The castle, situated on the plan top of the hiIl on which rose the acropolis of the Roman Lucera, dominates the Tavoliere of Capitanata. Steep sheer rockfaces defend it from three of its sides. During the XIII century, Frederick II built the castle to imprison the rebel Muslim Saracens deported from Sicily, in fact, after repeated campaigns he failed to put them down and to set them in the state organization. This daring experiment, in spite of its drasticity and cruelty, was a big political success. Indeed its positive consequences were both the whole pacification of Sicily and a strong spur to the development of the commerce, agriculture and handicrafts of Capitanata. When Saracens realised that the Emperor didn't intend to wipe them out and that his aim was to let them free to profess their own religion and to work headed by their own leaders and managers, transformed their hatred into fanatic devotion. Following a certain kind of "interested" gratitude Frederick honored some members of the community offering them the honorary post of select part of the Emperor's army and body guard and ordered them to make harmless the remaining Sicilian Muslim communities. In origin, according to Frederick's wish, an imperial palace was erected. Today very little remains, but during Frederick time the castle was a very high donjon with a quare tower. It was divided in different floors with vertical walls, was situated on a quadrilateral clog slope that also had two floors: the superior was on the ground level the inferior one underground. Inside it hided a small courtyard and was square-shaped. But its taller part was octagonal and was decorated by rich Gothic-Romanic ornamental motives and by a collection of classical sculptures. The rooms were luxury and refinemently furnished, almost to oppose the threatening and inaccessible external appearance of the tower. All around were arranged other environments; among them there was one of the principal imperial mints, many shops for manifacture arms, sets, dresses and all that a court needed. It was in 1233, many years before the construction of the most known Castel del Monte, that finds here, in the castle of Lucera, a preeceding main point. In 1269 Charles I of Angevin conquered the fortress and built the gigantic irregular wall curtain that now crowns the hill. The curtain is 900 metres long and is formed by 13 square towers, 2 pentagonal bastions, 7 buttresses and 2 cylindrical corner towers between which the most important is the majestic "Tower of the Lioness", elevated on a corner of the enclosure on the place of a preexistent Swabian tower. Here was also built a church devoted to San Francesco, of which only foundations are visible. The architects Pietro d'Angicourt, Riccardo of Foggia and Giovanni of Toul worked to its reconstructions. In 1456 an earthquake seriously damaged the complex already in a bad state of maintenance, and in 1700 the imperial palace was destroyed in order to obtain the material necessary for the construction of the Regia Udienza (the actual Court). During 1800 the work of destruction continued. At the beginning of this century, on the wave of a reborn interest for the monument, with the start of works of search, excavation and restauration, the ruins of ancient Roman and Byzantine constructions of notable dimensions were dug up. Thank you to its strategic position and its ancient fame of inexpugnable fortress, the castle earned the name of "Apulian Key".

Text written by Antonio Diviccaro