Trani - Castello svevo

Trani may have been founded by Greek settlers, but the known history starts late. After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, it was dominated by Lombards, Byzantines, Saracens and again Byzantines. With the conquest of southern Italy by the Normans and after 50 days of siege by Robert Guiscard´s troops, Trani became part of the Norman Empire in 1073.

Already under the Byzantines, Trani had become an important port for trade with the Orient. The heyday was in the time of the crusades in the 12th and 13th centuries, when crusaders and merchants mainly went to the Holy Land from Bari and Trani. It became an episcopal see in place of Canosa, destroyed by the Saracens. Frederick II built a massive castle. Under his rule, the city reached its highest point of wealth and prosperity.

Under the rule of Frederick II, the construction workd for the castle began in 1233. It was built on a rocky bank located in the center of the Trani bay, in an area of ​​shallow water, which protected it from possible assaults from the sea. A moat, perhaps of natural origin, separated the castle from the mainland.

Frederick II hanged Pietro Tiepolo, son of the Doge of Venice Jacopo Tiepolo in a tower of the castle. Pietro was taken prisoner in the battle of Cortenova in 1237 .

Between 1385 and 1419 it was in the possession of the mercenary Alberico da Barbiano, to whom it had been assigned by the king of Naples Charles III .

In 1533, under Charles V, the castle underwent significant transformations, to adapt it to the new defensive needs that arose following the invention of gunpowder .

From 1844 to 1974 the castle was a provincial central prison. Meanwhile this is a museum - and under renovation.