Italy. Apulia Region. Alberobello. Alberobello is a small town which is famous for its unique trullo buildings. A trullo (plural, trulli) is a traditional Apulian dry stone hut with a conical roof. The structural walls of a trullo are laid directly on the bedrock. Their width varies from 0.80 to 2.70 metres. Their height (from ground level to where the vault starts) ranges from 1.60 to 2 metres. On cone's top, there is normally a hand-worked sandstone pinnacle (pinnacolo), that may be one of many designs - disk, ball, cone, bowl, polyhedron, or a combination thereof, that is supposed to be the signature of the stonemason who built the trullo. Additionally, the cone may have a symbol painted on it. Such symbols may include Christian symbols such as a simple cross and quite a few others pagans ones. Their style of construction is specific to the Itria Valley in the Murge area. Trulli generally were constructed as temporary field shelters and storehouses or, as permanent dwellings by small proprietors or agricultural labourers. In Alberobello's town, whole districts contain dense concentrations of trulli. Trullo has replaced the local term casedda which was used by locals in the Murgia area to call this type of house, which used to be the local agricultural dry stone hut. Alberobello's trulli have been designated as a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1996. Apulia (Puglia) is a region in Southern Italy. 7.12.18 © 2018 Didier Ruef