Trulli of Alberobello

About this place

Alberobello is a small town in the province of Bari, Puglia, southern Italy, about 48 km southeast of Bari in a straight line, home to about 10,000 people. It is famous for its unique trulli houses, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1996. Settlement began in the early 16th century, when the Count of Conversano let some forty peasant families settle and farm the land. In the 17th century building of small houses began, helped by the plentiful limestone of the surrounding karst. A trullo is a round house of dry stone without mortar, topped by a conical roof of grey stone slabs. In the Rione Monti quarter hundreds of white houses with grey conical roofs climb the hillside in narrow lanes; some roofs carry symbols painted in white, and decorated stones crown their tips. Flowers spill from the white walls, and from the viewpoint the town looks like a forest of cones. Visitors explore the Monti and Aia Piccola quarters and step into trulli open as shops and small museums, and some restored trulli can be rented for the night. Aia Piccola is quieter and lived in, and early morning is best, before the tour buses.