Alberobello, Bari, Italy

Trullo buildings. Photo: Berthold Werner/Wikimedia Commons

Alberobello (beautiful tree) is a small town and comune of the Metropolitan City of Bari, Apulia, southern Italy. It is famous for its unique trullo buildings. The trulli of Alberobello have been designated as a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1996. The trullo is a fascinating architectural feature of this area of Puglia, a building with conical roof made without mortar.

The history of these very particular buildings is linked to the Prammatica De Baronibus, an edict of the 15th-century Kingdom of Naples that subjected every new urban settlement to a tribute.

The Counts of Conversano D'Acquaviva D'Aragona from 1481, owners of the territory on which Alberobello stands today with the summer "domus" that was called Difesa De Le Noci on the border with the territory of the duchy of Martina Franca, then imposed on the peasants sent in these lands they built their dwellings dry, without using mortar, so that they could be configured as precarious buildings, easily demolished.

Therefore, having to use only stones, the peasants found in the round form with self-supporting domed roof, composed of overlapping stone circles, the simplest and most solid configuration.

The domed roofs or half cone for straw called the false dome of the trulli are embellished with decorative pinnacles that represented as many say the pinnacle was the signature of the master trullaro who did it or that restored and represented the pose of the pinnacle an exciting moment, the whose form is inspired by profane symbolic, mystical and religious elements.

Interior of Trullo Sovrano. Photo: Horcrux92/Wikimedia Commons

Some of the trulli are now used for stores, restaurants, and lodging. But many are still inhabited by locals, who are very friendly to visitors.

Sources

• www.wikipedia.org
• www.wikivoyage.org

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