The former Italian Catholic diocese of Bisignano, in Calabria, existed from the eighth century until 1818. In that year it was united with the diocese of San Marco, to create the diocese of San Marco e Bisignano. More recently, Bisignano passed to the archdiocese of Cosenza-Bisignano.[1][2]
Bisignano is the ancient Besidias, or Besidianum, which in the eleventh century became the residence of a Norman count and later a fief of the Orsini. In 1467 Skanderbeg's daughter, wife of the Prince of Bisignano, invited there many Albanian families who established various colonies, spoke their own language, and used the Greek Rite.
The first mention of a bishop is in 1179. Bisignano certainly had bishops in the tenth century, when mention is made of Ulutto in the life of St. Uilo di Rossano; Bishop Federico (1331) was killed in 1339.[3]