We spent several days in the southern region of Puglia – what a treat it was (minus rainy, cold weather). One of the interesting places was Alberobello with its carefully preserved limestone dwellings called Trulli. It’s a houses where people lived since prehistoric times- some of them still occupied, some turned into restaurants, hotels or stores. Traditionally, stones from fields were used for walls, but cone shaped roofs are built of corbelled limestone slabs. We talked to the local men who told us a story from old times. When King’s tax collector was going around – he could collect tax only for completed buildings with a roof- somebody got the idea to have one stone with a rope attached on the top of the cone roof. When people saw the tax collector was coming rope was pulled and the roof got demolished- so, no roof – no tax!
