The Castello Normanno-Svevo, usually just called the Castello Svevo (Swabian Castle), is the moated fortress on the edge of Bari Vecchia, the old town of Bari. Its core goes back to the Norman king Roger II in the 1130s, but it is named after the Swabian emperor Frederick II, who rebuilt it between 1233 and 1240. Later it became a Renaissance court ruled by two women, then a prison, and today it is a museum.
The Castello Svevo at a glance
- Where: Piazza Federico II di Svevia, on the southern edge of Bari Vecchia, a few minutes' walk from the cathedral.
- Built: first around 1131 under Roger II; rebuilt 1233–1240 under Frederick II; bastioned outer walls added in the 16th century.
- What it is today: a state museum of the Italian Ministry of Culture, with a hall of plaster casts (the Gipsoteca), archaeological finds and changing exhibitions.
- Time needed: 15 minutes to walk around the moat; one to one and a half hours to visit inside.
From Norman stronghold to Renaissance court
The first castle was built for Roger II, the Norman king of Sicily, around 1131, on top of houses from the Byzantine period. In 1156 King William I of Sicily destroyed it. Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor and King of Sicily, had it rebuilt between 1233 and 1240 as one of the royal castles guarding his kingdom: a trapezoid of rooms around a central courtyard, with tall corner towers of rough-cut stone. In the second half of the 13th century Charles of Anjou strengthened the north wing, which then stood directly on the sea.
In the 15th century the Aragonese kings of Naples gave the castle to the Sforza family, dukes of Bari. Isabella of Aragon, widow of Gian Galeazzo Sforza, and her daughter Bona Sforza, who became Queen of Poland in 1518, made it the seat of their court in the 16th century. They wrapped the medieval core in low, sloping bastioned walls built to resist artillery and added a grand double staircase up to the main halls. After Bona's death in 1557 the castle returned to the Kingdom of Naples, and under the Bourbons it became a prison and then a barracks. It first opened to the public in 1957, and after long restoration the whole first floor became accessible in 2017.
What to look for
- The moat and bridge: the moat runs round the castle on every side except the north, which once faced the sea. You enter over a bridge on the south side.
- The Renaissance bastions: the thick walls with a sloping base that Isabella and Bona built around the older castle. The south-eastern bastion rises straight out of the moat.
- Frederick's portal: the original Swabian entrance, with a richly carved arch, leads from a vaulted hall resting on two columns into the courtyard.
- The eagle capital: in the Swabian loggia, one capital is carved with small eagles, the emperor's emblem, and an inscription with the name of the sculptor.
- The corner towers: three tall towers with rusticated stone survive from the Swabian castle. The south-western one is called the Torre dei Minorenni (Minors' Tower) because it held the prison's section for young offenders in the 19th century.
- The Gipsoteca: on the ground floor, under pointed arches, plaster casts of portals, capitals and reliefs from Apulian churches and castles, made in 1911 by Pasquale Duretti and Mario Sabatelli for an exhibition in Rome marking 50 years of Italian unity.
A saint, a queen and a Polish chapel
A tradition says that Frederick II met Francis of Assisi in this castle in 1221. No document confirms the meeting, so treat it as a legend, but it is still told in Bari. The Polish link is real: Bona Sforza spent her last years in Bari after leaving Poland, and a small chapel in the courtyard is dedicated, according to the captions on site, to St Stanislaus, the patron saint of Poland.
Tips for your visit
- Walk round the outside before going in: from the square and the street along the moat you can see how the Renaissance walls wrap around the medieval castle.
- Exhibitions inside change through the year, so check the museum's official website to see what is on before you go.
- Late afternoon light turns the pale limestone golden; in the summer heat, the thick-walled rooms inside are pleasantly cool.
- Combine the castle with the cathedral and the Basilica di San Nicola: all three are a short walk apart through the lanes of the old town.
Nearby
- Cattedrale di San Sabino: Bari's Romanesque cathedral, a few minutes' walk into the old town, with a crypt under the altar.
- Basilica di San Nicola: the Romanesque basilica built for the relics of St Nicholas, brought to Bari from Myra in 1087. Bona Sforza's tomb stands behind the high altar.
- Strada Arco Basso: the lane between the castle and the cathedral where women make orecchiette pasta by hand at tables outside their doors.
- The seafront: the old town walls along the Adriatic, a pleasant walk at sunset.
See Bari with World City Trail
Our Bari scavenger hunt turns the old town into a game you play on your phone. The route links 10 stops and takes around 2 hours, with about 35 minutes of walking. It leads you through the lanes of Bari Vecchia and to the Basilica di San Nicola.
If you prefer a different format, there is also a self-guided walking tour and an outdoor escape game in Bari.
Play the Bari scavenger hunt →
Take the self-guided walking tour of Bari →
Play the outdoor escape game in Bari →
Facts checked in October 2026.