Alberobello, Italy

 

Alberobello is home to the Trulli's.  These cute round houses with cone shaped roofs create a fairy tale little city. There are about 1,500 in the city and 50,000 valley wide. We drove for an hour to get to this little gem and were surprised so many other people had the same idea.  

At the top of the hill is a Trulli church and this cute house which we think is the rectory for the church. These buildings are charming.

Trulli is a traditional Apulian dry stone hut with a conical roof. Their style of construction is specific to the Itria Valley in Italy.

The builders avoided mortar in favor of dry stone construction, for the simple reason that dry stone dwellings are easier to dismantle. When the early inhabitants of the Trulli heard the tax collectors were approaching, they could remove the roofs and perhaps even take down their houses altogether to avoid taxes.

We spent our day taking pictures of all the roofs.  The Trulli's are houses, gift shops, restaurants and are also homes for the residents of Alberobello.