Travelling around the heel of Italy – part 2

From the Adriatic Sea to Apulia’s interior

We’re leaving the Adriatic coast and heading towards the interior of Apulia. Travelling through the countryside already gives us an inkling of what awaits in abundance in the fairy-tale Alberobello. It’s the trulli, a round single-storey houses with conical stone roofs that can be spotted here and there in the middle of the fields. The largest number, around 1,500, can be seen in the town lined up on the slope that consists of two parts, known as Rione Monti and Aia Piccola.

Trullo, singular, or trulli, plural, is a distinctive architectural feature built using local stone and initially served as a makeshift shelter or a construction that provided shade, but later evolved into a housing construction that was subject to tax. Since these houses were built without mortar or binder, they were easy to demolish, which was quite practical, especially when tax collectors came to collect the taxes. People would simply remove a few stones and the building would crumble, leaving nothing to be taxed. Of course, the trulli in Alberobello that we can admire today are permanent structures and the more improved version of the initial buildings from a couple of centuries ago. Trulli once served exclusively as housing structures, but now most of them have been transformed into shops and inns, while some are also used as tourist accommodation. Few of them serve as permanent homes. Alberobello is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, so it isn’t surprising to see large crowds of tourists walking down the narrow streets lined with trulli in both sides. It’s even possible to climb up to the terrace of one of these houses, which offers a view of a multitude of pointy roofs. Looking at the panorama of pointy roof constructions, one cannot but wonder how it’s possible that the name of the town, when translated, means “a beautiful tree”.

Matera, the pinnacle of the trip, did not disappoint

It’s time to say goodbye to Apulia and head to the neighbouring Basilicata and the famous Matera, a city that has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1993. It’s said to be one of the oldest cities in the world and continuously inhabited for 9,000 years. People were said to have lived there in natural and carved out caves above the Gavina river. Interestingly, people used to live that way up until the 1960s when the authorities forced them to move into the newly built part of the city. That was because Matera was considered a disgrace for Italy due to poverty and inhumane living conditions. The Materani lived in their cave dwellings together with animals, without water and electricity, and with poor sanitation, so no wonder there were also numerous disease outbreaks, which is perfectly described in the Christ Stopped at Eboli.

The old part of Matera is known as Sassi and consists of two parts, namely of Sasso Barisano and Sasso Caveoso. It was built on and in rocks, which is how it got its name. The word sasso is derived from the word saxum, meaning rock. A lot of these cave dwellings are now abandoned, especially in the Sasso Caveoso part, while some others have been beautifully renovated and transformed into museums, inns or restaurants. Matera relies on tourism. The Passion of the Christ was also filmed there due to the city resembling Jerusalem. It’s the film I mentioned right at the beginning of the first part of my article. A scene for the No Time to Die was also filmed in Matera. Just like Alberobello, Matera, too, is an attraction in itself and it’s best explored on foot. The hilly terrain offers a beautiful view, and the best panorama of Matera can be admired at dusk from the viewing platform outside the cathedral. That’s when thousands of lights turn on, creating a mystical backdrop.

Apulia and Basilicata definitely aren’t popular tourist destinations, such as Venice, Tuscany with the city of Florence, or Rome. One reason for this is their location in the poor and remote Italian south. But despite this, I was more than satisfied with what I’d experienced and I highly recommend a trip to the heel of the Italian boot to all Globetrotter readers.