Foggia imperial residential palace

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The still-preserved arch of the portal with the inscription that construction began in 1223
The fountain from the palace with the contemporary arch reminiscent of the portal arch

The Imperial Residence Palace Foggia , also called Imperial Palace or Foggia Castle in literature , was a 13th century palace of Emperor Frederick II in Foggia . Except for a portal arch, an inscription and a fountain, there are no more relics. The location, the history - apart from the start of construction - and details of the destruction are not known or passed down. There is only little contemporary information about the appearance inside.

start of building

Based on the still existing stone inscription about the start of construction, it is now walled up within the portal arch, it is known that the builder and stonemason of Emperor Frederick II, Bartolomeo da Foggia , created the building at his instigation. The art historical literature divides the inscription into three sections: the upper margin inscription, the middle part and the lower margin inscription. They are:

  • Upper margin: SIC. CAESAR. FIERI. OPUS. IS OVER. P [RO] TO. BARTHOLOMEUS. SIC. CONSTRUXIT. ILLUD
  • Middle section: † A [NNO] • AB INCARNATIONE • MCCXX.III. M [ENSE]. IUNII. XI IND [ICTIONIS] • R [EGNANTE] • DOMINO • NOSTRO FREDERICO IMPERATORE • R [OMANORUM] • SEMPER • AUGUSTO • A [NNO] • III • ET • REGE SICILIE • A [NNO] • XXVI • HOC • OPUS • FELICITER • INCEPTUM • EST • PRAEPHATO • DOMINO • PRAECIPIENTE.
  • Inscription on the lower margin: HOC FIERI IUSSIT FREDERICUS CESAR UT URBS SIT FOGIA REGALIS SEDES INCLITA IMPERIALIS

In translation:

  • Upper and lower marginal inscription summarized: “So the emperor ordered the execution and Bartholomew put it into practice; Emperor Friedrich ordered the work so that the city of Foggia, the royal seat, would be praised as imperial. "
  • Middle part: “In the year 1223 since the Incarnation, in the month of June, in the 11th indiction , during the reign of the Roman Emperor Frederick, in the 3rd year of his imperial rule, in the 26th year of his rule as King of Sicily, this work was commissioned of the named gentleman started happily. "

Based on this inscription, the start of construction can be fixed at 1223. The reason for the construction of the palace was the relocation of the central administration of the empire from Palermo to Foggia in 1222, because of the faster accessibility of Lombardy and the German imperial areas, but also because of the preference of the capitanata as an imperial hunting area.

The builder, Bartolomeo da Foggia, was responsible for a number of imperial conversions, new constructions and extensions, for example at the cathedral Santa Maria Icona Vetere in Foggia itself, but also in Barletta , Trani , Lucera , Brindisi and other places.

Contemporary descriptions

The palace was the first and most splendid building that the emperor had built in Apulia in the following years, along with a number of other forts and hunting castles . For almost thirty years he was the splendid center of the imperial court. Contemporaries tell of halls and courtyards made of marble , of water features and of the probably ancient statues and columns collected by the emperor. A contemporary report says: “All kinds of festive joys were united there, and one was cheered by the change of choirs and the purple procession of the players. A number were made knights, others adorned with signs of special dignity. The whole day was celebrated with festivities, and as it drew to a close, night was turned into day with flaming torches that lit up here and there, amid competition between the players ”. There is talk of lavish luxury, and the layout of zoos is also known. The courtyard, in which at times thousands of guests stayed, was served from the nearby Lucera fort , which housed Frederick's Saracen bodyguard. Except for the portal arch and the remains of the fountain, nothing remains of the splendor of the palace.

Carl Arnold Willemsen regrets that the residence no longer exists; In his view, it could have been "an important link in the history of the development of medieval profane palace architecture".

Portal arch

One of the three structural remains is a portal arch, which is now walled up on the right side of the Palazzo Arpi . It is a richly decorated arch that rests on both sides on originally finely chiseled Staufer eagles, which in turn sit on consoles . The arch was originally - but no longer at the actual location - walled up in a house that was completely destroyed in the heavy air raids in World War II; the arch survived the bombardment almost unscathed.

Fountain

Another remnant is the vessel of a fountain, which is today in Piazza Federico II . The arch above the fountain is a contemporary work and is reminiscent of the still existing portal arch.

Wolfgang Braunfels sums up the buildings of Frederick II: "Frederick's castles have been compared to the 'solitaires' among diamonds. They shone up in the history of art in Italy, were abandoned and abandoned to the decay that few, like Castel del Monte , withstood to have."

literature

  • Wolfgang Braunfels : Small Italian Art History . DuMont Buchverlag, Cologne 1984, ISBN 3-7701-1509-0 .
  • Maria Stella Calò Mariani: L'Arte del duecento in Puglia ; Istituto Banco San Paolo di Torino; Torino 1984.
  • Pina Belli d'Elia u. a .: La Puglia fra bisanzo e l'occidente ; Electa Editrice; Gruppo Editoriale Electa, Milan 1980.
  • Eberhard Horst: Friedrich II. - The Staufer - Emperor - General - Poet ; Wilhelm Heyne Publishing House; Munich 1975 ISBN 3-453-55043-9 .
  • Tommaso Pedio: Storia della Puglia ; Capone Editore; Lecce 1999.
  • Ekkehart Rotter: Apulia . Trips to Byzantine grotto churches, Norman cathedrals, Hohenstaufen forts and baroque buildings in Lecce. (=  DuMont art travel guide ). 6th edition. Dumont Reise Verlag, Ostfildern 2012, ISBN 3-7701-4314-0 .
  • Carl Arnold Willemsen : Apulia - cathedrals and forts ; 2nd ed.; DuMont Schauberg; Cologne 1973 ISBN 3-7701-0581-8 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Rotter: Apulia , p. 86
  2. ↑ Willemsen: Apulia - Cathedrals and castles , p. 295, No. 1, from there also the details of the inscriptions
  3. ↑ Both translations from Rotter: Apulien , pp. 87/88
  4. ↑ Pedio: Storia della Puglia , p. 44
  5. ↑ Braunfels: Small Italian Art History , p. 119
  6. ↑ Horst: Friedrich II. , P. 101
  7. ↑ Pina Belli D'Elia u. a .: La puglia fra bisanzo e l'Occidente , p. 254
  8. ↑ Horst: Friedrich II. , P. 101
  9. ^ Willemsen: Apulia - Cathedrals and castles , p. 35
  10. ↑ Horst: Friedrich II. , P. 102
  11. ↑ Braunfels: Small Italian Art History , p. 121
  12. ↑ Pina Belli D'Elia u. a .: La puglia fra bisanzo e l'Occidente , p. 254
  13. ↑ Quotation from Horst: Friedrich II. , P. 102/103
  14. ^ Willemsen: Apulia - Cathedrals and forts , p. 36
  15. ^ Willemsen: Apulia - Cathedrals and forts , p. 36
  16. ^ Willemsen: Apulia - Cathedrals and castles , p. 37
  17. ↑ Braunfels: Small Italian Art History , p. 123