Alberobello Trulli

Alberobello is a small town in the Itria Valley of Puglia, southern Italy, famous for its trulli — the distinctive dry-stone conical houses built from local limestone without mortar, allowing them to be dismantled quickly to avoid paying construction taxes under feudal law. The town contains over 1,500 trulli in two main districts: the Rione Monti, on the hillside to the northwest, is the larger residential quarter where most trulli are private homes; the Rione Aia Piccola, to the southeast, is slightly smaller and less commercialised. The iconic silhouette — round white walls tapering to a grey limestone conical roof topped with a pinnacle — appears throughout Puglia's Itria Valley, but nowhere else in the world do trulli appear in such concentrated numbers as in Alberobello. The entire town was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1996. Walking through the Rione Monti along Via Monte San Michele, Largo Martellotta, and the connecting lanes provides the most immersive experience of the architecture at street level. The Trullo Sovrano, a two-storey trullo on Piazza Sacramento, is the only example of a double-storey trullo in Alberobello and is preserved as a small museum showing 19th-century domestic interiors. The Trullo di Sant'Antonio, a trullo converted into a small Catholic church, stands at the centre of the Rione Monti and is one of the most photographed structures in the town. Many trulli are now operated as accommodation — staying in a converted trullo is the recommended way to experience the architecture from the inside. The town's main street, Via Monte Pasubio, is lined with trullo-shops selling ceramics, olive oil, and local preserves.