The castle has been built on a hill, in the middle of nowhere. To find the road to nowhere was not so easy, the signposting is a bit scarce, but find it I did. You can see the castle from afar, towering above the endless number of olive trees in the quite lovely environment.

The perfect octagonal shape of the building is its main asset. Among the many comparisons that can be made, the Taj Mahal also sprang to my mind. The special kind of limestone with quartz used here from a distance looks like marble (from which the Taj is made). And the Moghuls had some inspirations in common with Frederick.

I also took a look inside, but there's not much to see anymore. It is hard to picture how people have lived here. From the many stories mystifying this castle, I didn't get the impression that it was used regularly. Probably it was "just" meant as a work of art. And for that the Castel del Monte still is admired, more than 750 years after its construction.