Alberobello

Trulli houses at Alberobello

Today's outing was to Alberobello to see the famous trulli houses. They are dry stone huts with a conical roof, built singly or in clusters. They are only found in this part of Puglia. Alberobello has the largest concentration, with over 1000 trulli and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. UNESCO says that the settlement is generally held to date from the 14th century.

I had imagined Alberobello to be a small place, but you arrive in reasonable sized proper town. We followed signs to the trulli zone and parked noticing a large concentration of them on the hillside opposite. It became clear later that there are trulli scattered over various parts of the town,  but that this is the main concentration.

We found the tourist information office and acquired a map (vital) and headed up one of the uphill streets. Initially, it is all very commercialsed.  Most of the houses have been turned into shops selling tacky souvenirs such as model trulli houses.

But as always, the further we went the quieter it became.  Via monte Perceta had a beautiful run of unspoilt houses, all with mysterious signs on the roofs.

Further along the street was the so-called trulli church in a sort of neo-romanesque style.

We now retraced our steps to Plaza D'Annuncio and ignored the busier Via Minte San Michele and instead followed the quiet via Monte Saotino downhill back to the main street. We climbed up the other side to reach the rather garish Corso Vittorio Emanuele, with the 1812 Basilica di Santa Medici at the far end.

Just behind it was another nice group of trulli, including a shop.

The main purpose in coming to this part of the town was to see the trullo sovrano, the sovereign trullo.  This is the largest trullo in Alberobello as it is the only two storey one. It dates from the 18th century.

It was charming and surprisingly roomy inside and also a pretty garden at the back where I was delighted to spot a Geranium Blue butterfly.

We finished our walk with a wonderful ice cream, bought naturally enough from a shop in a pair of trulli.

 Conditions: warm, sunny, blue sky.

Distance: two miles.

Rating: Five stars. A bit touristy and probably unbearable in high season, but a unique experience.

Postscript

Afterwards we drove over to Locorotondo and we surprised by how many trulli could be seen scattered across a wide area of countryside. They were mostly in groups of four or five and in many cases people had built modern houses on the end of a group of trulli or even surrounding them. This view from the public gardens on the edge of Locorotondo gives a sense of trulli in the landscape.