Alberobello, literally "beautiful tree", is a small town and comune of Apulia, southern Italy. It has 10,237 inhabitants (2022) and is famous for its unique trullo (plural trulli) buildings. The trulli of Alberobello have been designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1996, thanks to the unique architectural and historical value of trulli houses. They are considered one of the best examples of vernacular architecture in Europe. Alberobello is the only inhabited center with an entire district of trulli, and is considered to be the cultural capital of the trulli of the Itria Valley. It is one of the most beautiful small towns of Italy.
A first occupation of the area started only in the early fifteenth century. The expansion of the urban area was helped by the abundance of limestone, karst and calcareous sedimentary, and is linked to the Prammatica De Baronibus, an edict of the 15th-century Kingdom of Naples that subjected every new settlement to a tribute. In 1481 the Counts of Conversano D'Acquaviva D'Aragona, from 1481 owners of the territory of Alberobello, then imposed on the residents that they built their dwellings dry, without using mortars, so that they could be configured as precarious buildings and easily demolished. Having to use only stones, the peasants found in the round form with self-supporting domed roof the simplest configuration. The roofs were embellished with decorative pinnacles representing the signature of the architect (master trullaro). This obligation to have houses built with dry stones was an expedient of the count to avoid paying taxes to the Spanish viceroy of the Kingdom of Naples. Alberobello remained a fief of the Acquaviva of Aragon until 27 May 1797, when King Ferdinand IV of Bourbon elevated the small village to the royal city, freeing it from the feudal servitude of the counts. On 22 June 1797, the first mayor Francesco Giuseppe Lippolis was elected.