Characteristics and distribution of trulli constructions in the area of the site of community importance Murgia of Trulli

The agro-forestry territory in the Region of Apulia, southern Italy, is characterised by a widespread and diversified presence of dry stone constructions, including trulli, rural buildings with a characteristic a conical shape. The trulli are mainly to be found in the central and eastern part of the region, called Murgia of Trulli. Trulli are perfectly integrated with the agro-environment specificity of the area, creating a unique landscape and establishing themselves as a testimony of tradition and rural culture. In fact, in this area, from the 17^th until the mid-20^th century, the trulli accompanied the development of agricultural activities. According to the number of cones they had, they were used as temporary shelters, places of support for primary production, or comfortable houses for the rural population. In recent decades, for several social and economic reasons, this heritage of rural buildings has been affected by abandonment and degradation phenomena. Interventions aimed at recovery and re-use have not always respected the origin of the buildings, their design characteristics or the landscape in which they had been built. In order to reduce the impact that this situation has had on environmental and territorial quality it is, therefore, necessary to develop initiatives to protect and valorise the trulli while respecting the identity of place, the architectural elements, and the agricultural and environmental characteristics of the territory. For this purpose, we need to analyse and characterise the heritage of the existing trulli and its relationship with the local reality. The present paper analyses the typology and distribution of the trulli located on the site of community importance Murgia of Trulli, a protected area with high environmental value in the central-eastern area of the Region of Apulia. Specifically, we analysed the relationship between the trulli buildings and the agro-environment context to acquire a basic interpretative knowledge in order to define strategies for recovery and re-use.