In the very south of Italy, between the spur of the boot and the heel, you will find the region of Apulia. Since rainwater flows underground into limestone caverns, the early Greek settlers noticed the lack of surface lakes and rivers and named the region the "land without water" or Apulia. Even today, visiting Apulia, I noticed an eerie silence due to the absence of bird songs and squirrels scampering through the trees.This is because there is very little fresh surface water for them, so they live elsewhere.
Riding through the countryside south of Bari, the grayish tones of the olive trees and the greener tones of the grape vines formed lovely patterns...but I soon noticed little cone-shaped structures popping up.
These are the Trulli, small buildings characteristic of the Itria Valley and surroundings. Their origin is unknown precisely, however the area was settled by the ancient Greeks and some Greek tombs have similar shapes, perhaps influencing building styles. The trulli are constructed of the flat limestone rocks found locally, which are stacked without mortar. A solid "cap" is on top and when the cap is removed, the ceiling can easily collapse so that the structure can be taken apart. This supports the local idea that these structures originated in response to tax avoidance, because the King of Naples was heavily taxing dwellings and there was an uprising about it in 1644. Trulli actually existed before this date, so the taxation explanation could be questionable.
The greatest concentration of trulli is in Alberobello, which has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The trulli became "field huts" for a while, but now are considered chic dwellings, so many are being converted into nice homes.
The ornaments at the apex of the roof are meant to ward off evil spirits. The bottom structure shows an image of the sun painted on the roof, which is also done to keep evil away.
The collage shows the outside and inside of a trullo that the couple have renovated and now occupy. The trulli below were actually at our hotel. The top image shows a trulli that you can rent, and the bottom image shows actual trulli that have not yet been renovated, behind the other trulli.
The olive grove below was also on the grounds of our hotel. These trees are quite old, and I love the gnarly shape of their trunks!
In the 1920's, the people of Alberobello decided to build a "Trulli Church" which can be seen in the collage below:
And I couldn't leave Alberobello without including this beautiful flower that I found there!
No comments:
Post a Comment