Alberobello

trulli UNESCO world heritage

Alberobello

History

Alberobello is an incredible location, unique in its kind, it is such a particular and picturesque place that you won’t find many in the world! It has about 10 000 inhabitants, famous all over the world for its characteristic stone houses called trulli which since 1996 have been protected by UNESCO as a world heritage site. The history of these very particular buildings is linked to the pragmatic de Baronibus, an edict of the fifteenth century Kingdom of Naples that subjected each new urban settlement to a tribute. The Counts of Conversano Acquaviva d’Aragona from 1481, owners of the territory on which Alberobello stands today, then imposed on the farmers sent to these lands to build their homes dry, without using mortar, so that they could be configured as precarious constructions , easy to demolish. Therefore, having to use only stones, the farmers found the simplest and most solid configuration in the round shape with a self-supporting domed roof composed of overlapping stone circles. The domed roofs or half cone for straw called false dome of the trulli are embellished with decorative pinnacles which represented as many say the pinnacle was the signature of the master trullaro who did it or who restored and represented the laying of the pinnacle an exciting moment, the whose form is inspired by symbolic, mystical and religious and / or profane elements.

Monuments and Places of Interest:
  • Basilica Sanctuary of Saints Cosma and Damiano
  • Parish Sanctuary of Saint Anthony of Padua
  • Rione monti and rione Aja piccola
  • Sovereign Trullo
  • Siamese Trullo
  • The Territorial Museum, housed in the Casa Pezzolla complex
  • Belvedere

Events, Traditions, and Folklore:

  • International Folklore Festival “City of the Trulli”
  • Living Nativity Scene (between December 20th and January 7th)
  • The Living Passion (Good Friday)
  • Historical re-enactment of Alberobello’s liberation from feudal rule. (July)
  • Patronal Feast and procession of the Medical Saints Cosma and Damiano (between September 25th and 28th)
Close
Close