Once upon a time (say, in the late 1400s) there was a king of Naples who wanted to tax his people - a lot. The king liked taxes. He wanted to buy all sorts of new things. Also, there was a Count of a town called Alberobello in the kingdom of Naples. The Count didn't like paying taxes.
One day the King decided he needed a new army or castle. So he decided to tax his people. There were a lot of poor people in his kingdom and they were hard to tax. The king decided to tax the houses and buildings. They were easy to count and tax. Specifically he taxed the roofs.
The only problem was this kingdom was a feudalistic society where the aristocracy had dominion over all property and chattel. Thus the Count would have to pay the tax for all his people. What is a count to do? He had lots of poor people on his land who wanted to live in houses. The more houses, the more tax. So what is the poor Count to do?
The clever Count came up with an idea. He will not allow his serfs to use mortar in building their houses. Specifically he outlawed using mortar in the construction of the roofs of their houses. Every time the tax man would come to town, he would make his people take their roofs off their houses. The tax man would see few roofs and would charge the Count only a little tax.
The people of the Alberobello were not thrilled with this arrangement. But since the Count had an army and the socialist movement and associated uprisings was not due for a couple of hundred years, the serfs did what they were told. But they were smart also. They came up with a way to build their roofs out of rocks. You see Puglia, the area that contains the town of Alberobello, is an incredibly rocky place. Every time a farmer tried to plow the field he found more rocks. Thus they figured out how to build rock walls, roads and roofs without using mortar or cement. These houses were called Trullo (or Trulli for the plural). The plan was once the tax man shows up, the roofs could be pushed off the house very easily. And after the tax man leaves, they could put the roof back on their houses and go on living their grueling serf like lives (I am sure the Count didn't lift a finger to help either in the roof removal or its replacement).
This went on for about 300 years until Ferdinand IV, King of Bourbon, said "this is stupid!" On May 27, 1797 Alberobello was liberated from its fiefdom to the Acquaviva d'Aragona and became a "royal city." So the entire town went off to look for a sale at Home Depot or Lowes.
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When we talked to locals, they still talked about "being liberated" in 1797. Sounded like the way we'd talk about the 4th of July. Variations of this story are told in the town of Alberobello in many of its pamphlets, signs, information stands or museums throughout the town. I did see a slightly different interruption that said the town's people were too poor to be counted for taxes because they were living in what are normally shelters for livestock (with no indication that the roofs were removed). Implying that the trulli were only fit to house livestock.
This I can say for sure. The area around Alberobello is very rocky. I can see why it would be very difficult to grow anything. Southern Italy, likewise, is a very poor region of Italy. I can see it is possible that the locals had (or afford) no other building material and used the only resource available: limestone rocks. These homes are small - built for a person not larger than 5', 6". I was constantly in danger of banging my head. Ann, of course, was happy as a clam.
Even though Alberobello's fiefdom ended in 1797, because of tradition or a sense of identity, the locals kept on building their homes in this style. In fact, even today, they are stilled used as homes. And more and more they are being upgraded for the chic and stylish with upscale plumbing, heating, electricity, satellite dishes and wifi. They now contain beautiful windows, doors and overflowing gardens. The only thing not upgraded is the height of the doorways.
OK, now I am going all geek on you. I had a fun time poking and prodding all the roofs in this town. How do you build a roof with no wood, metal, binding material or any other support structures except for rocks? Well there is a museum in this town with a cute video that explains how. You start with a large supply of limestone. Limestone is brittle enough that it can be trimmed and shaped with a hammer - although a big hammer; these guys must have had arms like Popeye.
A small side note here: Limestone is still a rock! It is hard, heavy and hurts when you drop it on your foot or bang your forehead on it. Take my word for it.
The roofs are constructed as follows: There is an inner layer where the rocks are built up into a cone shape and are carefully arranged to provide support. Then there is a layer of small stones and detritus. The outer layer is made up of thin flat stones arranged as shingles. To the best of my observation can tell, the locals use mortar and cement for only the inner layer. Finally the top is capped with a stone pinnacle, a characteristic symbol of the builder. The locals went to great length informing me that this peak is not a keystone. If one pulls out this top stone the structure will continue to stand.
Another fun fact: In the 1930s, Mussolini was planning to come to Alberobello to visit. The local fascist party wanted to spruce up the place and encouraged the locals to paint symbols on their roofs. I am not sure this story holds together but the symbols are supposed to represent your spirituality. Thus some are religious Crosses or the Holy Eucharist but other are definitely off the wall such as the medieval symbol for Saturn or Jupiter.
For two days we had great fun poking into the various shops, churches, cafes and squares. Enclosed are photos of some of the homes and other interesting scenes around Alberobello. I add a few our very nice room inside a trullo!
Next stop, Matera. Ciao
Bill
