The word "trulli", from the greek "Tholos" means "dome" and is the distinguishing feature of the cylindrical housing, surmounted by a conical roof, which affect several areas of central and southern Puglia. The place where they determine completely the landscape, making it unique in the world, is the famous Alberobello town, near Bari, founded by the Counts Acquaviva in the fifteenth century. The town, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1996, due to its unique configuration, has an historic center that has a cluster of narrow streets lined by unique homes.
But exactly what is a Trullo?
These structures are extremely simple, made completely dry, without the use of cement, and they end with a conical roof covered with “chiancarelle”, wide and slim stones arranged like tiles on a roof. Over the “chiancarelle”, at the front door, you can see different paintings made with lime. It consists mostly of Christian symbols (radial wafer, pierced heart of Mary, etc..) except for some who are pagan, probably related to magic-religious traditions connected to the influences of Greek culture and even the Egyptian, Assyrian and Babylonian. The farmer placed them on his own home for divine protection against evil. On the top of the trulli are the "cucurnini" or multiform stone pinnacles that have a purely aesthetic function, but according to some scholars, are linked to an ancient cult of stones and the sun.
In Alberobello are concentrated in the two districts called Monti and Aia Piccola, almost a thousand of trulli, creating a really incredible fairytale scenario. The origin of the trulli is actually considered very old, protohistoric indeed, but those of Alberobello are born relatively recently and for a very special situation: the Count Girolamo II Acquaviva d'Aragona, the second of the seventeenth century, ordered the farmers settled in the area to build houses that could be "removed" quickly, making them disappear. The device was fancied by the noble because the authorities of the Kingdom of Naples - who ruled the territories of Puglia - had imposed to the feudal lords the payment of a fee for each building. Acquaviva, who certainly did not want to give up the idea to expand their possessions, forced it to its people to build houses to miraculously disappear when it reached an inspection of the royal guard. The count, said Guercio di Puglia, could not have imagined that, more than three centuries later, the whole world would have admired its spectacular mischief.

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