What are the origins of the trulli houses

According to tradition, in 1620 the trulli houses became urban residences; for the first time Alberobello experimented a serious population increase, tanks to Giangirolamo (Jean Jerome) Acquaviva of Aragon, also known as the Apulian "guercio" (cross-eyed), who inherited the title of Earl of Conversano. He encouraged the peasants to settle near Silva Arboris, by granting them a piece of land and occasionally some tax relief. The Earl wanted to enlarge his domain without falling under the King of Naples' jurisdiction. In those years, in fact, the Aragonese family issued the edict "Prammatica de Baronibus" which forbid the creation of new urban areas without the King's permission; the Earl skilfully got round the law and the farmers were forbidden to use any mortar for the construction of their "casedde", the trulli houses. If the King decided to carry out an inspection, the farmers were ready to destroy the trullo: a rope would have been tied to the top of the roof, on the "pinnacle"; a horse would have pulled the rope, thus destroying the whole construction; and soon afterwards a new trullo house would have been built on the same spot.
The trullo house is made of small stones and is built with the dry-stone technique; its conical pyramid roof gives the building a particular original aspect that can only be admired in the Valley of Itria. In fact, these trulli houses feature an architectural conception and a shape which are unique of their kind. In many parts of the world you can find similar architectures, dating back to different ages, but they don't explain the origins of the trullo house. The Sardinian "nuraghes" and the "talajota" in the Balearic Islands date back to the Proto-historic period. A similar building technique has been used for the Apulian "pajare" in Salento, for the Istrian "casite", for the Sardinian "pinnette" and for other buildings in Dordogna, in Navarra, in Catalonia, in Ireland, in Kurdistan, in the Ligurian Alps and in the Hebrides. But the structural analogies certainly derive from the common intelligence of mankind, rather than from any genetic relationship.

The trullo houses of the Valley have very ancient origins and they became widespread during the XVII century. All the trulli houses which still survive nowadays date back to the XVIII and XIX centuries, because the farmers used to build new houses instead of restoring the old ones. Today the most ancient trullo can be found in the Marziolla district of Locorotondo. The date of its construction has been written on the big trullo's architrave: 1557; the house might need some restoration works, but it still boasts the proud and fierce aspect of a true… grandfather of bygone times!

Is it truly possible that the trulli houses have…Biblical origins? In Turkey, bordering with Syria, there's a village whose name is Harran. The trulli houses in this village are different from the ones in the Valley of Itria: in fact they have been built with dried out ashlars covered with clay and they probably represent the ancient parents of Apulian trulli houses. About two thousand years before Christ, Abraham had actually left from the "crossroads" (that is the meaning of "Harran")- from the old Caran- in order to take on a journey towards Canaan; around the beginning of the XV century, the Anatolian population left from Caran and reached the Apulian coasts, where they probably introduced their particular building technique, adapting it to the new material: the local limestone, the so called "chianca". A peculiarity: in the local dialect "Alberobello" is Jarubbedd and in Harran people used to worship a solar divinity called Yarhibol. And again: "Locorotondo" is U'curdunn and "Giordania" in Arabic is A'urdunn. Is it just a coincidence, or maybe is there a true Biblical origin? The trulli houses in the Valley of Itria hide a fascinating past, which is yet to be discovered!