In short. Andria is the town Castel del Monte belongs to — the castle stands alone on the plateau inside its territory, and the town is where most visitors sleep and eat before or after seeing it. Andria itself is known as the city of the three bell towers, and its oil and wine are the reason the surrounding country looks the way it does.
Most people arrive here for one building and leave without seeing the town. That is a fair description of the situation, and Andria is used to it — but the half-day is worth having.
Castel del Monte
The castle is the economic pillar of the town and the reason thousands of visitors come every year. It was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1996, it was one of the summer residences of Frederick II of Swabia, and it is on the Italian one-cent coin — which is why every Italian recognises it instantly.
It is only one of the castles Frederick II left in Puglia: we have put them together, with a three-day route, in Frederick II’s Puglia.
It is not in the town. Castel del Monte stands by itself on a hilltop out on the plateau, inside Andria’s territory but well outside the built-up area. You need a car to reach it, and in high season there is a shuttle from the car park. Its own page is here: Castel del Monte, the castle nobody can explain.
The city of three bell towers
Andria’s nickname comes from the three bell towers that stand over the skyline, belonging to three of its principal churches, each with a history of its own. Walking through the streets it is hard not to notice them, and they are the quickest way into the town’s past.
Its origins are pre-Roman, though the official foundation is credited to the Normans in the eleventh century, and the Norman and Swabian periods left the deepest mark on what survives.
What the land produces
Andria sits in a landscape that runs from the hills of the Murgia down to the Adriatic, and it lives on more than visitors: the olive oil and the wine of this territory are among the best in the region. It is farming country first, and the food follows from that.
It ships. The oil and the other things this country makes go out from Puglia directly: see the shop.
Around it
Andria is one of the three towns of the BAT province, with Barletta and Trani, both about twenty minutes away on the coast. Inland the plateau opens towards Altamura and Canosa.
Andria is the gateway to Castel del Monte and one of the towns of the Murgia.
It is also where burrata comes from — the cheese invented here, and the one thing from this town that has travelled further than the castle.
