The Murat neighborhood

The Murat neighborhood was born with the noblemen´s interest in leaving the old medieval city during the late  18^thcentury to build a “modern” town (“il Borgo nuovo”) with plenty of space for their new palaces, coat of arms, classical designs, etc. 

Noble house

Trullo

Apart from the palaces, the bigger part of this neighbourhood was occupied by more modest houses (from humble to very elaborated ones) built using the ancient Apulian constructive knowledge characterised by stone drywalls and vaults. One of the oldest examples of this Apulian technic are the “trulli” (circular constructions with conical stone rooftops), but for the Murat neighbourhood the basic house plan follows another rural example: the “lamie” (constructions that appeared as the “trulli´s” modern version).

The “lamie” are rectangular constructions with stone drywalls and barrel vault allowing the possibility of having a huge terrace instead of a conical and useless rooftop. These terraces were used not only to dry goods (like figs) but also to collect rainwater to be kept in the cistern underneath the house. In the “contrade” (countryside of Monopoli), the “lamie” were used to keep animals, usually the donkey and the pig, but also to spend the night sleeping on straw mattresses. 

Lamia in the countryside

Barrel vault in a "lamia"

This structure was brought from the countryside to central Monopoli and was also ameliorated for the city needs overlapping the idea in two or three floors shearing one terrace. Nevertheless, the “lamie” are not all similar but with small or big differences depending on the needs of the owners and also on the likes of the builder. Some look like a castle, some like a shelter.

Goacchino Murat was  married to Napoleon’s sister and became king of Napoli (and the Two Sicilies) from 1808 to 1815.