The medieval Dentice di Frasso Castle is located in San Vito dei Normanni (BR).
Its principal nucleus is the square merlon tower, with arrow slits and machicolations over the entrances, built in 1100 by Bohemond of Antioch. The tower is three storeys tall: there is a family chapel on the ground floor, a large reception room on the first and a space used presumably as a prison on the second.
The Dentice di Frasso family crest is carved on the entrance portals to the castle and the chapel. The rest of the castle, with two storeys and a quadrangular layout, was once surrounded by a moat (now a garden with two huge, ancient African trees). The site has undergone multiple restoration interventions, the most recent (in the 20th century) was responsible for the main entrance with a pointed arch.
A stone staircase leading to the residential floor overlooks the inner courtyard. A wide terrace looks onto piazza Leonardo Leo. Some 50 rooms in the castle are decorated with antique furniture and frescoed ceilings, others have fireplaces and exquisite floors.
The castle has been restored multiple times, most recently by the architect Gaetano Marchietzek in the early 1900s. The castle was inscribed as a site of cultural interest by MiBACT in 1990.
Castello Dentice di Frasso
Via Francesco Crispi, 6, 72019 - San Vito dei Normanni (BR)
Referenti
Giuliano Dentice di Frasso
Tel. 339 2003758
Email: giulianodentice@gmail.com
Fabrizia Dentice di Frasso
Tel. 347 4372428
Email: fabriziafavia66@gmail.com
