plant layout.
A new study reveals the design provenance, the inspiration, the purpose, the location choice, and the innovative science and technology employed for this one-of-a-kind architectural marvel. From conception to construction, it is a story of fascinating discoveries highlighting the designers’ new vision and the builders’ achievements and shortcomings.
The castle represents a novel solution for securing Gothic vaults, albeit within an octagonal plant. More significantly and concealed in the design is a new approach to defining the structures: It is based on deductive reasoning and mathematically defined dimensions, a glimpse of modern science. Indeed, a surprising discovery is that the plant design is a mathematical algorithm.
The builders laid the designer’s plant layout for the foundation precisely within a fraction of a centimeter, allowing us to decode the plant design process and even follow their thinking. Amazing, we discover the medieval unit of measurement-a slight variant of the Roman foot-inserting the plant dimensions in the plant design algorithm.
The stonework also tells us that the construction was beset by complications found in modern projects: plan changes, cost overruns, and planning shortcomings. A surprising finding is the construction blunder of short columns on the upper floor that was resolved by adding another pedestal camouflaged as bench seats extended around the room.
Castel del Monte is more than a singular octagonal citadel; it is a testimonial of innovative design and construction concepts, a flash of enlightenment in the middle of the “Dark Ages.”