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With a day to fill in and keep cool in the relentless heat we drove to Alberobello. It is in this area of Puglia that the Trulli houses are found. I can’t give a better explanation of this World Heritage Site than UNESCO
The trulli , limestone dwellings found in the southern region of Puglia, are remarkable examples of drywall (mortarless) construction, a prehistoric building technique still in use in this region. The trulli are made of roughly worked limestone boulders collected from neighbouring fields. Characteristically, they feature pyramidal, domed or conical roofs built up of corbelled limestone slabs.
Some stories tell of the round houses being easy to dismount to avoid taxes in the middle ages. We had also seen the remnants of round houses in the 15th Century BC Nuraghe in Sardinia. It is an ancient building art.
There are two distinct districts in Alberobello that are full of these quaint dwellings. The tourist side of the road called “Riono Monti” where the dwellings are converted to cafes, restaurants and souvenir shops with pretty flowers out the front.
On the other side of the road there is a panorama point to view the Trulli and behind that in “Rione Aia Piccola” they are still used as dwellings. Of course we enjoyed seeing them more.
The limestone of the area has been used extensively for dry stone walls and the white walls around the countryside are very pretty.
