Alberobello stands to the southern part of Bari province, near Castellana Grotte, Locorotondo and Putignano. The town was founded in the 15th century by Acquaviva-D’Aragona, two counts of Conversano, on land that was originally an oak forest. A typical feature of Alberobello are the trulli, white dry-stone houses with conical roofs made of lapidary stones. Inside, the trulli have a square central room communicating with the other rooms of the house via arches. Many trulli in Alberobello can be visited and the tallest trullo in the area, Trullo Sovrano, is on two floors and houses a museum. The roofs of the trulli are embellished with decorations and pinnacles of various shapes, often symbolising religious signs or signs of the zodiac. In 1996 the city of Alberobello, the heart of the Murgia dei Trulli, was declared a Heritage of Humanity site by UNESCO.
“Monti” and “Aia Piccola” are the most ancient and characteristic zones in Alberobello. In quarter “Monti”, composed of 1030 trulloes with their characteristic original structures, there are “siamese trulloes” with double-cone roofs, low fireplaces and no windows. The history of this type of trullo is tightly connected with the never-ending fight between love and hatred. On the contrary, “Aia piccola” quarter is characterized by evocative and fully preserved narrow, winding alleyways.
Sources: By the editorial staff Updated on: 06/08/2010
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