Homes Without Wood

Ciao a tutti il mio amici,

Like I said in my last post, one of the things I will miss when I leave here are the homes built of stone. Many times when I was protesting the cutting of ancient trees, I would stand with my “amici ambientista” (environmentalist friends) between the loggers and the trees. After the loggers would say “Go get a job”, they would say “so where will you live without wood!”. I would always say… “I will live in a stone and cement house.” They just scoffed at that.

I have always been interested in home designs. When I was a little girl, I would draw pictures of horses and houses, floor plans and tigers. My mom always thought it was funny that in the floor plans I drew of the house I would build when I grew up, I always included a room for her. The houses I drew were made of stone and I would take great amounts of time drawing the details of the stones.

Building a stone house has always been number one on the list of things I wanted to do in my life.

So, when I saw my first Trullo it was love at first sight. I researched them at great length. I knew I wanted to stay in one and booked one for a week on my first trip to Puglia last year. It was incredible. They are small but very sound, and have an alcove for every purpose. They are like a stone tent, but many that were well maintained, still stand in perfect condition after 6-700 years! The temperature stays very stable and the shape is thought to give you a certain… peace within.

Trulli love!

They were built as sort of tax dodge to begin with. The peasants here were only taxed for having permanent structures. So they would collect up the rocks laying around, shape them a little and construct the trulli for shelter. No mortar. When the tax collector would come, to avoid paying the shelter tax, they would pull the key stones and collapse the house into a pile of rubble. Then after the tax collector moved on they would restack the rocks and rebuild their home, in a day.

The Trullo are everywhere here but they change with the territory. In the north of Puglia they have a pinnacle with a special top piece of various shapes. Often pagan symbols of various meanings were painted on the roof to bring luck, health and wealth to the family. The trullo I rented in Alberobello last year, had a symbol of Venus (woman) on the roof, my ruling planet. I felt very much at home there. The symbols eventually evolved into Christian symbols.

As you move south in Puglia, the Trullo evolve and change. First the tops lose their pinnacles. A little further south they become flat. Even further south the walls start to square off and then they become what is called a Pagliari. You see these structures everywhere in various conditions. Often they are converted into a barn or storage building when a new larger modern home was built nearby. The stone types change with the territory as well. In the northern parts of Puglia they use white and gray limestone. Here in the Salento region they use a beautiful golden stone that is less brittle, even slightly soft, making it easy to sculpt into many shapes and adorments.

I also found on the internet that you can buy a trullo on a couple acres of ancient olives and fruit trees, that needs restoration, very cheaply. 50-65,000€. It has become a trend in Britain to buy a trullo here and restore it as a vacation home. Because each original trulli is considered a UNESCO historical monument, you have to adhere to local building ordinance and restore them to their precise original design. There are trulli, masseria and pagliari restoration experts you must call on to make sure it is done correctly. I hear they charge a big price to foreigners for this service too. This usually doubles the original price. Still very cheap!

In Puglia there are no suburbs! There is a defined city and then it is agricultural land outside of that. The cities have NO skyscrapers. I am not sure, but I think there are building codes that require new and restored buildings to blend in with the size and appearance of the surrounding structures. In the bigger city of Bari, the buildings are 8-9 stories. In the smaller cities like Otranto and Valenzano the buildings are 3-4 stories. The first floors (la prima piani) often have shops and businesses and the upper floors are apartments. The penthouses are where the wealthier people live.

At first, I thought that new construction or restoration projects in the old town (il centro storico) brought in salvaged stones that had been collected from dilapidated buildings. But then I watched the restoration workers work on the old Otranto Castle walls one day and realized. They have special tools they use to make the new stones look old. They use drills and small jack hammer tools to give the new stones that aged and eroded look!

Unlike the north of Italy with it’s terracotta tiles, the roofs here in the south are flat and are prime real estate. Unless there is a dome or pinnacle they are used as outdoor dining areas, gardens, playgrounds, dog yards, utility areas or storage spaces. The ground floor apartments often include small garden spaces. Most apartments on the middle floors include balconies and terraces with decorative railings of wrought iron, turned stone or formed concrete with flowering vines cascading down from them. The Italians love their outdoor spaces and if not needed for utility purposes, they often fill them with flowers and fruit trees. I was surprised when I visited the town of Conversano, I noticed dwarf lemon and rubber trees growing on nearly every balcony! I saw on the news the other day that a huge tree uprooted and fell from a rooftop garden into the street and caused an accident with a fatality.

The windows and doors of all homes and businesses are fortified with metal shutters that swing or crank down. This serves the purpose of security and keeping out the heat in the summer months. I wonder why these are not used in hurricane country. Usually the building are white, gray, tan or golden, but the window frames, doors, door frames and shutters are blue, green, brown or black. The windows are treated with sheer lace, appliqué or cutout curtains and instead of screen doors, here they use a device made of metal strands hanging down coated with plastic.

Lichens and mosses grow on all the buildings over time, giving them a stained and blotchy appearance. At first it irritated me and I thought it looked dirty. Why don’t they paint them, I wondered, they keep everything else so clean. But I have always loved lichens so when I realized that is what it was, I started to love it. The stones and plasters start to erode and after a while plants and even trees take root in the cracks and niches. This gives the buildings here a quaint and natural look. If any wood is used at all, it is used in the cabinetry, and very rarely in older buildings, the door, door and window frames, only.

Now I dream of building or restoring a trulli or masseria and maybe I will get the chance some day.

It is my last day of classes here. I made polished stone necklaces to give my teachers and I will also give them my basil plants. I wanted to convey one last thought in this blog piece. I strongly believe that teaching is the most important job anyone can do in this world. And learning is the most important process we can undertake. I value my books more than any other possession. I like to think of myself as a perpetual student in this school of life. So never NEVER take your teachers for granted or underestimate the value of the time you spend learning! Sorry this piece is so long.

Okay! Go out and learn something today and hug your teacher too.
My love goes out to all of you… my teachers.