The trulli houses in Valle d'Itria

A trullo is an ancient little building made of stone, formed by a circular or square base and a cone-shaped cupola, on top of which there is usually a pinnacle there is often whitewashed, therefore it stands out of the grey stones under it; this building is generally quite small specially if compared to a modern house; it is also unconfortable to live in, because of the low doors, the faint-lighted rooms, caused by the very little size of the windows, the absence of a heating system, the roundness of the inside walls that doesn't allow to furnish it normally, but requires custom-made furnitures for each single room.

But, in spite of this, the trullo still contains a certain charme owed to the history there it represented during the paste decades; each trullo has got his own shape and dimensions; the reason for this is that every single trullo was completely handmade; the walls were built setting the blocks of stone one on top of the other without mortar (dry stone building). The "chianche" forming the cupola were fixed with a special technique, creating a balance that didn't need concrete or any adhesive that could be used. Because of its particulare structure and materials, the inside part created a "thermos" effect: the temperature, indeed, remain the worm in winter even without employing particular means of heating; the opposite thing happened in summer, when it stood fresh even in the hottest August noons.

Another interesting particular are the symbols that are usually painted on the grey side of the cupola; their origin is not certain: some think they were maybe introduced by populations from eastern countries that one's settled in Puglia, or more simply, christian pictures dating back to the first century after Christ. Theire main feature is that they are pictured on houses exclusively, as signs of good omen; they never appear on buildings used as barns or store houses.

source: www.trullitour.com