The ultimate city guide to Alberobello, Italy
A generous land, with fragrant vegetation crossed by secret mule tracks, surrounds the famous Apulian town of Alberobello. Located in the province of Bari and inhabited by about 11,000 people, the small village was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1996, thanks to the very particular houses that dot the area: the Trulli.
To remember the village’s origins, it is necessary to go back to the 16th century, when the small fiefdom was in the hands of the Acquaviva Counts of Conversano and gradually began to be populated by peasants. While the settlers worked the land and made the area fertile, it was a purely economic case that led to the birth of the trulli. Since the construction of a city involved the payment of a tax, the accounts had temporary houses built, which were they could easily break down in a direct inspection.
In 1797, some courageous inhabitants came to Taranto, in the presence of Ferdinand IV of Bourbon, to obtain freedom from the old owners and be recognized as a settlement. The obligation to build dry houses to erase any trace if necessary prompted the settlers to build round-plan buildings with a domed roof made up of overlapping stone circles. This was the simplest but also the most solid form they could invent. Over time, to embellish the residences of Alberobello, decorative pinnacles appeared at the top of the roofs, with various shapes inspired by mystical and religious symbols, which performed the function of a house number: thanks to the particular ornament, everyone could distinguish a house from ‘other.
And still today, among the various trulli, there is one that stands out for its grandeur: it is the so-called “Trullo Sovrano,” built at the behest of the Perta family in the mid-eighteenth century and now used as a museum. The building is furnished in the style of the time and has been cared for and enriched thanks to the testimonies of the older inhabitants of Alberobello. During the summer, the king of the trulli comes back to life, thanks to an extensive review of musical, theatrical, and cultural shows organized within it.
For those who are not yet satisfied and would like to know more about Alberobello and its trulli, there is the Casa Pezzolla Territory Museum, a large complex of adjacent and communicating trulli, some of which even date back to the 18th century. Purchased by the Municipality in 1986, the center was completely restored between 1993 and 1997. It could best narrate the tradition of the place, keep the past tools, and host temporary painting exhibitions.
But the trulli are not just simple houses: at the top of the Rione Monti stands the church of Sant’Antonio, a religious building built with the same technique and the usual characteristic shape. Built between 1926 and 1927, the church is surmounted by a 21-meter dome that integrates perfectly with the surrounding city buildings.
A truly magical moment of the year, which will allow you to relive the atmosphere of the past and savor the oldest traditions of Alberobello, is the Christmas period. For Christmas, an evocative torchlight procession in costume is held through the city streets, with the songs and dances of the folkloristic groups heading towards the Church of Sant’Antonio. Here, waiting for the faithful in celebration, there is a splendid living nativity scene every year.
Those who want to attend the Christmas event will have to prepare for a relatively cold but not too harsh winter. The climate of Alberobello is, of a Mediterranean type, relatively mild, with average temperatures that in January and February vary between 5 ° C minimum and 9 ° C rough. In July and August, the hottest months of the year, the values rise to a minimum of 19 ° C and a maximum of 24 ° C, and even the rains are rarely seen. Rainfall is concentrated in the winter period, between December and February, when it rains for an average of 8 days a month.
If you have decided, enticed by the mild climate and its historical value, to visit Alberobello, you can choose between various means of transport to get to your destination. If you are traveling by car, you must take the A14 and exit at Bari Nord or Gioia del Colle and follow the signs to destinations. The Alberobello station can be reached from Taranto or Bari. At the same time, those who choose the plane can land at Bari Palese or Casale di Brindisi Airport, respectively 66 km and 78 km from Alberobello.
