We continue our journey down into southern Italy, we say “goodbye” to the surprisingly beautiful and ancient city of Matera in the region of Basilicata and make our way to Alberobello in Pulgia. I had heard about Alberobello, the small city with the “picture perfect” Trulli houses with conical roofs and wanted to see it for myself.
The journey from Matera to Alberobello is only one hour by car and as we started to drive down what appeared to be country roads I started to see the “Trulli” houses dotting the countryside. I squealed with delight when I saw the first small circular stone house with its cone shaped roof. But I was surprised so see them in all states of repair and dilapidation just hanging out in a farmers pasture. Yes, there among the cherry trees, olives groves and cattle grazing would be the iconic “Trullo” house.
I expected that I would arrive in Alberobello and find the world heritage sites for the Trulli houses, clustered in a perfectly immaculate street, painted white and housing boutiques and restaurants. I didn’t expect that the Trulli would be everywhere, it appeared that there was one in every pasture and every farm. But that makes sense if this was indeed the houses that people lived in for 1000 years.
So what is the history of the Trulli houses, why did they start building this way and why only in this little section of southern Italy? Well, it’s really about tax evasion. Tax evasion during the feudal system.
Rural settlements in this area have been found as early as 1000, similar to the time the monks arrived in Matera (see my previous article about neighboring Matera). These early habitations gradually grew into villages, later called AjPiccola and Monti.
Fast forward to the 1300’s when the Prince of Taranto (who later became the King of Naples) assigned the ownership of this territory to the first Count of Conversano in 1309. This land was given as a reward to the young Anjou noble for his service during the Crusades. Soon after, the area was repopulated with entire feudal settlements, transferred from nearby Noci.
It was imposed on the settlers to construct their homes or trulli without mortar so that they could dismantle their homes quickly, in order to evade taxes from the Kingdom of Naples. Yet most historians agree that the basic building materials and style came about due to the abundant limestone in the area and fields. As you travel the countryside you see little borders and fences made up of the copious amounts of limestone found in the fields.
Around the middle part of the 16th Century, the community of Monti was already occupied by about 40 trulli, but it was only in 1620 that Alberobello became independent from neighboring Noci, having a population of 3,500 towards the end of the 18th Century. In 1797, the village obtained the title of “Royal City” from the King of Naples, Ferdinand IV de Bourbon, this ended the tax evasion period and allowed the inhabitants to finally build with mortar and make their Trullo home permanent.
In 2007, 30% of the trulliwere in commercial use (primarily as tourist accommodation), 40% were abandoned, and 30% were in residential use. This explains why I saw so many Trulli houses abandoned in fields. It seems so easy to buy a piece of land in this area and be the owner of your own adorable little Trullo house in this lovely country area.
I really loved this entire area of Pulgia with adorable towns such as Martina Franca, Locorotonda, Ostuni and Grottaglie. The area is farmland and seaside with such varying places as the “white city” (Ostuni), the cave dwellings of Matera (which is close by but not actually Pulgia, rather the neighboring region of Basilicata) and the district of the adorable white washed Trulli with iconic grey stone conical roofs of Alberobello and Martina Franco. This region is definitely worth a visit!
Other Articles About Traveling & Living in Italy:
House Hunters International in Italy(Published April 24, 2019)
A Californian Surfing in Italy(Published May 1, 2019)
Our New Town in Italy(Published June 17, 2019
Life Lessons from the Secret Garden(Published June 21, 2019)
Homemade Pizza in a “Wood-fired” Pizza Oven(Published July 5, 2019)
Summer Guests(Published August 3, 2019)
Wild Boar, Cows on the Loose and Rabbit Stew(Published August 2019)
The Ancient City of Matera(Published August 2019)
