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  • Day 46

    The Trulli of Alberobello

    October 14, 2018 in Italy ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

    This was one stop I was really looking forward to as I had seen Alberobello often listed on the cutest towns, most picturesque towns, nicest towns in Italy lists. And the drive today was one of the nicer drives we have done. The country side in this area of Italy is exactly what I imagined Tuscany to look like (but the parts we saw didn’t) with rolling hills, vineyards, olive groves and old stone farm houses. It was very pretty. One thing we did notice though was that a lot of the farm houses were abandoned, including some of the bigger estates, and yet the fields around them were all being farmed or were planted with grapes vines or olive trees. We wondered what had happened to the original farmers of the land.

    As we got closer to Alberobello more and more cute little Trulli houses appeared scattered amongst the fields and I couldn't help but smile as I was very excited we were going to be staying in one. We even saw a pink one, the only coloured one we saw our entire time there.

    Alberobello is undoubtedly the Capital of the Trulli with its historic centre, Zona dei Trulli, an Unesco World Heritage Site with a dense mass of 1500 beehive-shaped houses, white-tipped as if dusted by snow. While many are now used for tourist accommodation, shops and restaurants, there are many that are still lived in today. In fact an 86 year old lady still lives in her trulli house next to the shop our host owned. Daniela’s (our host) grandparents used to live in the level below ground with their chickens in the trulli house she now uses for her shop. Her partner now uses the downstairs to display and sell his model trulli houses while the upstairs is the accommodation office and the shop that sells pasta, snacks and local wine.

    The first trulli settlements, date as far back as the Bronze Age, while the trulli still intact today go back to 1350AD. Legend has it that the Trullo’s dry-wall construction, without mortar, was imposed on new settlers so that they could dismantle their shelters in a hurry, an efficient means to evade taxes on new settlements under the Kingdom of Naples, and certainly a good way to deter unruly lords. Yet most historians agree that this building technique came about due to the area’s geographical conditions, abundant with the limestone in these constructions.

    The domed roofs of the trulli are embellished with decorative pinnacles that represent the signature of the master trullaro who made or restored it. And some Trullo have symbols painted in white on the roofs. These are religious and mystical symbols that provide protection for the inhabitants.

    Our hostess, Daniela, was lovely and made us feel very welcome. She was concerned though when meeting us that the Trulli house we had booked might be too small for us. I’m sure we’ve put some weight on on this trip but I didn’t think we were that big!! She showed us the house we had booked and let us decide, and while it was very cute, it was in fact quite small. Luckily she had a bigger one available which was perfect for our three day stay. It wasn’t as cute as the smaller one but it was still very charming while being more practical.

    We stayed right in the Trulli zone and couldn’t wait to get out and explore. Unfortunately when we arrived it was a bit overcast but thankfully the next day began with brilliant blue skies that contrasted beautifully against the white tips of the trulli houses.

    We enjoyed exploring the cobblestone lanes while admiring the Trullo. Being that it was a tourist destination for cruise ships most of the Trullo shops sold tourist items, a lot of which were quite tacky. But there was a great vibe with buskers playing music, entertaining people as they explored the site.

    I loved this town and I loved walking the lanes, daytime and night. We had a fabulous host and excellent accommodation and an amazing three day stay in Alberobello.
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