A trullo (plural, trulli) is a traditional Apulian dry stone hut with a conical roof. Their style of construction is specific to the Itria Valley, in the Murge area of the Italian region of Apulia. Trulli were generally constructed as temporary field shelters and storehouses or as permanent dwellings by small proprietors or agricultural labourers. In the town of Alberobello, in the province of Bari, whole districts contain dense concentrations of trulli. The golden age of trulli was the nineteenth century, especially its final decades, which were marked by the development of wine growing. From the to the The Italian term trullo (from the Greek word , cupola) refers to a house whose internal space is covered by a dry stone corbelled or keystone vault. is an Italianized form of the dialectal term, , used in a specific area of the Salentine peninsula (i.e. Lizzaio, Maruggio, and Avetrana, in other words, outside the Murgia dei Trulli proper), where it is the name of the local agricultural dry stone hut. has replaced the local term (pl. ) (Italian , pl. ), which was used by locals in the Murgia to call this type of house. A stonemason specializing in the building of is a or in Italian. The corresponding dialectal term is ( in the plural), i.e. builder of . History There are many theories behind the origin of the design. One of the more popular theories is that due to high taxation on property, the people of Apulia built dry stone wall constructions so that they could be dismantled quickly when tax inspectors were in the area. In available historical records from the mid-fourteenth century to the late sixteenth century, the area of Alberobello is referred to mostly as selva ("forest") and occasionally, as a land from which grazing animals were excluded. Evidence is lacking as to the existence of dwellings in the area prior to the seventeenth century. A Plan of the Territory of Mottala drawn by Donato Gallerano in 1704 reveals the existence of a nucleus of trulli in the midst of a large wood, making up the initial settlement of Arbore bello ("beautiful tree"). In a geographical map drawn by Giovanni Antonio Rizzi Zannoni in 1808, one may see the selva of Alberobello and, in the midst of it, a clearing with a settlement pattern of scattered houses that bears a striking resemblance to the present-day urban