Calimera

Calimera
Comune
Comune di Calimera
Calimera

Location of Calimera in Italy

Coordinates: 40°15′N 18°17′E / 40.250°N 18.283°ECoordinates: 40°15′N 18°17′E / 40.250°N 18.283°E
Country Italy
Region  Apulia
Province Province of Lecce (LE)
Government
 • Mayor Giuseppe Rosato
Area
 • Total 11.14 km2 (4.30 sq mi)
Elevation 56 m (184 ft)
Population (31 December 2007)
 • Total 7,363
 • Density 660/km2 (1,700/sq mi)
Demonym Calimeresi
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
 • Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
Postal code 73021
Dialing code 0832
Patron saint Saints Brizio and Maria di Roca
Saint day 29 July
Website Official website

Calimera (Καλημέρα, "good morning" in both Greek and Griko) is a small town of 7,296 inhabitants in the Grecìa Salentina area of the Salento peninsula in Italy, located between Gallipoli and Otranto. It belongs to the province of Lecce.

The inhabitants of Calimera, alongside Italian, also speak Griko, a Greek dialect. The language, folklore, traditions and history of Calimera, like those of the eight other cities in the area called Salentinian Greece, reveal significant Greek influences over the course of time, presumably from the time of the Byzantine control, or even the ancient Magna Graecia colonisation in the 8th century BCE.

In the park, there is a small monument containing an ancient Attic burial stone, given by the city of Athens to Calimera in 1957. At the top of this monument is a motto, referring to the burial stone: "Zeni su en ise ettù sti Kalimera" (in Greek script: Τσένη 'σού 'εν είσαι ετού στη Καλημέρα), meaning "You are not a stranger here in Calimera", which underlines the close relationship and common origins of Calimera with the rest of Greek civilisation.

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