Direzione regionale Musei — Attraction in Bari

Beyond the imposing presence of the castle, you can find that the spaces have been successfully re-purposed to house exhibitions. So much so, that it doesn't feel like the space defines their museography as is the case in many other similar places.

But the best the castle has to offer is its staff: While absorbed by one of the exhibitions, I inadvertently stayed for longer than I should, exiting the place 30 minutes after its closing hours. Not once i was made aware of the time by people letting me know that the gallery was about to close, nobody requested me to leave by the closing time. I didn't notice the fact up until the moment i was back out in the street and checked my watch. Everyone in the castle was quite kind and friendly.

Definitely setting up high standards in visitor...

Coming from Ireland, a country where Norman castle are common, I must confess that I was surprised to find a Norman castle here in southern Italy. But that is more a reflection of my lack of historical knowledge. Entrance to the castle gives you access to many rooms containing historical artefacts from the site and surrounding regions. There is a short audiovisual screening in one of the rooms, and if you ask the projectionist, he will change the language to English. The only slight disappointment is that you can't get up onto the castle walls. We were there at sunset, so that would have been nice. Well...

If you are under 25 years old, it's nearly worth it because you "just" pay 4,50€. Above 25 you pay 9€ and we definitly would not pay this amount. It's not possible to go on the Towers, you can only visit one half of the castle and it seems a lot bigger from outside. In this one half, there are just a few rooms to visit. The only really interesting thing were the basement rooms. We were here about 30 minutes and saw everything. We asked a guide if it's possible to see more of the castle but he just replied very unfriendly "dangerous". We are lucky, that we are under 25 and just paid...