ALBEROBELLO & LOCOROTONDO

ALBEROBELLO

The town of Alberobello is located in agriculture country in the region of Puglia.  There are about 10,700 residents and the town is most famous for its trujillo buildings, the cluster of which was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in1996.  In the 16th century, An Italian Count who owned a large area of farmland, allowed his feudal servants to build the trulli with dry stones only.  This was his attempt to avoid paying taxes to the Spanish viceroy in Naples.  Taxes were only collected on buildings with roofs.

Since the area had an abundance of limestone, acquiring the dry stones to build the trulli was not a problem.  Whenever the Count learned that the viceroy would be coming to collect taxes, he would order his subjects to remove some strategically placed stones and the roofs would collapse.  So the avoidance of paying taxes has been around for centuries!  Rebuilding the roofs took place after the viceroy left.

A view of the trulli from atop a hill.  Many of these trulli are now occupied by tourist shops plying their trade to the many tourists who come daily.  No residents live in this area.

Taken from atop the same hill.

Many of the buildings occupied by residents incorporate the trujillo style into their homes.

A view of the tourists heading down to the trulli.

Taken from the main street as you enter the trulli area.

This was taken on the side occupied by residents.

While in Alberobello, we had lunch at a restaurant called Terra Madre.  They grow organic vegetables on two hectares of land and avoid using the freezer,  Everything is picked when ready to be cooked or served.  The focus is on preparing the vegetables raw, grilled or baked but never deep fried.  The meal we ordered came with three courses of vegetables.  Unfortunately, I didn't think to take pictures of the vegetable presentations....you would have been impressed.  The vegetables actually tasted better than the main meal.

This is a small garden at the restaurant where they grow tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, etc.

I did take pictures of the meat portions.  This was local rabbit filled with pork, served with mashed potatoes (which are on top of the rabbit).

And this is rolled veal meatballs served with breadballs made with eggs and cheese.

LOCOROTONDO

We headed over to the town of Locorotondo (round place) which is only about a fifteen minute drive from Alberobello.  This town is unique because of its circular structure and the population is about 14,000.  Getting a picture of a round town is difficult if you're not in a helicopter but it was interesting walking around in the town.  Locorotondo is very clean and the residents keep lots of flowers on the balconies, stairs and outside the homes.

The above two pictures are of the road which encircles the town....my feeble attempt to give you an idea of the 'roundness' of the town.

These two pictures are just a small representation of how clean the town is with the flower pots added to balconies, stairs and outside homes.

The main square in the round town.

A view from atop the hill.  The town in the far distance is called Martina Franca.

A ceramic shop decorated with flowers and butterflies.

This was a very picturesque tour and the history of the trullis is very interesting.  I give credit to the residents of both towns that they are able to maintain such beautiful, clean streets, given the influx of tourists, particularly in Alberobello.