When I first saw the pictures of Alberobello over the internet a couple of years back, I thought it was a fairy tale theme park somewhere in the world. After reading up more, then I realized that Alberobello in fact is a heritage town in the south of Italy, not far from the city of Bari. Since then, I have told myself that I must visit this magical place one day. And it doesn't take long for my dream to come true, I made it this year's spring during my trip around the southern Italy.
About Alberobello
Alberobello is a little town situated in the southern region of Puglia, which is famous for its fairytale-like trulli, traditional dry stone huts with cone-shaped roofs dating back as early as the 14th century. The story behind these unique architectural structures has two sides; some believe that these buildings are constructed because of its geographical conditions and the abundant limestone materials, and some believe that it is constructed for easy dismantling and assembling to avoid paying taxes to the Kingdom of Naples. Today, some of the trulli are converted into souvenir shops, museums, restaurants and lodgings, but there are many still populated with the local residents. In 1996, the town of Alberobello with a great collection of more than 1500 beautifully preserved trulli in the region was designated a UNESCO world heritage site.