October 28, 2014
Going back a few week to when I was in Matera, Locorotunda and Alberobello, I'd like to pick-up where I left off. I will lump these locations together, because they share a similarity in that they are famous for their unusual housing arrangements. Matera is quite different form the other two, and of course they are all very ancient and interesting sites. It so happens that Matera is vying for the designation of Euro Capital of Culture for the year 2017 (or is it 2019?), and so there is a big push for restoration of decrepit buildings. The results of their efforts to restore and renovate, win or lose the honorarium, will be huge publicity and the resulting influx of tourism dollars. The spill over into the surrounding area will also be significant, and it's easy to imagine that there will be swarms and swarms of tourists in the very near future. So, plan your trip now. It's already firmly on the tourist route, for good reason.
It's hard to know what to say about Matera. It's beautiful and amazing. The town was basically built out of the cliffs, and many buildings began life as a cave. It's very organic, steep and crazy!
You basically start at the bottom and work your way up to the top. I had a really great meal there. In typical Italian tradition, the restaurants don't open before 8:00pm for dinner service - so anything would have tasted great! We stayed in a lovely B&B which, as usual proved to be very hard to locate, but then once we found it was SO obvious. Better signage would have been helpful, though.
Onward from Matera to Locorotundo and Alberobello (can you roll your r's?), one finds another peculiar style of house - a trullo (singular) which is a round structures with a conical slate roof. There doesn't seem to be a definitive explanation as to why these structures came in to being, but they are all over the place in this area of Puglia, and ultra charming. So charming, in fact, that they are still being built in the traditional style, and in some instances added to more recent buildings, in a commercially advantageous style. Whole neighbourhoods of trulli (plural) exist in Alberobello, where folks live their normal lives, as well as neighbourhoods that have become tourist havens. It was lovely to drive through the country side seeing these peculiar fairy tale buildings, and to walk through neighbourhoods where I expected elves to emerge at any moment. Alas, it was regular Italian folk who live within - fair enough!
I should say that Locorotunda had only a few of the trulli homes, but that the cento storico of this town was very, very charming and warranted a good look around, which I gave it!
Going back a few week to when I was in Matera, Locorotunda and Alberobello, I'd like to pick-up where I left off. I will lump these locations together, because they share a similarity in that they are famous for their unusual housing arrangements. Matera is quite different form the other two, and of course they are all very ancient and interesting sites. It so happens that Matera is vying for the designation of Euro Capital of Culture for the year 2017 (or is it 2019?), and so there is a big push for restoration of decrepit buildings. The results of their efforts to restore and renovate, win or lose the honorarium, will be huge publicity and the resulting influx of tourism dollars. The spill over into the surrounding area will also be significant, and it's easy to imagine that there will be swarms and swarms of tourists in the very near future. So, plan your trip now. It's already firmly on the tourist route, for good reason.
It's hard to know what to say about Matera. It's beautiful and amazing. The town was basically built out of the cliffs, and many buildings began life as a cave. It's very organic, steep and crazy!
Onward from Matera to Locorotundo and Alberobello (can you roll your r's?), one finds another peculiar style of house - a trullo (singular) which is a round structures with a conical slate roof. There doesn't seem to be a definitive explanation as to why these structures came in to being, but they are all over the place in this area of Puglia, and ultra charming. So charming, in fact, that they are still being built in the traditional style, and in some instances added to more recent buildings, in a commercially advantageous style. Whole neighbourhoods of trulli (plural) exist in Alberobello, where folks live their normal lives, as well as neighbourhoods that have become tourist havens. It was lovely to drive through the country side seeing these peculiar fairy tale buildings, and to walk through neighbourhoods where I expected elves to emerge at any moment. Alas, it was regular Italian folk who live within - fair enough!
I should say that Locorotunda had only a few of the trulli homes, but that the cento storico of this town was very, very charming and warranted a good look around, which I gave it!
Sorry about this being sideways...
Pulgia is a very beautiful regione of Italy and I would happily return some day to explore more.
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