Town of Alberobello, province of Bari, region of Puglia, Italy. The best routes. Dishes you must try
The picturesque Italian town of Alberobello in the province of Bari (Apulia) has become famous throughout the world for one interesting invention - cylindrical houses with cone-shaped roofs. The essence of this invention is not in novelty (as is known, similar primitive structures appeared in prehistoric times), but in the cunning and ingenuity of the local residents.
In the second half of the 17th century. Aragonese Count Giangirolamo II Acquaviva ordered the peasants to build houses that could be easily and quickly dismantled. This ploy made it possible to evade paying the property tax that the Kingdom of Naples imposed on vassals in the subject territories. The huts built in this way could be dismantled by pulling out just one stone from the masonry, similar to a house of cards. As soon as Acquaviva They reported about the upcoming inspection, as if by magic, entire villages disappeared. For this, the count received the nickname “the scythe from Apulia.”
Construction of houses
A trullo is typically a one-room, sometimes two-story, dry-masonry structure with a conical roof of thin limestone slabs topped with a so-called cuccurino, a free-form stone spire. The second layer of limestone slabs - chiancarella - covers only the upper part of the cone. From the entrance side, the chiancarellas were decorated with drawings, Christian or pagan symbols.
The only source of light was the entrance hole. Trulli were often united by a trailer or like a honeycomb. White color of external walls, in addition protective function in the summer heat, makes them especially attractive. It is no coincidence that in 1996 Alberobello became part of World Heritage UNESCO.
Reference. Trullo comes from the Greek. τρούλος - "dome". The most ancient trulli date back to the 16th century. and are located in the Murgia area.
Image gallery
 Trullo is a work of art |  Trullo - interior |  |
Many cities in Italy boast unique monuments and ancient architecture, which is in the world heritage. But in all this scattering there is amazing town Alberobello. It is located in southern Italy, in the Apulia region near the famous. This small town became famous thanks to its unusual trulli houses. They are scattered like mushrooms across the hills of Alberobello, turning it into a fabulous city of gnomes.
In 1996, the snow-white trulli of Alberobello, like many other attractions of Italy, were included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. Truly, this is one of the most unusual places not only in Italy, but also in the world.
How the trulli appeared in Alberobello
Trullo in Russian means dome. It is thanks to their unusual shape that trulli got their name.
Traditional trullo houses in Alberobello
The history of the construction of unusual houses goes back to the recent past. In the 16th century, Duke Andrea Matteo III of the Acquaviva dynasty brought his peasants to these lands. Andrea was still a stingy fellow. According to local laws, any landowner had to pay a settlement tax to the Neapolitan king.
To avoid unnecessary costs, the Duke ordered his peasants to assemble houses from local limestone, without the use of cement mortar. For what? It's simple!
A special stone was laid at the base of the roof. It was enough to harness three horses, pull this stone, and the house would turn into ruins: in half an hour an entire village could be destroyed.
The arrival of royal officials was always known in advance. As a result, tax collectors saw nothing in these parts except piles of white stones. The dukes prospered, and local peasants were forced to rebuild their house anew each time.
In 1797, King Ferdinand exempted Alberobello from paying taxes. But local residents They could not believe in the king’s generosity, continuing to build domed houses without fastening mortars.
The construction of trulli in Alberobello stopped only in 1925, when a law was passed prohibiting such construction. This law is still in effect today. It is impossible to build new trulli, but it is very possible to use and reconstruct old ones. Local residents actively take advantage of this, attracting numerous tourists to the unusual town.
Attractions Alberobello
Actually, the trulli in Alberobello are the main attraction. Tourists come here to admire the unusual trulli houses, stay in trulli hotels, buy souvenirs in trulli shops and taste delicious cuisine southern Italy in trulli restaurants and trulli cafes.
Trullo shops with souvenirs
Modern Alberobello stands on two hills. The eastern hill is occupied by recent buildings. There is nothing special to see here, except perhaps the church in honor of the patrons of the city, Cosmas and Domian.
The western hill is the complete opposite of the eastern one. It is here that numerous trulli are located. Total fairy houses there are about 1400 in the city. They are divided into two districts. The most visited area is Rione Monti, where there are about 1000 “gnome houses”.
It has everything a modern tourist needs: cafes, shops, hotels, bars and restaurants. The second district - Rione Aia Piccola - is not so flooded with foreigners and Italians from neighboring cities, but here, just like 400 years ago, ordinary people live in trulli houses and ordinary city life flows.
In Alberobello, no two trulli are alike. The main difference is the drawings on the dome
Despite the external similarity, no two trullo are identical in Alberobello.
There are so-called male and female trullo. Men's ones are always decorated with a dome with the sign of the master who assembled it. The designs on the dome are also all different. Most often, zodiac signs, pagan and religious symbols are depicted on the houses.
Walking through the narrow streets, a curious tourist will definitely end up at Piazza Sacramento, where one of the main attractions of the “town of gnomes” is located – trullo Sovrano.
Trullo Sovrano was built in the 18th century by the family of a wealthy priest, and it is unusual in that it contains as many as 2 floors! Inside there is now a museum where, for a nominal fee of 1.5 euros, you can see how people lived in these places a couple of centuries ago.
There is a museum inside the trullo Sorvano.
Another famous attraction is the trullo church of St. Anthony. It was built with the money of American immigrants on the top of the Rione Monti.
We also recommend visiting the small store Alberobello in miniatura. Here you can see and carefully examine a huge model of old Alberobello. There is no entrance fee for visiting the store and viewing the model.
When is the best time to go to Alberobello?
Alberobello is beautiful at any time of the year. However, the greatest influx of tourists is observed from May to October.
In summer, it is better to go to Alberobello in the late afternoon, when the midday heat has subsided. It is in the summer that a lot of cultural events are organized in the city: concerts, festivals, performances by theater groups and even poetry evenings. On weekends during the season, you can truly get lost in the crowd, because the large flow of tourists is also joined by Italian families from neighboring towns.
Annual winter light festival in Alberobello
It's not boring here in winter either. Every year during the Christmas period Alberobello hosts the Alberobello Light Festival. During the festival, as darkness falls, snow-white trulli illuminate thousands of lamps and spotlights, turning the already fairy-tale town into something completely magical. And the air temperature, which does not fall below +5 degrees in the south of Italy, even makes winter trip truly comfortable.
How to get from Bari to Alberobello
The closest airport to Alberobello is in. Unfortunately, there are no direct flights from Russia and Ukraine to Bari, but you can always choose a flight with a transfer.
At Bari Airport you can order a taxi or rent a car. With your own transport, the trip will take only an hour.
For those who cannot afford a taxi and have not yet acquired an international driving license, there is another simple option - book an excursion from Bari to Alberobello.
Excursions are usually one-day. In the morning you will be picked up from your hotel, and in the evening, filled with impressions, you will be returned back. You can find one of these wonderful excursions at this link. In addition to getting to know the trulli of Alberobello, the price of the excursion also includes a visit to one of the oldest wineries in Apulia with a tasting of local wines.
And finally, the last option for lovers of cheap but extreme travel - public transport. From Bari to Alberobello there is a train every hour and a bus once a day. They depart from Bari central railway station. You can get to the station from the airport by city bus (the trip will take about 30 minutes) or by train (15 minutes). Next you need to purchase a ticket for commuter train to Alberobello. The journey will take about 1.5-2 hours.
Be careful! Regional trains do not announce upcoming stops. It’s important not to miss yours! The doors of the carriages open on demand by pressing the corresponding button. At some stops the train stops for no longer than a minute. Plan your time to get off.
Trains from Bari arrive at railway station Alberobello
From the railway station to historical center can be reached on foot. The journey will take no more than 10 minutes.
When planning such a long and slightly extreme route, be sure to look for accommodation in Alberobello in advance (link). It is unlikely that you will have enough time to explore the city in 1 day and return to Bari in the evening. But you will have a unique opportunity to live in a real trullo and experience the indescribable atmosphere of a fairy-tale town.
What to bring as a souvenir from Alberobello
You can bring it as a souvenir of your visit to the “town of gnomes” main symbol– trullo. It is he who is depicted on countless local souvenirs. T-shirts, plates, mugs, magnets, as well as small copies of houses are actively sold out for home collections. Household items embroidered by local craftsmen are also popular - towels, tablecloths, napkins.
“” is also held in high esteem in Alberobello. In souvenir shops you can always find gift sets with local orecchiette paste, olive oil and local wines. All kinds of liqueurs produced here are also popular. They are bottled in trullo shape, so that even after drinking the drink, the memory of fairytale city it will still remain.
Photos by: Eric Bauer, Pizzaemandolino, Istvánka, Yellow.Cat, Horcrux92, Inselmann, alberobellolightfestival.com
The small Italian town of Alberobello is known to many tourists who appreciate the comfort and indescribable charm of the Italian province. During the season, which lasts from the beginning of May to the end of October, the commune, located in the Apulia region, is flooded with travelers not only from European countries, but also from all over the world.
This popularity of the city with a population of just over 11,000 people is explained quite simply: this is where the fabulous-looking houses - trulli - are located.
Trulli houses in Alberobello from a bird's eye view
These amazing buildings, many of which were built 400 years ago, evoke admiration among visitors to Alberobello and an irresistible desire to stay in the city as long as possible. From May to October, the settlement, founded at the beginning of the 16th century (and maybe much earlier), is always noisy and crowded: thousands of tourists crowd the narrow streets, numerous guides tell the history of Alberobello and the trulli houses in different languages, and local merchants offer travelers will be offered a variety of souvenirs and organic products. Wine, cheese, grappa, olive oil - all this is in constant high demand, and is literally sold out by visitors in a matter of minutes.
In Alberobello, all sellers earn decent amounts during the season, but the main source of income for the local budget is, of course, the tourism business. Only wealthy tourists can afford to stay even for a week in an Italian commune. Room prices in trulli hotels are unusually high. This is due to the fact that huge amounts of money are annually allocated from the city treasury for the preservation and maintenance of unique trulli structures in their original form. It is worth noting that the domed houses are included in the UNESCO World Heritage List: this means that all of them should remain preserved for our descendants.
Houses with roofs marked with pagan symbols have long become favorite subjects for professional photographers. Photos taken in the Italian town of Alberobello constantly grace the covers of the world's most popular tourism magazines. Commune in Bari - great place for those who want to enjoy picturesque rural landscapes, get rid of stress and try “real” vegetables, fruits, wine and dairy products, which have recently become extremely difficult to purchase in supermarkets.
By the way, in this small town you can meet face to face with a star from the world of cinema, show business or a famous politician: many of them have their own trulli houses in Alberobello. Only rich people can purchase this structure, built without cement and literally supported by one stone. The price of one square meter of ancient housing in Italian provincial town has long exceeded 6,500 (!) euros. It should be borne in mind that for this amount you can only purchase an almost completely destroyed “useful area”. For entire trulli houses, and even those located in the city center, the price immediately increases 3-4 times.
Trulli houses in Alberobello
According to historical documents, trulli houses began to be built in Italian city since the end of the 14th century. However, some historians argue that such unusual domed structures appeared on the territory of modern Alberobello much earlier. By the way, such houses were built by ancient people long before the Roman Empire appeared on the map. At the moment, we can only safely say that the name of the city comes from the oak forest (beautiful trees), and the name of the fairy-tale houses from the word “Trullo”, which translated from Latin means dome (houses with a dome). By the way, they are “fairy tales” only for modern tourists; the ancient inhabitants of Alberobello had no time for fairy tales in their time.
The technology for constructing trulli houses is unique, and at the same time, extremely simple. The indigenous inhabitants of the town collected light limestone blocks from nearby fields, brought them to the construction site and fastened them together without the use of cement. The roof of these buildings resembles a dome, on which the symbol of a pagan deity was depicted.
The craftsmen built trulli houses not because of religion and certainly not because of their love for the world of beauty and unusual things. These living quarters appeared in the Kingdom of Naples only because they were... quite easy and quick to destroy. The city of Alberobello has been ruled since the beginning of the 16th century by feudal lords who were part of the legendary Acquaviva dynasty. They did not want to pay the king a tax on settlements and allowed peasants to build on their territory only those houses that, if desired, could be turned into a pile of stones in the blink of an eye. As soon as the royal official approached Alberobello, all the inhabitants pulled out the stone at the base of the roof of their house and it immediately collapsed. The settlement instantly disappeared and the feudal lords did not have to pay taxes. The rulers prospered, and the townspeople, after the departure of the king’s representative, again had to rebuild a roof over their heads.
The trulli house really rests on one stone: even those buildings that have survived to this day can be easily destroyed in just 10 minutes. Only in 1797, Ferdinand IV of the Bourbon dynasty granted Alberobello freedom and, thereby, freed the townspeople from hard labor. The need to destroy their houses has become a thing of the past: in a small settlement, buildings erected using cement began to appear.
However, most of the indigenous people still preferred the trulli houses (there was always the possibility that the generous king would take away the freedom he had granted). Houses with domed roofs continued to be built. By the way, among these unusual architectural objects you can see both a “male” and a “female” house. The ancient masters always decorated the “male” with a dome, on which was depicted the symbol of the master and the owner’s surname! In 1925, the Italian authorities issued a law that prohibited the construction of such facilities throughout the country. By the way, this law still applies in our time: a trulli house can only be reconstructed, new architectural masterpieces They are no longer built according to this plan and this technology.
Modern Alberobello: tourism, shopping and entertainment
Nowadays Alberobello is one of the most attractive for travelers tourist destinations. The city is located on two picturesque hills, separated by a small river. Of greatest interest is eastern part Alberobello, because this is where it is located greatest number trulli. Total unusual buildings in ancient city There are just under one and a half thousand. Many houses that could be destroyed in a few minutes are still inhabited by people. However, most of the architectural objects of interest to tourists are no longer used for their intended purpose: local entrepreneurs have opened souvenir shops, hotels, restaurants and bars in them.
Alberobello also has two main attractions: a temple built using the same technology as the trulli houses; and the only two-story house in the city, which dates from the 18th century. In the two-story building, almost immediately after the inclusion of unusual houses on the UNESCO World Heritage List, a museum was organized dedicated, as you might guess, to trulli houses. The cost of a ticket giving the right to visit this museum is symbolic - only one and a half euros.
Visiting restaurants and bars will not be as cheap for tourists as visiting a local museum. At the restaurant Il Poeta Contadino, whose interior gives a complete picture of what trulli looked like during the Middle Ages, the cheapest breakfast, including two courses, costs more than 30 euros.
Amazing houses, hospitable locals, national cuisine, which is extremely popular among true gourmets, most interesting story cities - all this attracts tens of thousands of guests to Alberobello every year. Where there are a lot of tourists, there is always a demand for accommodation, souvenirs and food: this is well understood by local residents who, even for huge sums of money, do not want to part with their trulli house, trulli bar or trulli shop. If in the 16th-17th centuries houses built using ancient technology only brought headaches to the indigenous population of the city, today they bring huge income: simple souvenirs, cheese, wine and beer in restaurants run out by noon.
Alberobello is a miniature town, taken under UNESCO protection back in 1996, famous for its snow-white trulli houses. It’s hard to believe, but it is precisely for these “estates for gnomes” that thousands of tourists come here all year round. The trulli zone, located to the west of the city center, includes about one and a half thousand fairy-tale houses with cone-shaped roofs, many of which date back to the 14th century.
How to get there
The easiest way to get to Alberobello is by train from Bari (4-6 EUR, departure hourly, journey time 1.5 hours). There are also several trains a day from Taranto. Tickets must be punched prior to boarding. Having arrived at the station, you need to follow straight along Via Mazzini, which then turns into Via Garibaldi and ends at Piazza del Popolo. The Zona Monumentale Trulli signs will help you avoid getting lost. The journey takes no more than 15 minutes.
In addition, you can get to the city by your own car from Bari or Brindisi airport (about an hour on the road). Along the way you can see a lot cute towns, for example, the snow-white Locorotondo, Cisternino or Ostuni, the 18th century baroque city of Martina Franca, the Romanesque Conversano.
Prices on the page are for April 2019.
Search for flights to Bari (closest airport to Alberobello)
Shopping and shops
In the trulli area, right in the UNESCO-protected houses, there are a lot of souvenir shops where you can buy local products, such as cheeses, grappa, wine, olive oil, and handicrafts. For natural foods and wines, look for an Enoteca sign, such as Tholos Wine Bar (Monte st Michele 20) or L’Anima del Vino (Largo Marttellota 93). Also, if you're in town on Thursday, don't miss vegetable market in Piazza Largo Martellotta, which is open until around lunchtime.
Cuisine and restaurants
Alberobello is home to many delicious and unusual restaurants, both in the city center and on the outskirts (which are considered less popular among tourists, and therefore more valuable among inveterate gourmets).
In the center you can visit the restaurant Casa Nova or La Cantina, which is located between the city hall and the basilica (Vico Lippolis, 9, on the corner of Corso Vittorio Emanuele). The latter has only 7 tables, one waiter, amazing cuisine and main courses for 20 EUR. Locals prefer to go to Gli Ulivi, which is located in the vicinity of Alberobello, near Campo Sportivo (closed on Wednesdays). At Il Trullo Antico (Monte Pasubio 1-3) you can taste pizza, at Gallo d’Estate you can sit on the outdoor terrace.
Alberobello
Another “hidden gem” of the trulli city is the restaurant Il Trullo d’Oro (Via Cavallotti 27). You can drink wine and enjoy the sunny cuisine of the Puglia region at Trattoria Amatulli (a liter of wine from 4 EUR, dishes from 15 EUR, Via Garibaldi 13). Finally, two more places worthy of lunch for tourists: the expensive Il Poeta Contadino with a medieval interior, where you can taste black truffles for 30 EUR (Via Indipendenza 21), and the modern Kave Club on main square Piazza del Popolo. They say the service in the latter is simply terrible, but in the evenings it’s not crowded.
Guides to Alberobello
Popular hotels in Alberobello
Entertainment and attractions in Alberobello
The trulli zone in Alberobello is divided into two parts: the less commercial Rione Aia Piccola (meaning there are fewer cafes and shops) with about 400 trulli, and Rione Monti, where there are about 1000 charming houses. Many of which, by the way, are still inhabited by people.
It is worth saying a few words about the appearance of these fabulous shelters in the world. Trulli are built entirely from stone, without the use of any coupling materials. The roofs are made in the form of cones (this is where their name trulli comes from), on the top there are stars, like Christmas trees, and the signs of the zodiac are painted on the roofs themselves. The first trullo was built around the 14th century, and in 1925 a law was passed banning their construction. Although they say that you can still buy a trulli house as a summer house.
As history goes, the construction of such buildings was not at all the spontaneous whims of the population of Apulia. The fact is that during the period of Spanish rule, the law prohibited feudal lords from building any more or less serious dwellings on their land without the approval of the authorities. Trullo became a way out of the situation: before the visit of officials, such a house was very easy to dismantle. Since such houses were created without the use of a binder, the efforts of just three horses, directed in different directions, removing a single stone at the base of the roof, were enough for the house to collapse. Having “disassembled” at least half the village in half an hour, only valleys with piles of stones always opened before the king’s inspectors.
From May to October, Alberobello becomes crowded with guides and tourists armed with DSLRs, who fill all the trulli houses, create queues in the trulli shops and snap up all the cold beer in the trulli bars.
In the trulli zone of Alberobello, you can simply wander around, looking at the quaint buildings, popping into cafes and souvenir shops, or you can also look into the so-called local attractions. For example, in Trullo Sovrano. This house is located in the modern part of the city, as it was built in the 18th century. And it got the “monument” label for its two floors - this is the only two-story trullo that was built by a wealthy family of a local priest. Today in Sovrano a small museum, the main exhibition of which is the actual interior of the trullo, giving an idea of how one can live in the “land of Lilliputians” Alberobello. Entrance 1.50 EUR, opening hours: 10-18:00. Address: Piazza Sacramento.
The second attraction worth visiting is the Church of St. Anthony (Chiesa Sant’Antonio), which is located, guess where? That's right, in trullo. Situated at the top of the Rione Monti, this quaint trulli church was built with donations from American expats. Address: Via Monte San Michele.
This southern part Italy, which is located on the heel of the peninsula-boot. We lived in the town for a week Monopoly, and a week in Polignano a Mare. While moving from one vacation spot to another, we went on an excursion to a unique place Alberobello. Many Belarusians have heard about Dududki, so this is the same place.
Name Alberobello(Italian Alberobello), presumably comes from the name of the plants growing here large quantities wild oaks ("arboris belli")
Alberobello famous for its white stone houses with a conical roof (trulli). There are about 1070 , and they are all very well preserved. In 1996 were included in the list cultural heritage UNESCO.
Trulli- These are traditional houses that are round on the outside and square on the inside. Building materials are readily available in this area - these are large stones laid into masonry using a dry method. The trulli have a conical roof of thin material and are covered and topped with a solid stone with decorations. The outer part of the cone is covered with limestone slabs.
Origin it is not known, but it is interesting that the same structures exist in Turkey, in the village of Harran, which is described in the Book of Genesis.
One of the versions may be like this. Around the 16th century Andrea Matteo III brought his peasants here to cultivate the land. However, he did not want to pay a tax to the King of Naples for each building. Therefore, residents collected pieces of limestone from all the surrounding fields and built their homes from them without using a fastening mortar. Such houses could be quickly and easily destroyed. To do this, one stone was knocked out at the base and the house turned into a pile of stones. And after the tax collector left, the building was rebuilt within a few days.
This trick allowed the local dukes to prosper, but their peasants had to rebuild the roof over their heads each time.
In 1797, King Ferdinand of the Bourbon dynasty granted the city Alberobello freedom and tax exemption. After which some actually began to build their houses using fastening material. But the majority of residents were able to fully believe in the freedom granted, because the king could take away the gift at any moment.
Classic houses with a domed roof continued to appear until 1925, when the Italian authorities passed a law prohibiting the construction. It still works today. This means that you can only reconstruct existing buildings, but under no circumstances build new ones. And it is also prohibited to destroy existing ones.
Trulli found throughout Apulia, But Alberobello- This is the only city in the world in which entire neighborhoods with trulli have been preserved.
Some of the houses are still lived in; the interiors are modernly furnished. Other houses housed shops, artisan workshops and restaurants. Mini-hotels have opened in some.
Local specialties and souvenirs are vying with each other on the streets. We tried hot red pepper jam and cactus liqueur. Well, pasta of course Italy It’s impossible not to try.
They offer linen products. We were amazed by the quality of the workmanship. The price really matches the quality: for the tablecloth that is shown in the picture, for example, it costs 200 euros.
A lot of souvenirs made of ceramics, olive wood, and stone are sold.
There are also local “matryoshka dolls”. You look at a rag doll - like Little Red Riding Hood from the fairy tale by Charles Perot. The seller turns the skirt inside out - it’s already her grandmother. Just take off your grandmother’s cap, and the gray wolf is already looking at you.
Local craftsmen sculpt funny clay sculptures with scenes from the life of Italians.
As already mentioned, building new trulli is prohibited by law. Therefore, the craftsmen who have kept the secrets of building these houses make them in miniature for tourists.
We purchased a trulli puzzle from the workshop of Maffei Giuseppe. For his works of art made of stone, he was even awarded government diplomas and other awards, which can be seen next to his crafts.
Another master Orazio Annese made the whole city in miniature. He worked on this composition for 14 months. Trulli made from local stone at a scale of 1:50.
