The "Trulli" of Alberobello
According to some historians, the most ancient Latin name of the village is Silva Alborus Belli, which means the “Wood of the War Trees”.
It all began in the XVIth century when Andrea Matteo III Acquaviva d’Aragona, Earl of Conversano, ordered about forty peasants families to settle on the territory, reclaim and improve the wild lands and prepare them for cultivation.
With the aim of avoiding any damage to the natural beauty of the land and – not unimportantly – avoiding paying the high taxes that the Aragonese Kingdom of Napoli, warden of the lands, imposed on every new house built, the Earl Andrea Matteo III Acquaviva ordered all the huts constructed in the area to be built without mortar, using local randomly-sourced stones only.
Thus came to light the famous and unique Trulli di Alberobello.
The Trulli – Unesco Heritage Site since 1996 – not only provide testimony to an archaic, pre-historic building technique, but also form a unique blend between man-made simple and rural architecture with the beauty of the Mediterranean landscape.
Among them the Trullo Sovrano, 14 meters high, towers over the small town and is the epicenter of a perfect and delicate balance between the beauty of Nature and some old-fashioned, architectural simplicity which has been lost today.
The Nature surrounding this extraordinary village is as varied as it is inspiring to the many poets and painters which came to the region to refine their senses and sentiments. Besides the traditional Olive cultivation in the region, it is common in the streets of Alberobello to chance upon flowery coloured Bouganvillea bushes.
Seen as a whole, Alberobello is a huge moving canvas where Nature softly dances around and in between the delicate and enduring touch of Man’s sensitivity.
Discover more Semi-Natural Olive Trees
Discover more about our Semi-Natural Bouganvillea
Read more about our sources of inspiration: Italy, Time and Cycas: a Stroll, The Venetian Walls of Bergamo, Valle dei Templi: timelessness in Sicily
