Snippets of Southern Italy

It's October 29th, the Phillies are one up on the Astros and we're happy in Lecce, Pulgia! Today's blog is a few snippets of things we've seen here in the heel of the boot.

Alberobello - the Oddest Houses in Italy

On our way to Lecce, we stopped at the town of Alberobello, which contain the oddest houses, called trulli. The origins of the “trulli” are unknown. According to some theories, they date back five thousand years. But other historians date them back to the fifteenth century, and claim that their peculiar shape arose as a tax evasion ruse. In feudal times, anyone erecting a dwelling on the King’s land had to pay a tax. The inhabitants of Puglia devised the dry-stone “trullo” as a way to evade taxes. At the first notice of the tax collector’s arrival, the “trulli” were able to be rapidly dismantled, moved and rebuilt again afterwards. But this is of course a legend! Nowadays, the “trulli” are firmly planted on the ground and buttressed with stucco.

Some “trulli” are adorned with fanciful hex signs and mysterious designs that add magic to the already bewitching scenery. On the conic roofs are inscribed emblems and symbolic shapes of all kinds. The majority of the signs are of religious origin and content…Christian signs, such as the Cross, the Sacred Heart, etc; Pagan signs - the rooster, the serpent, the horseshoe, the horns, and so on. Others yet are simply geometric: circles, triangles, zigzag lines, and maybe even Agnostic!

Alluring "Allora"

Walking through the towns in Abruzzo and Puglia, we pass many people chatting and talking in Italian to each other. Most of it we can't make out; it's too quick for our untrained ears. However, there's one word that's so distinctive that we now hear it all the time. That word is "allora." We checked it out (okay, we Googled it) and found that it's a filler word, like "so," "then," or "well." It buys the speaker a little time to compose their thoughts before proceeding.

Allora is similar to Americans saying "um" or "uh" at the beginning of a sentence. We think "allora" is much more alluring than "um" or "uh!"

The White City - Ostuni

In the 17th century, the plague devastated Puglia and only a few villages survived. Among them there is Ostuni: the inhabitants had the brilliant idea to cover each house with limestone mixed with water. They decided to whitewash every single house also with a strategic purpose: the dazzling sunlight reflecting would blind the enemies and give them a clear advantage! The results were incredible: there was really less illness in the white houses (the white lime does have antibacterial properties)! So why discontinue a good thing! Thus their name…The White City.