From the heart of the town they looked like a jumble of grey cones ready to drop from the slope of the hills. The white-washed Trulli (plural of Trullo) or stone houses with unique conical roofs looked like houses meant for Lilliputians, like they were plucked from a fairytale movie set and placed here tantalisingly.
The little town of Alberobello in Puglia, Italy, famous for its collection of Trulli, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Although there are many Trulli scattered around Puglia, Alberobello represents the largest collection of original buildings, many of which are still occupied.
The drive to Alberobello from Sorrento, along the Amalfi Coast, is amazing. No wonder it is considered as one of the world’s most beautiful coastal drives, every inch stunning with breathtaking views of the Bay of Naples. Right through the drive, the golden, enormous, rough-skinned lemons followed you, its green leaves and bright colour lighting up the landscape. Sorrento and Amalfi are famous for lemons. To get to my room at the Sorrento hotel I had to cross a garden. And every time I stepped out there was this distinct lemony aroma. You cannot miss the fruit; it is always there, as symbols of a ‘sun-soaked, poetic vision of the country’. Breakfast was typically Italian, and of course, there was limoncello, jam, marmalade and desserts, all from the juicy lemons, and fresh, ripe oranges.
The drive to Alberobello, almost 240 kilometres, cut across mountains, past a fast changing landscape, where the lemons gave way to olive trees and to vast tracts of yellowish fields. It was late noon when we drove into this famous Trulli town. It was quiet, only a few shops were open; there was hardly anyone on the streets. It was siesta time in this town that had a population of around 11,000 people. We walked towards Rioni Monti and Aia Piccola, situated on two hills, wholly composed of Trulli, over a thousand lined up on the side of seven narrow, cobbled streets. The first impression that one got of the curious, round white-washed Trulli houses, with circular tiled roofs, some of which are five centuries old, is that of a community of beehives with conical grey pointed roofs.
The winding streets, with these houses on either side, was like entering a quaint world. Wandering alone, with the Trullis and silence for company, the history of these remarkable constructions came alive. The little guide book told me that this curious Hobbit-house-like design is a result of an equally strange history. In the 16th century, this area was under the Counts of Conversano, a branch of the Acquaviva family, who were powerful in Southern Italy. The king of Naples collected revenue from each building in his feudal territory. When the farmers in this area constructed homes without prior permission, the news reached the king. Faced with the prospect of paying royal taxes the Conversanos demolished every house. With many homeless peasants around, the legend goes that Count Girolamo Acquaviva allowed his people to build again, provided the houses could be pulled down as soon as word was heard of the arrival of tax inspectors. So, a style of building was created in which coned limestone structures were put up without mortar so that they could be quickly pulled apart. The locals called these houses ‘Trulli’ from the Greek word ‘tholos’, meaning dome. Today, the walls are firmly held together with mortar.
My reverie was interrupted by our Trafalgar tour director Giacomo, who was calling out and gesturing to me to hurry. He was standing beside an old man, a local resident. He had been living here from the time he could remember and invited us into his Trulli. It was comfortable inside the house, warmly lit up, with a bedroom, a clean toilet, and a spacious living room, aesthetically furnished. The lanes that run through the rows of Trulli are peaceful and relatively quiet, except for the subdued chatter from the members of the Trafalgar group. We meandered up and down these avenues. There were so many small passageways with flowers hanging from all corners, leading to quaint souvenir and handicraft shops.
Some of the Trulli had whitewashed symbols painted on the roofs. The guide book explained what these symbols represented. They have their origins in several different religions or cults and fall into three different sets: Primitive, Magic and Christian symbols. In general, they are painted on the Trulli to ward off evil spirits and keep the house safe and peaceful.
I must have lost my way in one of the streets. And thank God for that! I found the Museo del Territorio, a structure created by the merging of 15 Trulli. It is now owned by the municipality. I continued walking, passing a Trulli aesthetically modified into a restaurant and the Trullo Sovrano, once a priest's house constructed out of 12 little Trulli.
Climbing down the hill, I moved towards the Trafalgar coach. For one last time, I turned back and looked long at the huddled Trulli on the slopes of the hills, the white walls and grey tiles gleaming in the evening sun. Trulli magical!
(The writer was invited on a FAM trip organised by >Trafalgar Tours to Italy)
