Alberobello and Matera

Today our travels took us from Bari (which had some surprisingly fashionable and stylish furniture, kitchen, and clothing shops) to Alberobello, home of the Trulli houses, and then on to Matera, where a good portion of the town is carved into the side of sandstone hills and was the setting for the filming of Mel Gibson’s Passion of the Christ.    

I found two awesome little stores in Alberobello  which I’ll tell you about.  The first was a shop that sold linens hand-loomed by women in the village.  There is a corp of about 30 women who work out of their Trulli homes making table cloths, placemats, aprons, etc.  We chatted for a while with the shop owner, a younger woman who had grown up in the home behind her shop and whose mother was one of the loomers.  There were three motifs that she sold from her store – grapes, which symbolized prosperity; peacocks which symbolized fruitfulness, and flowers which symbolized fidelity.  In the end, I purchased a beautiful linen tablecloth with a burgundy colored grape motif woven into it, and some dishtowels which will make nice gifts. 

The other store we stumbled upon was a food store, selling only items made in the town.  There was an assortment of salamis and cheeses which we tasted but did not purchase (too tempting for Bob), opting instead to buy a whole collection of absolutely delicious items such as a truffle spread (incredible), an artichoke spread, a spicy red tomato and pepperonata spread, and an assortment of jarred eggplant, zucchini, and artichokes in various flavored olive oils.  This is going to be the core of our picnic lunch with some fresh bread and wine over the next couple of days. 

Wine and hors d'oeuvres to sample

Best place for a picnic!

Alberobello is a UNESCO World Heritage site, but I haven't done my research to learn exactly why. It is home to the ancient Trulli houses, which are conical shaped homes with stacked rock roofs.  Many of the roofs have magic symbols painted on them.  They are all whitewashed and are very picturesque to look at.  It is amazing to think the people here have had families living in these homes for centuries.

Our cave room - my camera does not do it justice

After leaving Alberobello, we drove through the countryside where large fields of hay had been cleared and rolled, and little trulli farmhouses dotted the fields.  Then we would come across fields covered in arrays of solar panels - the mix of modern and medieval was very interesting.  The drive to Matera took less than an hour, so we checked in early to our B&B, aptly named La Dolce Vita.  Our room is a cave carved into the hillside, with a little skylight window, tastefully decorated with new  tile floors, antique decorations, and a charming fireplace.  Inside, it is cool and refreshing, a nice contrast to the warm humid air outside.  The owners are a friendly and attentive young couple with a new baby (so cute!) and I would like to ask them how it is they came to settle in this unusual town.

Courtyard outside our bedroom

After checking in, we took a walking tour of the city and saw some interesting sights.  A good part of the town was built around the 10^th -12th century, and refurbished many times over the years.

The little city has over 22 churches, including a large Duomo at the top of the hill and several smaller churches devoted to the Benedictine nuns and monks who lived here in the middle ages.  With so many churches, the bells ring incessantly, but at least they don't start until 7 AM and it seemed that 9 PM was the last chiming for the evening.

Note the coffin shaped graves haphazardly dug into the rock

The cemetery was very unusual – since there is no dirt, the graves were scraped into the rock, the bodies placed inside the carved holes, then the holes were filled with mortar and rocks.  No gravestones or markings except for haphazardly placed coffin-shaped patterns on the ground.  (We learned just before bedtime that our room is directly below one of the cemetaries.  Yikes!)  When walking down the hill from the Duomo, we stumbled upon a music conservatory where the orchestra was rehearsing.  Although the doors were closed to visitors, we could sit outside and hear some beautiful classical music - violins, horns, woodwinds - wafting through the piazza.  A few doors down, a gifted pianist was practicing finger exercises.    We are hopeful there will be a concert while we’re here, but if not we may just go down to the square for a drink or dinner to listen to the students.

He seems to be sayiing "Get this thing off my head!"

As the sun set behind the city, we noticed maybe a hundred people gathered on the cliffs across the river gorge from the city.  The area has some ancient caves carved into the hills, but it is generally uninhabited and looks like a park or nature preserve. I think the view of the city with the sun setting behind it must be beautiful and maybe tomorrow we will join the throngs with our camera.  We finished our day with another walk around the perimeter of the town, then a casual dinner and off to bed.