The Trulli of Alberobello, Stone dwellings with conical roofs in Alberobello, Italy

The Trulli of Alberobello comprise roughly 1,600 limestone structures with thick walls and distinctive conical roofs scattered throughout the town. The two main districts, Rione Monti and Aia Piccola, form the core of this remarkable ensemble.

The trulli were built mainly by settler farmers over about a century from the mid-16th century; a mid-16th-century record counts 40 trulli in the Monti district. In 1620 Count Giangirolamo II Acquaviva had a mill, bakery and inn built and the town began to expand. Farmers were ordered to build their homes without mortar so they could be dismantled, a measure aimed chiefly at controlling the rural population and also at evading taxes on houses owed to the Kingdom of Naples; a 1644 report by royal tax officials notes such demolitions. On 27 May 1797 Ferdinand IV of Bourbon freed the village from Acquaviva feudal rule.

Each roof displays painted symbols representing family heritage, religious beliefs, or protection marks rooted in local tradition. These markings reveal how personal and spiritual identity mattered deeply to those living here.

Both districts are accessible on foot and offer guided tours in several languages. The terrain is generally walkable, though visitors should expect hilly ground and narrow, cobblestone streets.

Among the trulli, some are 'siamese': two or more cones sharing a single whitewashed wall, a space-saving arrangement visible in the dense rows of Rione Monti. The districts also hold a trullo church, Sant'Antonio, and a two-storey trullo with a wooden upper floor and staircase.