The workshop will take place at the Angevin Castle in the town of Mola di Bari (Italy) Lungomare Dalmazia, Mola di Bari.
The Angevin Castle
In the heart of the medioeval town, the Angevin Castle was designed by Pierre d'Agicourt and Giovanni da Toul in 1279, at the behest of Carlo I d'Angiò, to be an inexpugnable fortress. The Castle is characterized by a peculiar star polygon plan resulting from the superposition of different architectural solutions in different military periods, adding in time new fortifications to the original rectangular three-story Angevin tower that constitutes the central body.
The access to the castle was through a driveway bridge and a lowered arch portal on the south bastion. Inside, the guard room and on the wall facing the ancient entrance there are traces of a fresco depicting a Madonna with Child, datable to the end of the 15th century. Then a second rectangular room giving access to the second floor, through a thick wall staircase, and to the internal courtyard, with its irregular trapezoidal shape.
The upper floor of the castle was reserved for the private apartments of the king and his entourage. In fact, since the thirteenth century it was the residence of the king's "family waiter" and in the following centuries it hosted the rich feudal lords who took turns in governing the city: Toraldo, Carafa, Acquaviva - D'Aragona. In particular, the large barrel-vaulted hall served as the fulcrum of the political and cultural life of the city in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
Since the second half of the nineteenth century, when the castle was curiously used as a municipal slaughterhouse, the main entry opens in the west curtain wall through a round portal and a walkway dug into the masonry, connecting directly to the audience hall, today hosting conferences and cultural events.
Mola di Bari
Mola di Bari is a seaside town of the Metropolitan City of Bari, in the Apulia Region on the Adriatic Sea, with an ancient history since the middle age and nowadays a commercial (its fishing harbour is one of the most important in Apulia) and tourist center.
Mola di Bari was re-founded on the existing medioeval village in 1277 by Carlo I d'Angiò and, over the centuries, it has seen the alternation of various dominations.
The old city, built around the Angevin Castle, has beautiful examples of religious architectures, noble palaces, and the van Westerhout theatre.
- the San Nicola Church (Chiesa Matrice), built in the XII century, it constitutes a fine example of Adriatic Renaissance architecture, although the Baroque style superimposes in the apse and in some side chapels. The facade is embellished by the rose window and the stylophore dwarfs of the portal, and on the side portal the stylophore Lions. In the interior, the three naves are delimited by corinthian columns and valuable bas-reliefs on the pillars of the women's galleries, the baptismal font supported by dancing cherubs and the statue of St. Michael can be admired.
- the Maddalena Church, hosting the confraternity of the Addolorata, its dome was frescoed in 1965 by Umberto Colonna.
- the Loreto Church, facing the sea it has a simple gabled facade, characterized by a fine limestone rose window, with a high bell tower in carparo at the left side. The interior is dominated by the XVII century high altar in gilded wood carved on a blue background, bearing the image of the Madonna with blessing Child.
- Roberti-Alberotanza Palace, known as the Palace of the 100 rooms, it dominates the XX Settembre Square with its symmetrical facade, in late Baroque style, punctuated by three theories of windows. In the center, the noble loggia overlooks the majestic Neapolitan style portal that gives access to a large courtyard where the external staircase leading to the upper floors overlooks.
- Pesce Palace, designed by the architect that designed the Reggia di Caserta, Vincenzo Ruffo, today its halls, covered in frescos, and the inside courtyard, host various events
- van Westerhout theatre, built in 1888, is a little architecture and painting masterpiece. Both sides of the neoclassical front are adorned with Greek theatre masks.
Mola of Bari is surrounded by towns and villages on the seaside and on the countryside, the well known Valle d’Itria, that are celebrated as treasures of naturalistic, historical, architectural and artistic value, as Polignano a Mare, awarded with the Blue Flag of by the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE), Alberobello, unique for the trulli buildings, and Andria with the fascinating medieval castle built by Frederick II "Castel del Monte", both designated as UNESCO World Heritage. Moreover in the near region of Basilicata there is the Subterranean City of Matera with the historical centre called "Sassi", protected as World Heritage Site by UNESCO since 1993 and European Capital of Culture for 2019.
The Apulia region offers also a unique experience of tradition and tastes with oenological and gastronomic itineraries.