If sleeping in a trullo is one of your dreams, do not miss this article with many tips on how to book this fantastic experience.
We have recently returned from a trip on the road in Puglia and between our stages there was inevitably Alberobello with its trulli. And on this occasion we made our dream come true, sleep in a trullo!
Trulli have always fascinated us, so small, white with a gray roof and a sign of an ancient tradition that is still alive.
So while planning our trip we had chosen to go to Alberobello, but just a couple of days before, taking a look on Airbnb we discovered that the dream of sleeping in a trullo was achievable!
Staying in a trullo on a budget
We organized this trip along the way and so when we saw that staying in a trullo was a feasible experience at the price level, we didn't let it slip away. In fact, staying in a trullo is an experience for all budgets.
Looking up Airbnb there is a great variety of trulli… of different sizes (from a single room, to a real trullo apartment), but also of very different types. The accommodations in the trulli can in fact be luxurious, spartan, country chic and still can fall into the category of hotels, b & bs or apartments. In short, there are trulli for all tastes!
We preferred a trullo apartment consisting of several trulli (one trullo for each room) which internally created a single environment. Our accommodation therefore had two bedrooms, a kitchen (divided between two small trulli), a large entrance space, a bathroom and a dining trullo.
You enter the trullo from a low door and even the interior doors, as well as the passages from one room to another, are low and we felt like a bit of a gnome in a house for gnomes, but it was a lot of fun. It is certainly a welcoming accommodation that immediately made us feel at home.
Also what we really liked was the really large outdoor space and everything to ourselves.
Our trullo was well cared for down to the smallest detail, simple and spartan, with a lot of wood, delicious and equipped with everything you need.
It was a beautiful experience and we thought we had found our ideal home!
The trullo is also the ideal accommodation for hot Apulian summer: it has really thick walls so in the trullo there is a natural shelter from the outside heat without the need for air conditioning (which we really don't like). For the same reason the trulli have small windows, and so inside the eyes can rest even from the dazzling light outside. When we were there, at the end of April, it was even a bit too cool, but in fact it was equipped with a stove and a wonderful fireplace.
How the trulli were born
But do you know how the trulli were born? We discovered it by turning among the trulli of Alberobello, where an elderly gentleman showed us the small trullo models he built by hand with limestone of the area and told us the whole story, and it's a story that makes you smile.
The very first trulli present in Valle d'Itria, the region where Alberobello stands, date back to prehistoric times and were buildings used for the burial of the dead. Subsequently the trulli became peasant constructions where to keep the tools and as such they were, and are, also present in France and Turkey. Instead i trulli as a homei are born in Apulia and exist only in this region.
The trulli of Alberobello
The trulli of Alberobello were born in fact in the sixteenth century. In this period Alberobello and the surrounding area were entrusted to Count of Conversano by Roberto d'Angiò, Prince of Taranto who favored the construction of new settlements. But why did he build them in the form of trulli? Because in this period the princes of each village had to pay taxes for each building erected on their territory. So the count of Alberobello saw in the trullo an excellent solution to this expensive problem! Yes, because the trulli were, and are, constructions erect without mortar, therefore they were built and demolished in a short time. This way every time the officials passed by Kingdom of Naples to check the new buildings, the count gave orders to undo the roof and pile the stones over the base of the trullo. Thus the officials passing by could only see piles of stones and no one had to pay any taxes! Since then, the trulli have remained typical of the place.
One last curiosity
One last curiosity about the trulli concerns theirs colore. Apparently the trulli are white at the base with a gray roof ... but in reality they are all built with the same gray stone. The trullo is in fact built entirely with limestone typical of the Itria Valley. So why is the base white? because it comes then covered with lime, thus taking that white color so characteristic of the trulli.
