Lucia and I have hosted in Brindisi Paola and Manuela, two friends of us, who come
from Milan.
Paola has
never been in Alberobello. So, she has never seen Trulli.
We leave
Brindisi after lunch, heading to Valle d’Itria, where Alberobello is located.
Literally, Alberobello is compounded by two words: Albero (tree), bello (beautiful).
Now, let me
try to explain you why and when Trulli have been created.
The
Acquaviva family, Counts of Conversano, incentivized peasants family to populate
a land which will then be called Alberobello.
Therefore, Trulli
begun to be built up in the second half of the 16th century.
Trulli are
a kind of construction stable and precarious at the same time.
The Counts
authorized the peasants to build dry dwellings, in order to get them easily
pulled down in case of royal inspection.
From this
perspective, the reason of building up precarious constructions was due to the
fact that the Counts of Conversano did not want to pay tax on properties,
imposed by the Neapolitan Reign.
We say In
Italy: contadino, scarpe grosse e
cervello fino, which means that peasants do not look great, however the are
very smart.
What makes
Trulli even more interesting is not just the way they are built up.
On top of
the roof, there are specific symbols which can be categorized as follow: Magic,
Christian and Primordial.
Therefore,
each category counts six symbols.
I enquiry
with a local gentleman about the most favorite dishes in Alberobello.
He replies that
handmade orecchiette is the favorite pasta there.
Additionally,
a very popular dish is fava bean with chicory, a bitter vegetable. On top of
it, two spoons of extra virgin olive oil.
In terms of wine, the local variety includes: Primitivo, Negroamaro, Locorotondo, Chardonnay, Sauvignon and Montepulciano.
Trulli of Alberobello have been declared World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1996.
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