Saturday 24 August 2024

Still among "trulli"

 

Just a few words, once again, about South Italy's dry stone huts, which I already mentioned on 11 August. 

                                         

As it is known, the walls of these buildings are painted white. That colour would help to reflect, rather than absorb, the sunrays, hence moderating the temperature inside the dry stone structure.

In addition, the small spaces between the stones of these dry stone constructions' conical rooftops maintain a natural coolness during the summer months as well as they preserve the heat during the winter.



Those examples of dry stone construction were made of roughly worked limestone boulders collected from surroundings fields.


Some of these traditional architectural structures are still actively used as guesthouses, shops and groceries, etc.


The "trullo" in the above picture hosts a restaurant where I had a delicious typical dinner. 100 Metri Cubi, that its name.  



If you were to go South Italy, you could visit that hidden gem. It is worth it. 

Thursday 15 August 2024

Assumption of Mary day

The assumption of the blessed Virgin Mary has been celebrated on August 15th since many centuries in Europe. It is still a public holiday in Italy, Spain, Austria, Poland and several others EU countries. Italians celebrate this public holiday by heading for the coast or the cool air in the hills. In the evening there are a lot of fireworks.

While I was on holiday, two weeks ago, a took the two pictures of the small beach of Polignano a Mare (South Italy). 

Have a nice Holy day!



Sunday 11 August 2024

Dry stone huts

 

In my previous post I wrote about the typical South Italy's dry stone huts with their conical roofs. Trullo, that's its name. Thousands of them are visible along the main road of the Apulia region in South Italy.

The highest concentration of those drywall constructions is in the town of Alberobello, which has been designated as UNESCO World heritage since 1996. Some of these traditional achitectural structures of the Italian Apulia region date back to the 14th century, but they are still actively used as homes, farmsteads, guesthouses, shops and groceries.

As request by Tom I post a few pictures showing local people who live in those traditional small stone houses. They were once constructed as temporary shelters.  


The month of August is hosting five Sundays in 2024. Have a nice Sunday ☀ 

Thursday 1 August 2024

B&B Fontana Vecchia, Castellana Grotte

There are some hidden gems along the South Italy's countryside. Many lovely places in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea gives the opportunity to enjoy a slower pace of life.  

The property were I have been staying since 29th of July is located between two small cities, Alberobello and Castellana Grotte. Many old typical farmers's buildings, which are still in this corner of South Italy, can be enjoyed by tourists who came mainly from France and Germany.


 "Trullo", That's the Italian name of these traditional dry stone huts.

There are many chacteristic narrow alleys to be walked.


I also enjoyed old big cobblestones along those alleys, where I haven't heard any noise and haven't seen any car.


Glad to see that people who live in this beautiful corner of South Italy are aware about the importance of renewable energy. They have installed photovoltaic and solar panels close to their old buildings. Obviously, panels have to be hidden from the view. 

Have a nice month of August ☀️🍅🍑🍇