| Piana degli Albanesi Hora e Arbëreshëvet |
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| — Comune — | |
| Comune di Piana degli Albanesi Bashkia e Horës së Arbëreshëvet |
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| A view of Piana degli Albanesi | |
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Piana degli Albanesi
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| Coordinates: | |
| Country | Italy |
| Region | Sicily |
| Province | Palermo (PA) |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Gaetano Caramanno (since May 28, 2002) |
| Area | |
| • Total | 64.89 km2 (25.1 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 740 m (2,428 ft) |
| Population (2001) | |
| • Total | 6,427 |
| • Density | 99/km2 (256.5/sq mi) |
| Demonym | Chianoti |
| Time zone | CET (UTC+1) |
| • Summer (DST) | CEST (UTC+2) |
| Postal code | 90037 |
| Dialing code | 091 857 |
| Patron saint | St. George, M. St. Hodegetria, St. Demetrius |
| Saint day | 23 April, 2 September, 26 October |
| Website | Official website |
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| Origins · History |
Piana degli Albanesi (Albanian: Hora e Arbëreshëvet) is a comune with 6,427 inhabitants in the Province of Palermo, Sicily.
The town is the most important and populous Arbëreshë community in Sicily and it is the episcopal see of the Byzantine Catholic Church. Situated on a mountainous plateau, which is mirrored on a large lake, and on the eastern side of the imposing Mount Pizzuta, it is 24km from the provincial capital. The community has maintained many ethnic elements of Albanian culture like language, religious ritual, traditional costumes, music and folklore. The inhabitants are the descendants of Albanian families, including nobles and relatives of Skanderbeg, that settled in Southern Italy during the Ottoman Turkish conquest of the Balkans. The municipal government uses bilingual documents and signs in Albanian and Italian under existing Italian legislation on protecting ethnic and linguistic minorities.
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Piana degli Albanesi was founded in the late fifteenth century by a large group of Albanian refugees coming from the Balkans during the conquest of the latter by the Ottoman Empire.[1][2] The exodus began after the defeat of the Byzantine Empire and the death of Skanderbeg, who successfully fought for the freedom of their people for more than two decades.
The village was founded on 30 August 1488, was asked to Cardinal Giovanni Borgia by Monreale the right to remain in the lands of Mercu and Aydingli, located in the mountains in the province of Palermo.
In 1482-1485, after several attacks from the Ottoman Empire, the Christian-orthodox Albanians were forced to the Adriatic coast where they hired ships from Republic of Venice and escaped by sailing managed to advance up to reach Sicily. They apparently were housed in temporary camps somewhere near Palermo until about 1486 or 1487, when they were granted land know initially as the "Plain of the Archbishop", inland areas of Sicily, in the mountains above the city of Palermo. Signed the "capitulation" in Albanian and Italian, which were also recognized with followed by the Brief of Pope Sixtus IV,[3] the official concession of land was granted to the settlers in 1488, followed by the construction of the largest Albanian center of the island and, primarily, religious buildings.
King John II of Spain and Sicily allowed the original refugees to occupy the present place and to preserve their Orthodox religion, which was identified as Greek, so that the small town had the name of Piana dei Greci. In the beginning it was called "Piana dei Greci" for the use of Greek language in the Byzantine rite professed by the inhabitants. In 1941, during the Fascist regime, has been changed to "Piana degli Albanesi".
During the 19th century, the Arbëreshë of Piana degli Albanesi played a significant role for the Italian national unity, and participated in the stronger phases of the movement of Fasci Siciliani.[4] The inhabitants of Piana degli Albanesi were known to have a reputation for compared to the maximum of his country, patriotic Albanians and first rebelliousness to the precarious situation of the times, but were not organized politically until the arrival of the Fascio in April 1893.[2]
In 1947, the regional Mafia hired the bandit Salvatore Giuliano to shoot down the annual May Day demonstration of the Pianesi, which took place in a remote mountain pass, the Portella della Ginestra. The bandit and his gang attacked them there, killing fourteen people.
After the founding of the village the inhabitants were required by papal decree to declare allegiance to the Pope and thus their faith was changed from Greek Orthodox to Byzantine Catholic, in practice their daily rituals changed little.
Over the centuries the inhabitants have jealously preserved their cultural roots as the Byzantine rite, language, traditions and typical women's costumes richly embroidered, and today, in the twenty-first century, is still strong attachment to the land native.
Piana degli Albanesi is located 800 meters on sea level in a mountainous valley that ends at the lake. Surrounded by four majestic mountain (Pizzuta, Kumeta, Maganoce, Xeravulli), other interesting natural sites (Neviere, Cave "Garrone", Honi), and surrounded by "nature reserve Serre della Pizzuta", it enjoys a beautiful location. Because of its cultural features, historic and environmental forms part of the Sicilian landscape varied as "unique" unrepeatable. This area is surrounded by a complex and original frame that includes the lake, the mountains and the typical rural districts. These areas offer fauna and flora of primary interest in nature also are preparing to ospitrare sports activities such as hiking, cycling, horse riding, canoeing, paragliding. Features which suggested the inclusion of Hora e Arbëreshëvet in Italy hiking trails.
The territory is crossed by several streams rich in water and in particular by the river Belice right, barred in the twenties for the construction of the Lake of Piana degli Albanesi, since 1999 natural oasis protected and safeguarded by the World Wildlife Foundation.
The Byzantine Catholic Church in Italy covers three ecclesiastical: the Eparchy of Lungro for Italo-Albanian mainland, the Eparchy of Piana degli Albanesi for the Arbëreshe of Sicily and the Monastery of Grottaferrata Rome.
The Eparchy of Piana degli Albanesi forward, with other dioceses, the traditional cultural, spiritual and liturgical Byzantine church from the time of Justinian (VI century). The faithful of the Eparchy are distributed in 15 parishes, all in the following five municipalities in the province of Palermo: Piana degli Albanesi, Contessa Entellina, Mezzojuso, Palazzo Adriano, Santa Cristina Gela, and the prestigious church of Martorana in Palermo, for a total population of 33,000 faithful. Is led by Bishop Sotir Ferrara.
The rite of Piana degli Albanesi is different from other churches of Sicily and is the most important legacy of the Eastern Church of Byzantium. For the peculiarity of it, in fact, and the use of Greek liturgical celebrations, the town was formerly called Piana dei Greci. The strong characterization is particularly true of the rules, symbols, the shapes of the solemn and grand celebrations and sacred duties, and together with the language and customs, the ritual is the most important stretch of identity arbëreshe. The Greek Orthodox splendours are recalled in solemn pontifical vestments worn by the wealth of the large number of celebrants, who repeated the ancient ways loads of symbolism, and the special songs that are among the most pristine and archaic. The sacred liturgies are those written by the fathers of the Greek Church: that of St. Basil to 1 January, on the eve of Christmas and Epiphany, the Sundays of Lent and on Thursday and Holy Saturday, that of St. John Chrysostom at other occasions.
The historic center of the country plays a constructive late-medieval style, reflecting the social status and economic conditions of the time when the settlement was built. The city streets are narrow and consist of steps (shkallët) and neighborhood (gjitoni), the physical space meeting place in front of the houses, with the exception of the main road (udha/dhromi i madhë), wide and straight that divides the country different sections. The joint par excellence is the Piazza Grande (Qaca e Madhe), from which wind dialogues and community relationships. The architecture and urbanism of the old town has changed in the middle of last century, thus compromising the original charm.
The churches of the town are among the most important architectural structures, the testimony of these two styles, the baroque linked to the Byzantine Empire. Of particular interest are the works of the architect and painter Pietro Novelli, very active in the colony Arbëresh.
The most notable churches in the country of Piana degli Albanesi are:
The town preserves unique Easter traditions, held every year according to a typical itinerary: first of all is the Divine Liturgy, where the Gospel is read in seven languages, including Arabic. After the religious ceremony, there is a procession through the main street, all the women and several men dress in traditional Arbëresh costume, the procession leads to the square after the blessing the red eggs are distributed as a sign of Christ's resurrection.
The traditional female costume of Piana degli Albanesi, such as language and ritual Byzantine, is one of the most obvious signs of cultural diversity Arbëreshë, and is a unique expression of local self-consciousness, which manifests itself in the desire to retain identity and traditions. From the historical point of view Piana degli Albanesi is the community Arbëreshe of Arbëria and Sicily the one of the most relief, moreover, there aren't a lot of specific news about the women's costumes, though, and documentary images, and substantial notes on literary texts local and the writings of the Grand Tour of Italy, who reported the existence pluridatata. There are several artistic works on the clothes of Albanians of Piana degli Albanesi, including very valuable Vuillier prints of the eighteenth century, and paintings by Ettore De Maria Bergler, partly preserved at the Art Gallery of the monumental complex of Sant'Anna in Palermo and other private prints, postcards and watercolors of unknown authors. Both the former, together with additional and unlimited different representations portray and demonstrate the incomparability of the costume of Piana degli Albanesi.
The clothes, linked to the various moments of women's lives, from everyday life to marriage, punctuated the rhythms of social tradition of the past. Handed down from mother to daughter, and zealously preserved, but now they are no longer clothes, but costumes. The progressive loss of this link began in the 1940s, when after the war in Europe there was a need for more practical clothing.
The opulent and elegant clothes have preserved intact its specificity, and are worn on special occasions such as baptisms, Epiphany, Easter and especially marriage, continuing to be carefully preserved by the women of Piana degli Albanesi. It costs thousands of euros to make and repair these costumes, and the majority of women use them on these occasions. An epitome of beauty is the bridal costume, which makes it particularly valuable and the religious event of the Byzantine rite. The quality of production, almost continuous, morals, is due to the great craftsmanship of the embroiderers arbëreshe specialists in embroidered gold and silk in turn (wheel), velvet and gold (in leads, and lenticciole canatiglie) in fine clothes and precious, using the pillow or the frame or just the needle, as is done for ricciatura honeycomb of shirt sleeves and lace-up needle. They are a priceless heritage to be handed down, protect and preseve.
The traditional female costume of Piana degli Albanesi has been admired through time and consensus. In the competition held in Venice in 1928, which took part in costume groups from every region of Italy, the group of Piana degli Albanesi was awarded first prize, having been recognized their traditional dress, including all the regional ones, the most sumptuous, rich in design, fabrics and colors.[3]
The most obvious traces of the strong ethnic identity of Piana degli Albanesi is the Albanian language (Arbërisht), spoken by all, so it is easy to see among the people, street names, road signs and shop signs. The exodus from the Motherland and the distance has not touched Arbëreshë great pride, and the community has preserved its identity as much as possible. The language, even with its special phonetic and morpho-syntactic, Tosk language belongs to the widespread variation in southern Albania, mixed at times with the greek phonetic, and is fully recognized within the local government and primary schools as a language minority ethno-linguistic. The Arbërisht remains still the mother tongue, and is the main vehicle of communication. Piana degli Albanesi is officially bilingual, as the official town documents are written in both Albanian and Italian. The citizens are bilingual, able to use both Albanian and Italian.[5]
The Albanian language is used in radio stations (ex. Radio Hora or Radio Jona), and especially in books and periodicals (ex. Mondo Albanese, Kartularet e Biblos, Albanica, Fluturimi i aikullës, Lajmtari Arbëreshëvet or Mirë ditë).
The music and chants of Piana are deeply tied to religious tradition. The repertoire of sacred songs in greek and in albanian, used throughout the liturgical year of complex and detailed, is very wide. The weekly liturgies, festivals and other officiating are always adorned with a ceaseless flow of melody. The poetic and musical forms are dell'innografia Byzantine liturgical repertory of the museum system is modal theory and follows the Byzantine dell'oktòichos. In addition to these compositions, the prevailing source of educated, there are other evidences of a profane nature, strongly influenced, moreover, of the musical traditions of indigenous origin, it has a large number of popular songs, heritage still very much alive and thriving. The transmission of the songs is, even today, almost entirely through oral tradition. For their documentary value are significant, however, also mentioned the many testimonies pentagram on the manuscript, written, since the beginning of up to 900 times closer to us, priests and monks with the aim of safeguarding the integrity of sacred tradition. The hymns of the Byzantine tradition are performed in celebrations and concerts in the "Corale di San Demetrio" and "Coro dei Papàs di Piana degli Albanesi", while the popular songs from the folk group "Dhëndurët e Arbërit". Among the many heritage, the songs are the most common: Kostantini i vogëlith, Christòs Anèsti, Lazëri, Epi si Chieri, Vajtimet, Simeron Kremate, U të dua mirë, O Zonjë e Parrajsit, Te parkales, Një lule u deja t'isha, Kopile moj kopile, Muaji i mait, Ju lule te këtij sheshi, Trëndafili i Shkëmbit, Lule Borë, Malli çë kam për tij, Përçë ti rron, Perëndesh' e Bukuris, Kur të pash të parën herë, Për Mëmëdhenë, Shkova ka dera jote. The most emblematic songs, one religious and one secular, remain O mburonjë e Shqipëris and O e bukura More.
One of the main local resources is made from tourism, but because of the vast areas devoted to agriculture and its climate, its economy is based primarily on the production of dairy products, cereals, olive oil, wine and fruit, and by herds of sheep, cattle and goats. The office and industrial sector is thriving, the country is precisely known for the presence of accommodation such as guesthouses and restaurants that specialize in preparing dishes of those particular goods
A prestigious tradition also belongs to art and craft. Details are Byzantine icons created by iconographers according to the ancient canons of art. Embroidered with meticulousness elegant women's costumes Arbëreshë confirmed by their almost continuous production for over five centuries, the wealth of the work. Other local artists skilled goldsmiths, especially related to the production of precious accessories of costume, the masters of the mosaic and craftsmen who work with local marble. In the tradition of embroidery in addition, there are dolls dressed in Albanian, also embroidered in gold, and with materials so-called "poor" other objects of artistic interest.
Within the confines of the village, in Sant'Agata (Shënt Arhta in Albanian), is situated a substantial ancient settlement called Pirama, late-Roman necropolis currently subject to archaeological research center.
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