This summer, vacation as the Italians do: Escape to Puglia (pronounced “POOL-ya”), Italy’s southeasternmost region, where you will hear ancient dialects, ride your bike by the sea and stay in a pinecone-like trullo, found nowhere else in the world.
Puglia is Italy’s craggiest, rawest, most mystical region, located in the heel of its fabled boot. Bordered by both the Ionian and Mediterranean seas, it prides itself on its wine production—usually supplying around 17 percent of the national total, more than any other region—and unapologetically strong olive oil, flavorful broccoli rabe and tough inhabitants, who have survived centuries of invasions by aggressors ranging from the ancient Greeks to Napoleon.
You know you're in Puglia when you begin to notice mysterious stone buildings with conical roofs everywhere you look. Centuries ago—possibly as early as 3000 B.C.—the Pugliesi cleverly used their abundance of limestone to build unique indigenous houses called trulli. If an invader (or an equally dreaded property-tax collector) lurked, the natives could tear down their homes within minutes by removing the keystone. Many covered their roofs with mysterious, whitewashed hieroglyphics, hex signs for deflecting evildoers.
Trulli are so exceptional that Alberobello, the stunning, whitewashed village that is home to the highest concentration of trulli in Puglia, is recognized as a World Heritage Site by the United Nations, a distinction it shares with such mythic sites as Stonehenge in England and Chichen-Itza in Mexico.
Historically, the pugliesi built the trulli as lone barns or, more often, as a series of homes in towns such as Alberobello and Ostuni. But today trulli have become fashionable second homes for well-to-do northern Italians and foreigners. Some buyers purchase older trulli and have them renovated or reconstructed using ancient techniques, while others order the special stones and erect new trulli. Vacationers can even rent a trullo for a few nights or weeks.
Paolo Lainati, a commercial farmer from the northern province of Varese, traveled south to purchase two trulli, which he plans to renovate for his family holidays. "They're beautiful and unique," says Lainati. "They're small, but the stones allow them to stay cool in the summer."
Children especially love the "dollhouse, magical qualities" of the trulli, he says.
For Lainati, the region itself holds an overall allure. "There's very little traffic in Puglia, and it's relaxing to be somewhere without lots of tourists," Lainati says. "Since it's close to the sea, the fish are quite fresh. The Pugliesi eat very simply but very, very well."
The beaches, vineyards and temperate climate of Puglia also attracted Edna and Richard Lacuelli, who later purchased several trulli and now own and operate Trulli Puglia, a company specializing in vacation rentals and tours in southern Italy. Anyone who wishes to buy an untouched trullo must comply with the region's zoning laws, designed to protect and preserve the historic structures. But, Italy being Italy, there are always exceptions.
"Most of the unrenovated trulli don't have modern amenities or facilities, such as bathrooms," Edna Iacuelli explains. "Therefore, the 'understanding' is that when a trullo is renovated, 25 square meters [about 270 square feet] can be added to the property."
Some owners even add swimming pools, and companies that rent trulli often build barbecue areas and install central heating, hot tubs and private gardens. Well-equipped kitchens let newcomers try their hand at cooking the region's famed orecchiette ("little ears") pasta, or assembling a spread of fresh figs and strong, salty cheeses.
And those wishing to practice their Italian will get ample opportunity. English isn't as prevalent in the land of the trulli as it is in, say, Milan or Florence. In fact, it's still possible to hear remnants of ancient local dialects. In the town of Lizzano, for instance, soccer fanatics don't scream, "Corri!" ("Run!"). They yell, "Fuschi!" Anyone who has traveled southward into Italy's Mezzogiorno region knows that as the sun gets hotter, the hair gets longer, the wine gets stronger and the accents get looser. A clipped northern questa festa ("this party") becomes "kwayshta fayshta" down here.
So, leave the hotels to the tourists. Book a ticket for Taranto, one of Puglia's main seaports, and drive up the coast to Alberobello to experience sunbathing, delicious food and a magical little beehive home. In this case, the room is the view.
