Alberobello is a town located in Apulia, in the province of Bari. It is known for trulli houses, built in a specific way, most often on a square or circle plan. The whitewashed walls of the trulli are built directly on the limestone bedrock using dry stone, that is, no mortar or cement. The houses are topped with cantilevered roofs in the shape of characteristic cones.
The interior of the two-layer wall structure is filled with rock rubble.
The roofs are also double-skinned, consist of a domed internal stone structure used to build an arch or vault with a closing stone and a watertight outer cone made of corrugated limestone plates. The roof is also built without the use of binder.
The roofs of buildings often have mysterious, hieroglyphic or religious markings of white ash and are finished with a decorative gable in the form of a cross or some other symbol the purpose of which is to ward off evil forces.
The protruding eaves at the base of the roof collect the rainwater which is diverted through the channel slab to the cistern under the house. The stone for the construction of the house comes from the material selected when forging the cistern and from the surrounding fields.
Rural trulli can be found along the entire Itria Valley, and their highest concentration and best-preserved examples are found in the city of Alberobello, where over 1,500 structures have been counted in the Rione Monti and Aja Piccola districts. Speaking of the Itria Valley, we are not talking about a typical mountain valley, but about a depression of the terrain caused by karst phenomena. The technique of building trulli is several thousand years old. The oldest houses come from the mid-fourteenth century.
The way trulli restoration and maintenance is undertaken is determined by local legislation, and it is illegal to demolish, reconstruct, add floors or construct fake trulli. Work has been carried out for some time to restore their original appearance. Only traditional lime bleach is used for exterior decoration. Television antennas were removed. Concrete is removed from the roofs, and there is a return to wooden doors and windows.
There are two theories about the origin of trulli. The first tells about the Apulian peasants who could be moved elsewhere in the 15th century, who then dismantled the house and moved it with them. The second talks about the possibility of not paying taxes on unfinished houses - it was enough to dismantle the roof.
The fact is that nowhere else in Europe such buildings are found. They keep you warm in winter and cool in summer. On December 5, 1996, Trulli of Alberobello was entered on the World Heritage List.
Finally, some practical information.
From Bari, the easiest way to reach Alberobello is by taking the FERROVIE DEL SUD EST bus, which departs from Bari Centrale Railway Station, on the opposite side of Aldo Moro Square. You cannot buy a ticket from the driver. You can buy it in one of the shops next to the bus stop or more simply via the app on trenitalia.it, which is generally a train timetable but operates the aforementioned integrated bus line. There you have to look for departure times, because there is no such information at bus stops. Often it is even difficult to locate the stop. This is the opposite of traveling by train where everything is clear.
Coming from Bari, Alberobello is a stop earlier than Locorotondo, so if you leave early enough, you can visit both cities in one day. I encourage you, because it's really worth it.
15 сен 2024
