If you’re planning a trip to Puglia or you’re already in this beautiful region, you’re surely wondering what to see in Alberobello. It’s one of the most distinctive places in Italy, so I absolutely recommend spending at least a day in the “town of trulli”.
The reason is very simple!
Alberobello has become one of the most visited destinations in Puglia: set in the interior of the Itria Valley, it offers a sight unique in the world thanks to its beautiful trulli. These typical dwellings make it a genuine “postcard”: every alley is an emotion to discover.
Don’t worry, you won’t need much time. Visiting Alberobello in a day is absolutely doable, but there are a few things to know to make the most of your route among the trulli, find the finest ones and enjoy the landscape.
Wandering among the trulli is free, but to really grasp the story of the two districts I recommend joining a guided walking tour: it starts from the Belvedere terrace and heads down among the most characteristic alleys. It’s inexpensive and you’ll discover plenty of curiosities.
Want to know a little more?
Off we go!
Alberobello, what to see: Rione Monti and Aja Piccola
Alberobello joined the UNESCO World Heritage list in 1996, with its more than 1,500 trulli becoming the destination of thousands of tourists from all over the world.
Among the things to see in Alberobello there are some you absolutely can’t miss. You can’t say you’ve visited the town without strolling through the Rione Monti and the Aja Piccola: these are the two “districts” with the highest concentration of trulli, where the most important ones are found too.
For example?
The most curious trullo in Alberobello is the so-called Trullo Siamese. It’s named this way because, unlike the other dwellings that have a single dome per room, it’s the only one with two domes joined at the centre. You’ll find it in the Rione Monti, along Via Monte Nero: don’t let it slip by.
Also in the Rione Monti is Alberobello’s commercial area, with the most souvenir shops. If you’re after a keepsake, you’ll surely find something here; if you don’t want to shop, step into the little shops anyway to see what a trullo looks like inside: entry is almost always free.
The Aja Piccola area, on the other hand, is the most authentic part of Alberobello: fewer shops, less tourism and some of the finest views over the old town, like the splendid Belvedere Santa Lucia. If you feel like taking photos or simply filling your eyes, this is the place.
The Trullo Sovrano
The Trullo Sovrano of Alberobello stands to the north of the town, near the Basilica of the Santi Medici Cosma e Damiano, which I’ll tell you about shortly.
It’s a national monument and is the only trullo built on two floors. The interior can be visited and houses a house-museum, but what will strike you most is its dome: a full 14 metres high, at the centre of a group of twelve smaller trulli.
If that seems like a small thing, consider that building a dome of these dimensions required great skill: the trullo is built with the dry-stone technique, fitting the stones together without using mortar.
Here are a few curiosities about the Trullo Sovrano!
It was built in the first half of the 18th century and was for years the home of the family of the priest Cataldo Perta; all around were smaller trulli, inhabited by his collaborators. The building also hosted two important events in the history of Alberobello: in 1785 it received the relics of the Santi Medici and later it was used as the oratory of the Confraternity of the Blessed Sacrament.
When you stand before it, notice the details. Around the central window you’ll see holes with a double function: they held the beams for storing grain on the upper floor, but also let rifle barrels pass through in case of defence. Below, a small masonry enclosure marks off the area, with a mounting block to make it easier to climb onto a horse.
Would you ever have thought so?
The ticket costs very little (around €2): more than reasonable to discover this architectural gem.
The Basilica of Santi Cosma e Damiano
A few steps from the Trullo Sovrano stands the sanctuary dedicated to Saints Cosmas and Damian, also known as the Santi Medici (Holy Doctors): two thaumaturgic saints who, according to Christian tradition, performed many miraculous healings, of both people and animals. Natives of the Roman East (tradition places them in Arabia), they were martyred during the Roman Empire.
But what do they have to do with Alberobello?
Popular devotion tells that the miracles attributed to the two saints were so many that a basilica dedicated to them became necessary. Work began in 1882 and ended in 1885.
Is it worth visiting?
Beyond its religious value, the Sanctuary of the Santi Medici left me a little disappointed. Yes, because I’d expected a trullo-shaped church, and instead the structure is in mighty Neoclassical architecture, with two large towers of northern European Gothic taste. The interior has nothing truly special: two wooden statues of the saints, a triptych of Christ the Teacher and a few paintings and inlays.
But here’s a curiosity!
It’s said that the inhabitants of a nearby town, convinced of the saints’ miraculous powers, decided to steal their statues. Once loaded onto the carts, however, there was no way to carry them off: the horses refused to move despite the whipping, and they were forced to bring them back to the church.
Casa d’Amore and Casa Pezzolla
If you’re not yet tired of strolling through Alberobello, I recommend one last effort to see Casa d’Amore and Casa Pezzolla.
Casa d’Amore is a building completely different from the other trulli and marks the transition from dry-stone constructions to the first 19th-century masonry houses. It became possible to build it thanks to the turning point of 1797, when Ferdinand IV of Bourbon freed Alberobello from feudal rule, raising it to the rank of a royal town. The name has nothing romantic about it: it comes from Francesco D’Amore, the citizen who built it first.
Casa Pezzolla, on the other hand, is a spectacular complex of fifteen communicating trulli. Today it houses the Museum of the Territory, which tells the origins of Alberobello and the customs of the place. Entry costs a few euros; it’s best to check the current hours before your visit.
I recommend it!
Why Alberobello is called this way and the origin of the trulli
I bet you’ve wondered about this name too!
The name Alberobello seems to derive from the Latin Silva Arboris Belli, that is “forest of the tree of war”, by which the site was known in medieval documents.
But why do the houses have such a strange shape?
The area began to be permanently settled between the 16th and 17th centuries, when the powerful Acquaviva d’Aragona counts of Conversano settled peasants there. And here comes the stroke of genius. In the Kingdom of Naples there was the Pragmatica de Baronibus, a rule that imposed a tax on lords for every new urban settlement. To get around it, the counts made the peasants build dry-stone houses, without mortar.
The reason is ingenious: knowing in advance of the royal inspector’s arrival, you just had to pull out the keystone (the “chianca”) for the whole house to collapse into a heap of stones, only to be rebuilt as soon as the official had gone. An entire “dismountable” village to avoid taxes!
Precisely because of this need to be assembled and dismantled quickly, the trulli of Alberobello are simple, essential, adorned only with pinnacles and the “mysterious” mystical signs painted on the roofs. Alberobello shed this stratagem only in 1797, when it became a royal town.
Where to sleep in Alberobello
If you plan to stay a few more days and use Alberobello as a base to explore the surroundings, sleeping inside a trullo is an experience to have at least once in a lifetime: many dwellings in the Rione Monti and Aja Piccola have been turned into b&bs and small properties, often with a garden. Look for a place in the old town if you want to get around on foot, or just outside the walls if you prefer more quiet and easy parking.
When to go to Alberobello
Visiting the town of trulli is lovely in any season, but in my opinion the best time is June-July or September-October: the town isn’t yet stormed by crowds and you don’t risk queuing even just for a photo. Summer is very hot, so I’d advise against August.
Visiting Alberobello also lets you enjoy Puglia’s beautiful beaches: among the finest are Monopoli, Capitolo, the splendid Polignano a Mare or the white town of Ostuni. And if you love UNESCO heritage towns, a little further on Matera awaits too, with its Sassi.
Can you go in winter?
The town is beautiful in winter too, but you might run into downpours or (rarely) a cold day: bear it in mind.
How to get to Alberobello
Alberobello is reached along Puglia’s classic little roads, among olive trees and dry-stone walls. The splendid landscape of the Murgia and the Itria Valley frames this small, characterful town.
If you’re wondering how to get to Alberobello, the town is easily reachable by car, train or bus. By car from Bari you take the SS 100 and the SS 172. The train (Ferrovie del Sud Est line) connects Alberobello to Bari, Taranto and Fasano, with the station a few steps from the centre. By bus there are several lines from Bari and other cities. The nearest airport is Bari Karol Wojtyła (Palese), about 70 km away.
In short, now you’ve no more excuses not to visit it.
As I strolled through the streets of Alberobello, I thought about life four hundred years ago, when the peasants of this little village could never have imagined that their humble houses would become the focus of thousands of curious tourists.
And you - would you like to lose yourself among the alleys of the town of trulli, or have you already been?
