Hello friend, continuing my story of the Christmas period that I spent in the Puglia region today I will introduce you to Alberobello, a town of about 10,000 inhabitants famous throughout the world for its houses with cone-shaped roofs called "Trulli".
The "Trulli" are typical limestone houses, built with a dry building technique, with a circular plan and cone-shaped roof, made with stones welded together.
Although the rural trulli are found throughout the Valle d'Itria, the maximum concentration of the best preserved specimens is concentrated here in Alberobello, with more than 1500 structures currently active and inhabited.
These houses date back to the 1700s and are now considered a UNESCO heritage site. The story goes that once the territory of Alberobello was administered by the Count of Conversano, (Conversano is a town a few kilometers from Alberobello) who had imposed a heavy tax on the farmers of the area on each new house built in the kingdom. To escape the control and taxes of the Count, the peasants invented this dry construction technique which allowed the houses to be easily demolished, in the event of a sudden royal inspection. So, if you are wondering why trulli are built like this, the answer lies in the cunning of the local inhabitants.
We arrive by car right near the center of the town, we can already feel the Christmas atmosphere, we park our car in one of the paid parking lots along the road and start exploring the town.
We walk along a central street in the direction of the "Rione Monti" which is the area with the most presence of the best preserved trulli ever and we immerse ourselves in the wonderful alleys among the Trulli.
Obviously, nothing is missing here, the area is very touristy, the small places also housed in the trulli offer everything one needs.
Very nice are the small shops selling souvenirs of all kinds including hand-painted ceramics and traditional whistles.
The Trulli are beautiful live, even today whoever is capable of building these typical houses is highly sought after as a working figure, whoever is able to build Trulli is called "Mastro trullaro", he is the one who is capable of preparing and breaking the stones in so as to be set and build a trullo even without the use of cement.
Alberobello and the Itria valley which includes other beautiful villages are enchanting, if you have never passed through here I suggest you spend a few days in these places and visit a different village every day, even simply driving by car among the olive trees that they are also 2,000 years old is a beauty.
I recommend it my friend!!
All the photos were taken by me and what I tell is part of my personal experience.