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July 21, 2009

Rewind Wednesday goes to Italy

rewind button 4Welcome to our third Rewind Wednesday :-) If you have an archived post you’d like to share, come join the blog party!! Just re-publish your archived post, then type your name and the permalink for the post into Mister Linky at the end of this post, and you’re done!!

This week, I’m taking you on a trip to Italy to re-visit one of my very favourite posts about trulli houses. I had never seen or heard of trulli houses before I wrote this post, so I learned a lot as I searched for pictures and information on these unique Italian homes.

I hope you’ll enjoy traveling to Italy with me :-) And after our trip to Italy, head over to Traveling the Blogosphere where tour guide Katie is taking everyone on a trip to Belgium. And you know what what means…. chocolate!!!

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trulli title trullis trulliland

trulli panoramioHave you ever heard of a trullo?? I hadn’t until a few days ago.

Trulli (the plural form) are structures with gray stone cone-shaped roofs. They’re found in Bari and Tarano in the Puglia region of Italy. There are over 400 trulli in the town of Alberobello, considered to be the “trulli capital”.

The origin of these oddly shaped houses is unknown. Traditionally, trulli were built without any cement or mortar. One of the more popular theories is that because of high taxation on property, the people of Puglia created trulli so that they could be dismantled and moved out of sight when the taxman was in the area. Then they would put them back together once the taxman was gone.

Today, trulli have solid foundations. No hiding from the taxman anymore!! The stone used to build a trullo helps to keep the house cool in the hot Italian summer. The outside of the cone is built from chiancarelle (stone slabs) of different sizes that serve as roofing tiles.

cones

As you can see in the pictures, there’s typically a pinnacoli (pinnacle) at the top of each trullo’s cone. The significance of the pinnacoli is still unclear. Some people believe it gives magic powers. Others believe it represents the family that lives in the trullo.

trulli wiki

Sketches of pinnacoli (from www.alberobello.blogspot.com):

trulli Pinnacoli

Many cones have symbols painted on them. The symbols are painted with lime. Legend has it that they were painted for magical or propitiatory rites. The meaning of some common symbols are to protect the family living in the trullo from the evil eye, the worship of some deity, and the hope for a good harvest.

trullo symbols panoramio trullo symbols panoramio 2trullo symbols flickrtrullo heart flickr

From left to right are Primitive, Christian, and Magic symbols (from www.alberobello.blogspot.com):

trulli symbols

Now let’s take a peek inside and look up some trulli cones…

TrulliInteriorCeiling picasa

trulli looking up

Some pretty trulli exteriors…

trulli-spring

Trullo_Cisternino01

trullo pansies

trullo rocca agiulia

trullo rocca agiulia 2

The interior of a restored trullo might surprise you…

trulli in 2

trullo bedroom

trullo bedroom 2

trullo FP

trullo bedroom 3

trullo LR

The trullo in the following pictures is Villa Santoro (featured on www.villapuglia.com). Villa Santoro recently underwent a complete renovation and rebuild by an Austrian designer and a Milanese architect team. It combines and retains the Trullo and Masseria styles typical and unique to the area. Many of the original trullo features have been maintained, including the original stonework and vaulted ceilings. The interior is clean and minimal, but the stone gives it character and warmth.

The bright & light interior…

PUG Kitchen_2PUG Kitchen_3 PUG Trullo_BedroomPUG Trullo_bathroom 2PUG_Kitchen_3PUG Living_Room_corner

The backyard isn’t too shabby either!!

PUG Pool_from_outside_living_areaPUG Terraces_and_poolPUG Over_pool_to_TrulliPUG_Pool_and_view_1

Beautiful blue skies…

PUG View_north_over_trullo_conesPUG Trullo_and_Sky

The sun is setting on Villa Santoro…

PUG Villa_Santoro_Early_EveningPUG_Santoro_sundownPUG_Santoro_and_Pool_by_Moonlight

I hope you enjoyed visiting these trulli unique Italian houses as much as I did :-)

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Read about a trullo restoration here:

www.mmenterprises.co.uk/blog/labels/trulli.htm

Sources:

www.wikipedia.com

www.geocities.com/trullihouses/

www.alberobello.blogspot.com

Now it’s your turn!

The best way to participate is to re-publish your post to the top of your blog. Then…

Copy and paste the Rewind Wednesday button to your post. That way your visitors will know that you’re participating in DesignTies’ Rewind Wednesday blog party!

Please link back to the host blog, DesignTies, and encourage your readers to come visit us for a list of other Rewind Wednesday blog party participants.

If you’re participating in Rewind Wednesday please be sure to add your permalink (NOT your general blog address) in Mister Linky below. The permalink is the URL of your post. Simply copy and paste.

Go visit the other bloggers participating in Rewind Wednesday!!

Mister Linky

The following blogs are participating in our Rewind Wednesday blog party…

22 comments:

Kat said...

Oh I just loved this post! The houses are so unusual, and the interiors are gorgeous. And I'll be honest, if I had that backyard I'd be happy living in a pup tent. I just did one of those goofy facebook quizzes that said I should live in Italy - after seeing this, I think I agree! Thanks for hosting this fun event. Kathy

Maria Killam said...

I came back to see your header again, it's so great. and I don't remember this post, very cool!!

Outside The Lines said...

My wife is from Gioia Del Colle. It's about 25km from Alberobelo. It's such a magical place!

Katie Lane said...

Very cool, and appropriate as you are the feature on Traveling The Blogosphere today :)

Kathy @ Creative Home Expressions said...

I never heard of this type of house before Kelly; thanks for sharing! I think what I find most striking is that they are all the same color (white). Not like here, where every house has a different color.

Jeannine | The Small and Chic Home said...

Wow...those are simply amazing! Thanks so much for sharing. I had never heard of the towns or the homes.

used cars hillsboro said...

OMG those are absolutely stunning. I wonder if tulli homes would be allowed to be built in the US.

Gayle said...

Those are so cool! I have never seen anything like them!

Unknown said...

Visiting from TTB. Beautiful post about these amazing homes! I learned something today!!

Thanks!

~Becca

La Belle Mere said...

Wow, I love these!!! They're stunning. Wonder why I've never heard of them before?

Stopping by from TTB! Congrats on being featured blogger!

Bec xx

Maya said...

What a great discovery! Never heard nor seen before. Thanks!!!

FROM THE RIGHT BANK said...

Great rewind! I'm dying to stay in one of these.

Dumbwit Tellher said...

Impressive post. I am fascinated about the symbols that they painted on the buildings 'pinacole'. The inside caught me totally off-guard; not to mention the exterior. Another one for my bucket list - must visit!

Travel With Lilliy said...

What unusual houses never knew about them..Great post.

Lilliy

http://travelsightswithlilliy.com

The Redhead Riter said...

Wow...those were beautiful pictures

Enjoy a Tremendous Thursday!!!

DIane Schuller said...

what an incredibly informative post! How very interesting! ANd wow, those places are beautiful inside -- my preferred kind of style: clean, crisp, simple, contemporary yet warm and comfortable. Thanks for rewinding this one.

Unknown said...

Thanks again for the fascinating TOUR!!!
Great new look for you Blog.

Unknown said...

what a wonderful place,my godd i wanna go thereeee...i love all from Italy, Italian hand painted ceramics....i love Italian Mosaics in their houses or ceramics...god tour here,...cool

Lynn said...

I have never heard if these houses, although I have been to Europe three times!
Thank you for teaching me something new! I do love learning something new each day!
Now I can rest for the rest of the day. :)

Pauline Wiles said...

Gosh, I'd never heard of them either. What wonderful houses; clean but cozy, not too big, not too poky. I'll take one!

Pauline Wiles said...

I liked this post so much, I linked back to it today.
Thanks again!

Unknown said...

Great photos! My husband took me there 2 years ago in the summer time. Alberobello is "trulli" fantastic to see. Wear your sunglasses if you go because it's very bright on a sunny day with all the houses painted white. You should check out their old version of the roof vents... they are cut out of a metal in the shape of soldiers. I think I have some photos posted on my blog (way back of course) if you want to see them. I just have to point out, a lot of Italians haven't heard of the trulli houses.... even if they are now protected by the European union. The EU decided that they are such wonderful and interesting buildings slowly becoming "extinct" I guess you could say, that the houses of Alberobello are supposedly protected now. Thanks so much for writing up this post. It was a wonderful reminder of my trip!
Melissa
www.lissyinitaly.blogspot.com

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