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Il Castello Svevo

Il Castello Svevo di Bari, con la sua poderosa e severa mole, sorge all’estremo margine della città vecchia, dove un tempo fungeva da perno dell’antica cinta muraria.

Bari, Castello Svevo (foto di Carlo Dani – Opera propria, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=77189036)

Il castello di Bari è un maniero che, come in un gioco di scatole cinesi, ne contiene al suo interno almeno altri due. Evidenze archeologiche hanno infatti mostrato la presenza di strutture difensive di epoca romana, sui cui resti fu edificato un kastron bizantino e altri edifici con funzioni abitative. In questo sito fu Ruggero II di Sicilia, nel 1130, ad ordinare a maestranze saracene di innalzare il castello. I baresi non amarano mai questo luogo, simbolo così evidente del potere regio, ed infatti, più volte, fu demolito dalla popolazione nel corso dei secoli. Con l’arrivo degli Svevi, e con la politica di incastellamento voluta dall’imperatore Federico II, nella prima metà del XIII secolo, fu recuperato l’impianto difensivo normanno, gravemente danneggiato nel corso delle ribellioni popolari del secolo precedente. Il possente quadrilatero, a pianta trapezioidale munito di torri angolari realizzate a bugne, fu ingentilito da monofore e bifore e da un meraviglioso portale di gusto gotico-federiciano, scolpito con figure antromorfe e zoomorfe, motivi mitologici e simboli chiaramente araldici, ispirati all’iconografia imperiale. Sul concio della chiave di volta campeggia un’aquila che serra tra i suoi artigli un leoncino, simbolo ricorrente nell’architettura federiciana.

A questa stessa epoca e sensibilità estetica, risale anche il vestibolo, cui si accede superato il portale. Questo ambiente presenta una copertura con volte a crociera, sorrette da colonne e paraste dai capitelli finemente scolpiti: un mondo di pietra in cui il naturalismo gotico federiciano convive con suggestioni islamiche. È noto che tra le maestranze al servizio dell’imperatore ci fossero molti artisti, artigiani e scalpellini arabi. Proprio nel castello barese, a testimonianza del melting-pot culturale promosso dal sovrano svevo, lavorò, insieme ai lapicidi Finarro di Canosa e Mele da Stignano, un certo Ismael, che ha lasciato la sua firma su uno dei capitelli.

Agli Svevi succedettero gli Angioini che vollero restaurare la zona nord del castello e le sale di rappresentanza, nonostante ciò i nuovi sovrani non soggiornarono mai in questa dimora, che rimase abbandonata sino all’arrivo, nel 1524, di Isabella Sforza e sua figlia Bona. Sono loro le vere signore del castello, che ne fecero una lussuosa dimora rinascimentale, circondata da una rinnovata cinta muraria. All’interno, loggiati, scale, saloni e affreschi abbellirono la severa struttura fortilizia. Con la morte di Bona Sforza, il castello di Bari non ha più conosciuto fasi di splendore, ma fu lasciato cadere in rovina.

Il castello Svevo non è solo un edificio dal grande pregio storico e architettonico, ma tra le sue antiche mura riecheggiano ancora le storie legate a un leggendario incontro tra San Francesco e Federico II. Non suffragato da alcun documento, è infatti l’episodio che racconta di come, proprio nelle stanze del maschio barese, l’imperatore Federico II sottopose il poverello d’Assisi alla prova della tentazione della carne.

The Castello Svevo (Norman-Swabian Castle)

The Castello Svevo of Bari, with its imposing and austere bulk, rises on the extreme edge of the old town, where once acted as the pivot of the ancient city walls.

Bari, Castello Svevo

(Carlo Dani – Opera propria, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=77189036)

The castle of Bari contains at least two more castles, as in a Chinese box game. In fact, archaeological evidence has shown the presence of Roman defensive structures, on whose remains a Byzantine kastron and other dwellings were built. On this site, Roger II of Sicily ordered Saracen workers to erect the castle in 1130. The inhabitants of Bari have never loved this place, such a clear symbol of the royal power and, in fact, it has been demolished by the population over the centuries several times. When the Swabians arrived and in line with the encastellation policy promoted by Frederick II in the first half of the 13th century, the Norman fortification was resumed, having being heavily damaged during the previous century popular uprisings. The imposing quadrilateral, with its trapezoidal plan, equipped with ashlared angular towers, was refined by single-lancet and mullioned windows and a wonderful Gothic and Frederick II’s style portal, carved with anthropomorphic and zoomorphic figures, mythological motifs and clearly heraldic symbols inspired by imperial iconography. On the keystone, an eagle stands out and catches a small lion in its talons, a recurrent symbol in Frederick’s II architecture.

Also the vestibule, which can be accessed passing through the portal, dates back to the same age and aesthetic style. This area is covered with cross vaults, supported by columns and pilasters with finely sculpted capitals: a stone world, in which Gothic and Frederick II’s naturalism coexists with Islamic echoes. It is known that among the workers employed by the emperor there were many Arab artists, artisans and stonemasons. Just in the castle of Bari, a man called Ismael, who left his signature on one of the capitals, worked with the stonemasons Finarro di Canosa and Mele da Stignano, documenting the cultural melting pot promoted by the king.

The Angevins succeeded to the Swabians and decided to restore the northern part of the castle and the official rooms; nevertheless, the new lords have never stayed in this place, which was abandoned until the arrival of Isabella Sforza and her daughter Bona in 1524. They were the real ladies of the castle and made it a luxury Renaissance dwelling, surrounded by new city walls.

Inside the castle, arcades, stairs, state rooms, and frescoes embellished the austere fortress. After Bona Sforza’s death, the castle of Bari has no longer experienced glory times, but fell into ruin.

The Castello Svevo is not only a building of great historical and architectural value, but within its walls there is the echo of the stories related to a legendary meeting between Saint Francis and Frederick II.

The episode that tells how Emperor Frederick II subjected the poor man of Assisi to the lust of the flesh just in the rooms of the castle of Bari is not supported by any evidence.

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