Cartoline da Alberobello

A rich collection of vintage postcards, acquired with passion and constancy over the course of about fifty years, led Nicola Pugliese to seek a reward for this uncommon commitment.

Publishing in a volume the most significant postcards in his possession, accompanied by short explanatory notes, seemed an ideal solution, which allows you to make public the collection and simultaneously provide an idea, even partial, on the urban and architectural evolution of Alberobello from the end of 800.

The work of cataloging and presentation was carried out by dividing the postcards into homogeneous areas, starting from the panoramic ones and then moving to those of Piazza del Popolo and the central streets, the most significant buildings (Basilica dei Santi Medici, Trullo Sovrano, Museo del Territorio-formerly Casa Pezzolla), then the historic monumental center (Aia Piccola and Monti).

Among the historical events some postcards of the Patron Saint’s Day of Saints Cosma and Damiano, the monument to the Fallen of the Great War and the one to D.Morea.

Finally, some old postcards of the Frazione Coreggia have been reported, of trulli scattered in the rural area and some special postcards, which are also of philatelic interest. From the observation of the published postcards, especially the oldest ones, we have the idea of the original consistency of the urban fabric of our city.

The transformations that occurred during the twentieth century, especially after the Second World War, affected the peripheral areas of the original inhabited nucleus, but also the central areas, where several old buildings, mainly trullo or conversa, were demolished to make way for a new type of building not always adequate to the specific characteristics of our urban landscape.

The publication of these old illustrated postcards of our city, therefore, while offering an overview of the evolution that occurred over a period of more than a century, also aims to sensitize citizens and public and private institutions to pursue a concrete policy of safeguarding and safeguarding the artistic and environmental heritage, in the awareness of their historical origins.