The Trulli of Alberobello

“We’ll take you to see the Trulli,” said our friends in Italy last year.

“The truly what?” we wanted to know.

All became clear the next day when we visited the town of Alberobello in Puglia. Way down in the heel of Italy, about an hour’s drive from Bari, it is the only place in the world to begin life in the Middle Ages as a town of cone-shaped dry wall houses, resembling stone tepees – the Trulli. Each topped with a white ball, they are an amazing sight and their history is even more surprising.

The Trulli are peculiar to this part of Italy and most of them are to be found in Alberobello, though there are a few dotted about the neighbouring countryside. A visit to the town is essential to get the full bewitching effect of over a hundred Trulli clustered together.

The area was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1996 and nowadays the “Trulli di Alberobello” attract many visitors. There are two main areas to explore – Monti and Aja Piccola. The latter has a more traditional character with narrow streets where some of the Trulli are used as workshops for local people to beautiful, hand-crafted ceramics.

The best view is to be found by climbing the short distance to the top of a hill in the centre of town. From here you can gaze down over the whole gleaming white vista. The houses are white-washed every year and the effect is dazzling in the bright sunlight. Many have hand-painted symbols on their roofs which are thought to bring the occupiers luck. There are suns and moons, and one has a heart complete with an arrow through the middle.

Trulli were originally built without mortar, using a similar technique to that for the dry stone walls familiar in the English countryside. Limestone blocks were simply laid one on top of the other. The roofs were made from flat stones called “chianche” arranged to form the characteristic conical, pointed shape.

Why Were the Trulli Built Like This?

Well, no-one really knows for sure but it seems to have had something to do with the taxman!

In the Middle Ages the land in Alberobello belonged to the King. This meant that anyone who dared build a house there would be heavily taxed. So the resourceful early residents decided to get around this by constructing houses that could easily be dismantled and hidden away. As soon as the signal came that the taxman was coming the whole town would be transported elsewhere! Once the smoke signal came to say he was safely on his way again the Trulli were carried back and reassembled. They were the original mobile homes!

The inventiveness of these original settlers was rewarded in 1797 when King Ferdinand IV of Naples granted a royal decree freeing Alberobello from royal ownership, thus ensuring a more stable and permanent future for its inhabitants.

Today’s Trulli

More recent residents have added mortar to their houses and some have built extra rooms, each with its own cone-shaped roof. An open fire is still the main source of warmth in winter. The walls can be up to six feet thick thus retaining the heat, yet providing protection from the fierce Italian sun during the long summer months.

These days those wanting a holiday home with a difference can rent a trullo. The friendly people of Alberobello welcome visitors from all over Italy and other parts of Europe. English and German people are especially drawn by the quirky, fairyland-like dwellings. Some, particularly the English with their characteristic love of traditional old houses in need of renovation, are even buying a trullo of their very own.

Trulli are obviously protected but renovation is allowed so long as planning permission is obtained and the work is carried out in the approved style, in keeping with tradition. Local workers who specialise in the correct building methods must be employed, thus ensuring that the town benefits from any influx of foreign owners. New rooms may be added, but each must have its own conical roof. Trulli for sale or rent are not described in terms of how many rooms they have, but how many cones. So the description “five-coned trullo” means there are five rooms.

With its friendly people, beautiful climate and wealth of history, Alberobello is well worth a visit, either for a day or a longer stay. There is nowhere else in the world quite like it – Trulli!