Peculiar Puglia

[xoxoxoBruce]

Holy shit, they are drystacked!
Plus clever...

Beautifully worked
water-channelling stones on this sill direct rainwater to a
single drip point, which in turn directs it to an underground
cistern via an accessible sink. After looking at dozens of
these amazing buildings, I'm sure that this collected water
is routed down through the building's drystack walls!
The routing was probably made leakproof with plaster, as
plaster was also applied to the inside of the dome upon
completion of the stone laying. The cistern sits below the
trullo, where evaporation is minimized and convenient
access is had. This integrated water catchment helped
insure survival in an arid land.

They are amazing, maybe BigV will rethink his roofing method.

Thanks cf (and the lovely Mrs cf) for sharing your trip.

[glatt]

According to Wikipedia, the roof is two layers.

The roofs are constructed in two layers: an inner layer of limestone boulders, capped by a keystone, and an outer layer of limestone slabs ensuring that the structure is watertight.

They are apparently nice and cool in the summer.

[Cyclefrance]

They are certainly cool - I can vouch for that - when it was breaking 40C outside the trulli interior was a good 20c lower - maybe even more - as it never felt uncomfortable, temperature-wise, inside at all. No need for air-conditioning at all!

And the water-management is also something we ought to take note of when we consider how much we waste this commodity. Most trulli had (and have) two cisterns. The first collects rainwater that is filtered and used for domestic purposes in summer. Then the domestic 'waste' water is collected in another cistern for use in irrigation

[BigV]

Drystacked? OMG. I get the heebeejeebees just thinking about getting up on that roof. I imagine (I haven't followed the links yet) that they're constructed by erecting a scaffold then placing the rocks on each other following the scaffold/mold. Then after the keystone is placed, the scaffolding is unneeded and removed. I get the heebeejeebees just thinking about the tons of rocks "resting" over my head. I guess these people never heard of earthquakes, eh?

Beautiful pictures, especially your lovely model, CF. Thanks for bringing us along.

[Elspode]

Those buildings are extremely cool, and Mrs CF is extremely hot. Great pics, CF.

[Cyclefrance]

I can see I will have to include Mrs CF in my content more often....

[TheMercenary]

Outstanding. Very interesting. I am a amature builder myself. Someday I want to build my own house. Some great ideas. Thanks.

[glatt]

Originally Posted by BigV

I get the heebeejeebees just thinking about the tons of rocks "resting" over my head. I guess these people never heard of earthquakes, eh?

It's not quite as bad as you think. The interior blocks are larger and like cubes, so the inside is kind of like an igloo, and then these loose rocks are stacked over that "igloo" style structure to shed the rain. Yes, it is dry stacked, and earthquakes are pretty damn powerful, but it's not like these are the loose rocks they seem to be.

Here's a picture of one that was being taken apart for renovations and it collapsed as it was being taken apart. You can see how it's built.

[Sundae]

Very interesting CF.
And Mrs CF is so glamorous! I would look that smart if I had an audience with the Queen, perhaps, unlikely on holiday.