Trani

Monday, September 24, 2012
Trani, Puglia, Italy
We left Matera in the morning and drove east across a flat dry landscape until we saw Castel del Monte in the distance. Nobody really knows why Frederick II built it in 1240 or why it is octagonal. It hasn't been lived in, it isn't strategic and it has no defensive features. Some say its geometry is grounded in 13th century hocus pocus, others that it was scientific but most probably was just for propaganda. Whatever, it has a great view and looks mightily impressive.



 
 







Onwards, we reach Trani, known as the Pearl of Puglia, fashioned from gleaming limestone blocks and sited on the curve of a port with its stunning portside cathedral. It was an ideal last stop, leaving just a short drive to Bari airport the next day for our flight home.












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