Alberobello, a town in the province of Bari, is also known for the famous trulli, which are characteristic buildings of central and southern Puglia.
The country stretches over two hills, on the hill located to the east there is the newer part of town, while on the west are aligned the trulli. This urban area is divided into the districts Monti and Aia Piccola, is recognized by the Unesco artistic heritage of global interest.
The name in the city of Alberobello is derived from the Latin “Sylva aut Nemur arboris belli”, which means Selva tree or wood of the war, and remember that the area in ancient times was a wooded area, probably where took place a feat of arms or an ambush of brigands.
The history of the town began in the sixteenth century when the King of Naples, Ferdinando D’ Aragona, gave the investiture of the fiefdom including the Selva, to Andrea Matteo Acquaviva, Count of Conversano.
The Counts of Conversano began to bring people, mostly peasants, to break up and make the forest fertile, in exchange offered them benefits, asking only a tenth of the crops, but not granting any form of property, and even civic rights or privileges.
The farmers were able to build their houses to dry, with the prohibition of employing any type of lime, they were the Trulli, so they could demolish them in case of royal inspection, since the birth of an urban agglomerate demanded the payment of tributes.
In fact in 1644, following a complaint made by Caracciolo Duke of Martina Franca, was ordered a royal inspection, and then the Earl demolished in one night all the houses, the inhabitants moving away temporarily.
At the time, the royal control inspectors found only scattered stones and so the appeal had no effect. After the settlers rebuilt their homes again, always respecting the prohibition to use lime. Meanwhile the village of Selva grew, but the condition of the people was very sad, without any guarantee and protection for their own existence.
This life particularly hard fuelled the people’s desire for freedom and the aspiration to a civilian life.
Finally in 1797 a group of Alberobello took courage and went to Taranto to ask for help king Ferdinand IV of Bourbon, who received the petition and issued a decree which elevated the small village to the royal city, freeing it from feudal serfdom.
What to visit in Alberobello
Typical constructions of Alberobello, the trulli, from the greek tholos it means: dome. Have come down to our times through a thousand-year tradition.
In a central area of the town, situated between the Hague district Piccola and Piazza del Popolo, you can find the complex known as Casa Pezzolla.
It is the largest housing complex of 15 contiguous and communicating trulli, visitable in Alberobello, the oldest of them dating back to the eighteenth century. The biggest Trullo of the country is the sovereign trullo, and was built by Perta family in the middle of the ‘700.
This two storey building is a museum and the interior can be visited, it has a décor reconstructed through the testimonies of the older inhabitants of Alberobello.
