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The villages of Cisternino, Locorotondo, Martina Franca and the world-fa- mous UNESCO World Heritage Site Alberobello bear witness to this fabulous cultu- ral richness with landscapes of unbelievable beauty and architectural particularity represented by the Trulli.
These spherical huts with limestone walls built dry without mortar draw the roots of their names in Latin «turris» and in Greek «tholos» which mean cupolas.
Perfectly successful examples of popular and rural architecture, the Trulli were first used as stables, stables or temporary residences of shepherds.
Their structure could be easily deconstructed or rebuilt according to the needs in order to skilfully avoid in the 15th century the too heavy taxes on the houses.
Become the symbol of the Valley, their perfect circular planes are surmounted by 3, 4 or 5 roofs with white cones, each for a different room. Each point has at the top a ball or hemisphere with magical, religious or propitiatory signs of the most fasci- nating.
Occupied until the late 1960s by the less fortunate peasants, these charming houses are now converted into guest rooms, hotels or homes of the most original.
This rescue of Puglia’s traditions has also made possible to rehabilitate the far- mhouses, former fortified agricultural properties typical of the 16th century.
In the heart of a nature as green as peaceful, this rural architecture in its refined simplicity offers an ideal setting for a break out of time to the rhythm of this Italy of the south, true sunny paradise.