Beautiful conical-hat like houses of Alberobello

Old houses of Alberobello with black conical roofs that look like houses-with-hats, are an amazing spectacle. They represent an ancient tradition that has origins in pre-historical times. This post is about the magical Alberobello.

Reaching Alberobello

Alberobello (literally "Beautiful tree") is a tiny town in Apulia region of south Italy. Nearest national line train station is at Bari, 57 km away. From Bari, you can get a local train which takes you to Alberobello station in about 1.5 to 2 hours.

A 10-15 minutes walk from the railway station to Corso Trento e Trieste  and then towards Via Indipendenza-Largo Martellotta will take you to the old parts of the city characterized by the Trulli, the houses with black conical roofs.

A road sign on Via Indipendenza (image below) points to the stairs going up to a Belvedere terrace from where you can have an overview of the Trulli area.

To see more Trulli houses, you can also visit the surrounding areas in the Itria valley such as Locorotondo and Cisternino. However, I think that the visual impact of these houses is seen best in Alberobello, where they are grouped together in one area. For example, the image below shows the Trulli houses in Cisterino.

Characteristics of Trulli houses

The Trulli are made of stones without using any mortar or binding cement in any part of the construction. This means that the builders need to select and cut the stones in a certain way and then fit them together so that they make a stable and water/wind-proof dwelling.

This kind of house constructions were started during the Bronze age around 1500 BCE. For example in the island of Sardinia there are prehistoric buildings called Nauraghe, made just with stones without any mud or mortar to bind them. The houses in Alberobello are around 500 years old.

History of Alberobello

Alberobello city came up in 16th century along the banks of Cana river. People were ordered to build their houses only with dry stones and without using any mortar. This was done to avoid paying taxes to the kingdom of Naples which ruled this area, as dry stone-houses were treated as temporary buildings.

Since this area was rich in limestone and Karst-stone, people started building trulli houses. The image below shows a couple of pictures from 1920, showing this area when it was densely inhabited.

In the 20th century, when people had more money, they started demolishing the trulli houses to build modern cement-houses. About 200 trulli houses were thus demolished. Fortunately, during early 1990s, a new mayor of Alberobello stopped the demolitions and developed it as a tourist attraction.

Trulli of Alberobello

Roads going up and down the gentle hills around Viale Margherita in Alberobello are lined with trulli houses. In many of them there are souvenir shops for the tourists where they sell traditional crafts of Apulia.

Many houses have the sign of cross or the zodiac signs painted on their roofs.

There are different models of trulli including single one room buildings as well as, huge interconnected structures with different rooms and roofs.

The way the roofs are designed also show many variations.

Many trulli houses are still inhabited. I met a person called Mr Sebastiano, who invited me inside his house to show it. He is retired and has grown up in the same house. As you can see in the image below, it is a simple but comfortable house from inside. It has a living room with a fireplace on one side and a tiny bedroom (separated by a curtain) a separate kitchen and a bathroom.

Even the Sant Antonio (St. Anthony) church in this area has roofs built like Trulli, though it is not a real trulli building.

Art of Alberobello

There are many souvenir shops selling local art work in Alberobello. I loved the art work in one such shop run by a lady called Maria Caporaso. Two examples of her art are presented below.

Conclusions

The traditional trulli houses of Alberobello with their black conical roofs make the old town look like a globlin-land from a children's book. I adored this city and its atmosphere.

The countryside around it is famous for its olive trees and oil. The sea is not very far and has amazing colours. There are many small characteristic towns nearby including the incredible city-in-white Ostuni. If you are planning an Italian holiday which is outside the famous big tourist cities, this is a great area for it.

The last bit of information is for the Bollywood lovers - a part of the song "Khuda Jaane" from the Bollywood film "Bachna Ae Haseeno" with Ranbir Kapoor and Deepika Padukone was shot here in Alberobello.

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Journey to Brindisi

(A post from 2008, edited & corrected in 2013)

 

Every time I am going to travel I start worrying about different things that can go wrong. When the journey is by train, the anxiety is lesser, I just need to make sure that I have sufficient time for the connecting trains. When the travel agency tells me that there is a connecting train just ten minutes after arrival, I usually tell them to forget it and to look for a train after at least one hour. It is rare that a fast train of Ferrovie Italiane does not have delays of 10-15 minutes and with other non-fast trains, the delays are usually much longer.

I was not worried about my journey to Brindisi. It is a straight train, no need to get down and change trains, so even if there will some delays, I can relax and arrive calmly. Brindisi is in the lower eastern tip of Italy, a famous port city. In 1931 even Gandhi ji had taken the ship for India from Brindisi port after his journey to UK for some meeting.

Our house is quite close to the Bologna railway station and a journey by car usually takes 10 minutes. However, my wife was busy so she could not have accompanied me and I needed to take a bus. I checked the bus timings and decided to be prudent by leaving an hour earlier. In about twenty minutes we were quite close to the railway station when the first problem cropped up in the form of a traffic jam. To do the last two km of the journey, it took another 20 minutes. It seemed that there was some kind of protest demonstration in the area that was driving the traffic mad.

Anyway, I had still 20 minutes to my train and the railway station is not so far from the bus stand. At the station, it seemed the train was on time and I reached the platform, a bit huffy puffy from carrying the suitcase over the stairs, but still with five minutes to spare.

Five minutes passed. Another five minutes passed. Then another five minutes passed. They were making lot of announcements but they forgot to say anything about our fast Eurostar train. Finally a sign of “delay of 10 minutes” appeared on the sign board, even while the delay was already of 15 minutes. Then after a few minutes the announcement about our train, a last minute announcement of a change of platform. An old lady with two heavy looking suitcases looked me with imploring eyes and asked for confirmation, “Have they changed the platform?”

So when we reached the other platform, I was even more out of breath. Anyway, I had made it to the train. I have my laptop with me with couple of films I want to see. I also have my lunch packet plus some papers for reading. Eurostars trains are quite nice inside with electric sockets, so that on journeys you can use your laptops and other electric gadgets without any problem.

However another surprise awaited me in the train. I had the corner seat right near one end of the carriage that had no folding table or electric socket in front of it. It is just not my day, I had thought. There must be only 7 or 8 such seats on the whole train out of the total 700 seats, yet it was my luck to get one of them and I am sure if I really wanted that kind of seat, I wouldn’t have ever got it!

“I have an eight hour journey, can you please find me another seat?” I asked the ticket controller. He nodded in sympathy and so I have moved to another seat with a table and a socket for plugging my laptop. The controller hasn’t actually said if if this seat is free right up to Brindisi or I would need to shift back to my original seat at some point in time, but I am not complaining!

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The surprise came at the end. The train reached Brindisi after a 7 hours and 40 minutes journey, exactly on time. The journey back was equally impressive, it arrived in Bologna five minutes before time!

While I got down from the train in Bologna thinking that perhaps Ferrovie Italiane has indeed changed for better, I heard the announcements. The train for Bari was delayed by 60 minutes because of engine failure. Some other train for Rome, Rimini and Milan also had delays. Guess we were just plain lucky!

Here are a few pictures from this short trip to Brindisi.

 

 

 

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This post was originally written in 2008

Travelling in the goblinland of Apulia

(A post from 2012, edited & corrected in 2013)

I love the strange looking conical roofs made of black Tufa stone in the south eastern tip of Italy, the Apulia region. I think that they are the ideal homes of goblins and fairies from my childhood fantasy books. The local people call these houses "trullo" (plural, Trulli) that has a nice tinkling sound, appropriate for the fantasy setting.

This weekend, I visited Alberobello, the land of Trulli, an area that has been declared a world heritage site by UNESCO. I stayed in Ostuni and travelled to Brindisi, Oria and Alberobello. This travel diary is about that trip.

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After the relentless snow of past two weeks in Bologna, the cool sea breeze at the port in Brindisi seemed like a dream.

This small and ancient city has seen almost all important leaders from the pre-second world war India, from Mahatma Gandhi to Subhash Chandra Bose, who travelled by sea to London and other cities of Europe and USA. They used to arrive here from India passing through Suez canal. From Brindisi they travelled northwards in trains through Italy and France to their destinations. It was a much faster way to travel to Europe compared to going around the cape of Good Hope at the southern tip of Africa.

It was at the port of Brindisi that Indian regiments had arrived in 1944 as part of the Allied forces during the second world war and so many of them had given their lives to the war against Nazi and Fascist rule in Europe.

Not far from the castle of Brindisi and the port is a monument commemorating the Italian soldiers from Brindisi who had died in the first world war. Hidden behind the monument, one level below, the inscription on a wall remembers the inauguration of the monument by Mussolini.

At the port the fishermen bring their catch from the sea. A cat sat patiently watching a fishermen's boat dock at the port and looked expectantly at them. One of the fishermen talked to the cat and finally threw a small fish to him.

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We were at the ancient city of Oria. The earliest inhabitants of the tiny city at the top of a hill in pre-Roman times had come from the Greek island of Creta, but there are also many traces of stone-age prehistoric people in this area.

It was evening when we arrived there. At the meeting we were expecting Nichi Vendola, the charismatic leader of a left party, who is also president of the Apulia region. For such a traditional and conservative area in far south of Italy, Vendola is a strange and unexpected public figure, because he is gay and has been open about his sexuality, as well as, been a strong fighter for rights of different groups of marginlized persons.

People of Pulia have voted overhelmingly for him and this makes me feel hopeful. Vendola has been able to promote development in his region with his progressive and humanistic policies. He is not just a local leader but has a national following and is often seen on national TV.

In his speech he spoke passionately about not following the neoliberal policies that Europe seems to be following these days. He did not talk in usual ideological terms that lfet leaders tend to use. At one point, he said, "What kind of cure for the crisis is that they are proposing to Greece? With cost of living higher than in Italy, a minimum pension of 150 Euro and an average salary of 450 Euro, how are people going to survive? And if people can't live, what kind of economy-cure is that?"

The meeting was about persons with disabilities and Vendola was very eloquent about his own personal experiences and views about exclusion and discrimination that disabled persons and other groups of persons have to face.

Compared to the tabloid culture in UK that thrives on juicy news of scandals and personal issues, in Italian newspapers there has hardly been any gossip about Vendola. Even when persons like Berlusconi made vulgar comments about Vendola's sexuality, he has always responded with maturity, refusing to play a victim.

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Our meeting was at the place run by a group of nuns in Ostuni, Santa Maria della Nova. It is a huge and imposing building, however only one wing of the building is being used by the nuns. In the other part of the building are other things including a gymn where you can hear the disco music that accompanies the exercise-routines. The nuns are very friendly and it is a good place to stay in Ostuni on a limited budget, though the nuns have restrictions about going in and out at late hours and for food you need to go out.

Ostuni is beautiful, a dense group of whitewashed medieval houses sitting at the top of a hill, that overlooks a valley full of ancient olive trees, a few kilometres from the sea.

Old and gnarled Olive trees have an almost sacred status in Mediterranean region and are supposed to live for hundreds or even a few thousand years. In Athens I had heard of Plato's olive groove, where olive trees were supposed to be 2400 years old. The olive grooves around Ostuni are wonderful.

Near the centre of Ostuni, I was at an apartment that belongs to Antonio and Caterina. The two hundred years old house on the first floor has very high ceilings with beautiful designs on the roof. It is affordable and convenient (in the peak season it costs more). The kitchen has a window that leads to steps and to another independent apartment one floor above. You can rent only the lower part or if you are in a bigger group, you can also rent the upper bedroom that is beautiful (in the picture below). I also loved the terrace from where you can see the sea and the roofs of the houses of Ostuni.

Antonio Marzio is a retired nurse from the Italian air force and the couple is very hospitable and affable. "We grew up in two parallel streets, see that house there, it is just 20 metres from here, I grew up there", Antonio explained to me on the terrace, "but I didn't meet her till I was thirty." They have two sons, both are studying at university in north Italy.

This house belonged to Caterina. Now both of them live in another apartment and rent out this one to tourists. If you are planning a visit to Ostuni and are looking for an apartment in the old part of the town, you can write to Antonio at: marzio.antonio_1953(at)libero.it

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On my last day in Apulia, I had a free morning. Antonio and Caterina accompanied me to Alberobello in their car. The journey took about 45 minutes. Without their help it would have been impossible for me to visit Alberobello because the there are no direct trains or buses from Ostuni or Brindisi to Alberobello, and thus, one way journey by public transport needs three hours.

The old part of Alberobello with the characteristic trulli houses along winding streets on a hill is increadibly beautiful. Some trulli have small shops with beautiful local handicrafts and friendly women running them. At the top of the hill is a trulli-church dedicated to St Anthony.

In front of one of the old houses we met Sebastiano. He looked to be in his eighties. He was friendly and welcomed us in his trulli home. The conical roofs of trulli are made of tufa stone that is placed one above another in such a way that without using any cement or mortar, it is stable and waterproof. An alcove separated by a curtain had his bed and a small corridor led to a kitchen. He had made a wooden platform beneath the conical roof, that he used as a store room.

Along the street we also met an old lady sitting in the sun on the pavement in front of her house, who was knitting a sweater, which is increasingly a rare sight today as nowadays almost all wollens are made in factories. Antonio asked her about her age and she smiled and shook her head saying, "You never ask a woman her age!"

I bought some fried beans and typical ring like bread called taralli from a shop.

In another shop of incredibly colourful terracotta statues, whistles and art-works, I met feisty and talkative Maria Caporaso. She told us that after she separated from her husband, she wanted to see the world so she has travelled in so many countries including China and India. From her India travel she remembered the chaos outside the Delhi airport and seemed a little disappointed when I told her about the new airport that does not have much chaos.

It seems that her handicrafts are very famous in Japan where she has been many times to exhibitions and TV shows. She showed us some news cuttings from Japanese newspapers and magazines. She herself does traditional embroidery work while the terracotta handicrafts in her shop are by other local artists.

On our way back from Alberobello we stopped shortly at another small town called Cisternina to admire the beautiful and verdant Itria valley dotted here and there with some trulli houses amidist more modern houses.

It was a beautiful and unfortgetable visit to Pulia. The highlight of the visit for me was Alberobello.

After the visit to Alberobello, Antonio and Caterina accompanied me to the airport in Brindisi in time for my flight.

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Back in Bologna it is still snowing almost nonstop. Looking out of the window at the falling snowflakes, I think of the goblin-houses of the trulliland in Alberobello. It seems like a dream.

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This post was originally written in 2012