MEDUSA project<\/a>. Within this plan the decision was made to focus on slow tourism and cultural tourism, which is has now grown to be the biggest sector. One of the most popular cultural destinations is the town of Alberobello. The busyness, however, is very dependent on the season. \u201cOnce the summer starts, tourists start booking tours,\u201d Guido, tour guide for Alberobello Tours, explains. According to him, the town is very empty for the majority of the year but when the high season start, crowds of people start gathering in the town. \u201cIt is very nice for business. I really can\u2019t complain,\u201d Guido says. Because of the growing popularity, most trullo have become souvenirs shops, restaurants or Airbnb\u2019s. Still, the history of the trullo isn\u2019t forgotten. The shop owners love telling the history of the particular trulli they work in.<\/p>\nLet\u2019s go back in time, to find out how we got here.<\/p>\n\n[aesop_timeline_stop num=”14th century” title=”14th century”]\n
The trullo of Alberobello have existed since the fourteenth century and served as the homes of peasants workers that lived on the land of the local feudal lord of that time: Count Acquaviva. The houses were designed in a way that they could be easily dismantled. The reason for this was, believe it or not, tax evasion. When the tax collector of the king came by, there were no houses to be seen. This way Count Acquaviva didn’t have to pay for the town.<\/p>\n\n[aesop_timeline_stop num=”1797″ title=”1797″]\n
For centuries the inhabitants had to take their houses apart every time the count asked for it. Eventually the villagers petitioned Ferdinand IV, King of Naples, who granted them freedom from feudal rule, gave Alberobello the official \u2018town\u2019 status and declared it a royal town. This way the trullo didn\u2019t have to be dismantled and could be build to stay permanently.<\/p>\n\n[aesop_timeline_stop num=”1950’s” title=”1950’s”]\n
Over the years, families living in the trullo were still poor, just like their descendants. In the smallest trulli in town was the home of seven people. About 22 years ago, it was turned into a souvenir shop, tells owner Sofia. \u201cFive members of the family slept in the living room, which was also the kitchen,\u201d she says as she gestures around the room. The round space is about six square meters big. Then she gestures to a square hole leading to the cellar: \u201cThe oldest sons had to sleep there.\u201d When asked where the bathroom was, she laughs. There was no money or space for that.<\/p>\n[aesop_gallery id=”6554″ revealfx=”off” overlay_revealfx=”off”]\n\n[aesop_timeline_stop num=”1996″ title=”1996″]\n
In 1996 Alberobello was officially named UNESCO heritage. According to UNESCO,<\/a> the town was granted this status because of the history behind the building style, because the trullo are an outstanding example of how vernacular architecture can survive within an urban landscape and it is an outstanding example of an early human settlement. This status boosted the popularity of the town and made it the popular destination that it is today.<\/p>\nAlthough Alberobello now mostly serves as a touristic hotspot, some people can still be found living a traditional life in their trulli between Instagram-worthy picture spots.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Alberobello is a picture perfect town in the province of \u00a0Bari, southern Italy. This town has earned its popularity, and even the label of UNESCO heritage, because of its \u2018Trullo\u2019, cute little white houses. However, even though the houses look pretty much the same, their purpose has had some major changes.\u00a0\u00a0 The houses around you […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":457,"featured_media":6486,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6484","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-acls","et-has-post-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
Trullo of Alberobello - how tax evasion of a feudal lord resulted in a touristic hotspot - International Journalism<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n