Building of a trullo:

A brief history

The trulli are ancient dry-stone buildings dated back to the Protohistoric Age located in Apulia, Spain, Scotland, Dalmatia, Syria, Libya, South Africa and in some other Mediterranean areas such as the village of Harran in Turkey which is made of trulli. In fact, at that time, there were settlements that used “tholos” buildings, the aim was also to bury deceased people. An example is the tholos tomb of King Agamemnon located in Mycenaeum in Greece which is called Atreo's Treasure. The term trullo comes from the Greek “thrullos” and generally represents a cupola which is on a tomb or ancient conical dry stone constructions obtained from limestone rocks of the Murge.

The origins and dating of the trulli are still a controversial topic. They are simple and primitive shelters, stone huts with circular base. The primitive Apulian trulli were built by peasants and sheperds with stones collected locally, in the farms. Originally they had a single room and they were used as a temporary shelter for tools and cattle. Over time, this type of building underwent a slow evolution, becoming homes made up of a main room and other smaller perimetralic alcoves.

The spread of trulli in Apulia was caused by the division of the feudal fund which led to the scattered settlement in the countryside and to the agricultural exploitation of uncultivated land. The need was to build a shelter for each farm.

However, today the oldest trulli that we find in Alberobello, known as the “Trulli Capital” date back to the 14th century and they belong to the World Heritage List of Unesco. They are the most representative example of this type of construction widespread between Murgia and the Itria Valley. That's why we don't have thousand-year old proofs. We can think that trulli are the result of a strategy of Count John of Aragon, known as the “Guercio” who wanted to make this feud independent from the court of Naples in 14th century. The count imposed a tribute on the buildings. He forced his subjects to use stone without a mortar for the dwellings, in this way the trulli could be dismantled and refitted in few hours in case of Bourboun's controls.

For the construction of a trullo, it is necessary to find a solid ground for the foundations, then the round or cubic shaped stone walls are built without using any binder.

The materials are all natural: limestones, called chiancarelle, of different thickness located in the soil or easily removable from quarries. bolus and lime whereby they are whitewashed. The thick stonework, made of large blocks, has an interspace filled with small sized stones and soil. The remarkable thickness of the stonework and the particular construction create thermal balances inside, mitigating warm and cold according to the seasons. After these early stages, the trulli cone is realised by narrowing the rings so that this inclination prevents that rainwater could enter. When trulli are finished, on the top of the cone we can see a pinnacle. The pinnacle is a cuspid element whick blocks the chianche lines and adorns the trullo.

For some scholars, they are a kind of brand created by different trullars (building masters) in order to distinguish their work or they can also be a simple decorative element with propitiatory or scornful value chosen by the owner.

For others, their origin is linked to a primitive magic symbolism which could be Pagan or Christian.These symbols, drawn on chiancharelle, have different meanings. The shapes (disc, sphere, cone, square or triangular square pyramid) were connected to solar cult in which primitive agricultural people believed. There are evidencies until the 1st century B.C. Sometimes on the top of these symbols there is a cross because the ancient magic value would be replaced by a religious interpretation.

The Apulian trulli encompass 200 signs including those in use and the ones described by the historians of the past. The ancient popular belief thought that these signs were magic virtues able to remove bad influences thanks to the apotropaic value. Today these signs have astrological, zodiacal or planetary meanings. In ancient times men lived depending on the good outcome of a crop. They believed in these propitiatory symbols because they were afraid of bad influences and seasons. Nowadays some symbols are difficult to interpret because they are unusual and rudimentary twines of curved and straight lines. Other symbols have circular and triangular shapes. They are drawn on Apulian vases or internal walls of primitive tombs which confirm their archaicity. These symbols sometimes indicate the working activity of the trullo's owner, among them there are also flowers, moon and stars.