The Castello Svevo di Brindisi or Castello Svevo-Aragonese (because of Hohenstaufen origin and the later conversion into the reign of the house Aragón called), is located in the city Brindisi in the Italian region of Apulia. The city castle was built on the edge of the old town and the inner part of the harbor, so that both important parts of the city could be defended from the castle.
According to the testimony of Richard von San Germano, who dated it to 1227, the origin of the building can be attributed to the Hohenstaufen era. These are exactly the years in which the presence of Emperor Frederick II in Brindisi is documented by his marriage to Isabella II of Jerusalem in 1225 and his departure for the crusade in 1228. Charles I of Naples commissioned the architect Pierre d'Angicourt with the restoration of the castle (heightened the towers) and the construction of a royal palace inside it (1272–1283) .
The first expansion of the facility in Brindisi in the middle of the 15th century goes back to Ferdinand I of Naples: The conversion, which was due to the adaptation to the new military requirements through the introduction of firearms , consisted of the construction of a last wall ring, lower and narrower than the previous one, equipped with low, sloping round towers. The former moat was covered with vaults , so that new rooms were created in which men with weapons were housed, but also the population in emergencies.
In 1496 the castle and city were placed under the 'Protectorate' of the Republic of Venice. At that time the castle was perfectly equipped. Last changes were made in 1526 by Giovanni Battista Pignatelli. Shortly afterwards, the city and, above all, the castle were under severe siege by the armed men of the French - Venetian - papal league against Charles V. As a result, the castle complex was finally fortified with the construction of two polygonal “Puntoni” facing the harbor.
During the 18th and 19th centuries, it was converted into a prison , then to a command of the Marina Militare , with some adjustments being made but the structure of the complex being preserved.
Architecture
The castle developed around a trapezoidal courtyard , which was surrounded by a high wall, reinforced by a magnificent keep with an entrance and another six towers, two of them round, three square and one pentagonal.
The outer courtyard is clear from 15th to 16th centuries. Can be assigned to the 19th century: There are the classic round towers of the late Middle Ages and the Renaissance , which were armed with artillery.
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