Alberobello

ITALIA

The Trulli of Alberobello in Italy Puglia, a region in the southeast of Italy, is well known for its typical masserias. These buildings were used as residences during the summer months by land owners and their employees. Nowadays, lots of these masserias have been restored and are being used as museum, guesthouses or as rnasseria  hotel.

Puglia is also known for its beautiful traditional trulli, stone dwellings with a conical roof You can find over a thousand trulli in the village of Alberobello, including a church in trullo-style, Chiesa di S. Antonio. Because trulli are now protected under the UNESCO world heritage law, restoring them (and using them as museum, guesthouse or hotel) is somewhat difficult. However, sleeping in a masserie at night, and visiting trulli during the day, is amazing too.

The Trulli are an exceptional example of a building technique that has survived from prehistoric times until to date. This WHS consists of the Monti and Aja Piccola quarters of Alberobello, and some individual buildings elsewhere in the town.

Truth are built without using mortar: the stones are laid on top of each other. They are also characterized by their dome- shaped roofs. These roofs are in some cases painted with a magical or pagan symbol.

There are many stories about the origins of this construction style. In the Middle East, burial tombs were already built in the same manner thousands of years ago. Also it is said that this way of building makes it easier to quickly dissemble the house and relocate, or that in this manner taxes could be evaded.