Piana degli Albanesi
Piana degli Albanesi is a town and comune in Sicily, Italy. The town is situated on a mountainous plateau and encircled by high mountains, on the eastern side of the imposing Mount Pizzuta, the city, which is mirrored on a large lake. It is located around from Palermo and is administered as part of the Metropolitan City of Palermo. In 2018, the comune had a population of 6,128.
The town is the most important centre of the Arbëresh community of Sicily, as well as the largest and most populous settlement of Arbëreshe and it is the episcopal see of the Eparchy of Piana degli Albanesi, constituency of the Italo-Albanian Church whose jurisdiction covers all Albanians of Sicily who practice the Byzantine rite.
The community, founded five centuries ago, has maintained many ethnic elements of Albanian culture such as language, religious rituals, traditional costumes, music and folklore. Piana degli Albanesi has contributed greatly to the advancement of Albanian culture and literature with a large group of intellectuals. It is considered the place of origin of Arbëreshe literature, the birthplace of the first work of the Albanian diaspora, and initiator – in the early 16th century – of the first European school in which Albanian was taught. The founders of the Albanian Language and Literature departments of the universities of Naples and Palermo come from the town, and it is the headquarters of the Italo-Albanian Seminary, which was founded in Palermo in 1734 and moved to the town in 1945. Its traditional music and Byzantine songs are part of the Intangible Heritage Registry of Sicily recognized by UNESCO. The municipal government uses bilingual documents and road signs in Albanian and Italian under existing Italian legislation on protecting ethnic and linguistic minorities.
The Arbëreshe 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. It had a significant role in the revolutionary uprisings for the unification of Italy, for the Albanian National Awakening in the Albanian movement for secession from Ottoman rule, and for regional movements of the Fasci Siciliani dei Lavoratori; furthermore, it is also infamous for the Portella della Ginestra massacre. Between late 1944 and early 1945, Piana degli Albanesi became an independent people's republic, which lasted fifty days.
The main economic activities are the primary sector, agriculture, pastoralism, crafts, and tourism. Its intangible heritage was nominated for the European Heritage Label in 2023.
Toponymy
Origin of the name and various appellations
Piana degli Albanesi has been variously called in history. In the licentia populandi granted on January 13, 1487, to the Albanian exiles, Piana degli Albanesi is called Casale Planicili Archiepiscopatus Montisregalis or Piana dell'Arcivescovo, but since its construction the town was officially known in Latin Nobilis Planae Albanensium Civitas. This Latin denomination changed into Nobilis Planae Graecorum Albanensium Civitas, with the insertion of Graecorum which indicated the Byzantine Rite practice of the Albanian population. It was referred to as Chiana Albanese in the 18th century, and the Latin original name that included the Albanian ethnic labelling remained until 1810. Due to the Byzantine Rite Catholics and the ancient Greek language used in the liturgical functions, the neighboring Sicilian population gradually referred to it with the Italian name of Piana dei Greci, which remained in the cadastral and habitual use from 1810 until 1941, when the original name Piana degli Albanesi was officially restored.It was also known and called by the populations of the nearby villages Casale di lu Mercu territorii Montisregalis, Graecorum Oppidum, Badia, La Chiana or Piana delli Greci. Its inhabitants and the Albanians of the other colonies of Sicily, instead, identified it as Sheshi, Kazallot. After decades of discussion by local Italo-Albanian religious-intellectuals, due to the fact that the Albanian origin was not highlighted in it, following a royal decree and the desire to change the more exact denomination, on 30 August 1941 the Italian name 'Piana dei Greci' was changed to the historically and ethnographically correct Piana degli Albanesi. A few months later, by decree of the Sacred Dicastery for the Eastern Churches of October 25, 1941, even the name of Planen Graecorum was changed ecclesiastically to Planen Albanensium.
The inhabitants call the town in their Albanian dialect Hora e Arbëreshëvet, literally translatable into the "City of the Albanians". For this reason it is usually said simply from the Arbëreshë people Hora, an Albanian word meaning 'homeland' or 'capital', deriving probably from the Greek homophone Chòra, χώρα, a typical word of Tosk and Arvanite Albanians of Greece., and that has the meaning city in Albanian and stands for the literal Albanian qytet, indicating that it is the main one among the Albanian of Sicily communities.
Some elders also say Hora e t'Arbëreshëvet, the difference being the addition of të, a plural clitic marker, with the elision of -ë with A- in Arbëreshëvet. Some inhabitants also figuratively say they are Bar i Sheshit and call themselves singular arbëresh-i/e, plural arbëreshët.
Administration
Twinning
The municipality of Piana degli Albanesi is committed to establishing, in accordance with international protocols, relations of cultural exchange with the institutions of the Republic of Albania and Kosovo in the former Yugoslavia and the other Albanian communities present in Europe and internationally.Piana degli Albanesi is twinned with: Tirana, since 1954.
Other administrative information
The Municipality, in collaboration with the Italian-Albanian communities, proposes initiatives to the State, the Region and the Province for the protection of ethnic-linguistic minorities sanctioned by the Constitution, by national and regional laws in force.The municipality of Piana degli Albanesi is part of the following supra-municipal organizations:
- Unione dei Comuni Albanesi di Sicilia BESA – Lidhja and Bashkivet Arbëreshe të Siçilisë BESA, municipality leader;
- Alto Belice Corleonese Territorial Pact, municipality leader;
- Albanian Ethno-Linguistic Minority Area ;
- Authentic Italian Villages;
- Unione Comuni Le 4 Terre;
- Agricultural Region n. 6 – Inland hills.
History
The village foundation was officially sanctioned on August 30, 1488, based on an official request sent in 1486–1487 to Cardinal Juan de Borja, archbishop of the Archdiocese of Monreale, demanding the right to remain in the lands of Mercu and Aydingli, located in the mountains in the province of Palermo.
In 1482–85, after several attacks from the Ottomans, the Christian Albanians were forced to the Adriatic coast where they hired ships from Republic of Venice, escaped by sailing and managed to reach the island of Sicily. They apparently were housed in temporary camps somewhere near Palermo until about 1486 or 1487, when they were granted land known 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, the official concession of land was granted to the settlers in 1488, followed by the construction of what became 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 Christian rite. These Albanian refugees were at the time referred to by the surrounding population as "Greeks" on account of their Orthodox faith and the settlement became known as Piana dei Greci. For example, in 1673, the local priest Domenico Mamola in a note written in Greek refers to the settlement as Piana dei Greci. In 1941 during Mussolini's invasion of Greece, the name was changed to Piana degli Albanesi so as to gain the locals support for the fascist regime's imperialist intentions toward Albania. The name Piana degli Albanesi or Plain of the Albanians is a literal translation of the local Arbëreshë name: Hora e Arbëreshëvet.
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. The inhabitants of Piana degli Albanesi were known to have a reputation for rebelliousness, but were not organized politically until the arrival of the Fascio in April 1893.
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 bandit and his gang indeed attacked them there, killing fourteen people in what came to be known as the Portella della Ginestra massacre.
Symbols
The coat of arms of the municipality of Piana degli Albanesi is thus described by the municipal statute:The gonfalon of the municipality of Piana degli Albanesi is a rectangular drape with a blue background or red with a round in the center adorned with gold embroidery reproducing the Latin inscription Nobilis Planæ Albanensium Civitas and bearing the emblem. The banner is governed by the statutory provisions of the municipality.
Originally the coat of arms consisted of two ears joined by a knot ribbon with an eight-pointed star in the upper part and with the acronym S.P.Q.A., or N.P.A.C.. This coat of arms, which symbolizes the agricultural work of the Albanians, can be seen in local stone in the oldest fountains, such as that of the "Fusha and Pontit", as well as on the side door of the Church of St. George, the ancient Matrix. Later the Albanian double eagle was always used, with the ears between the claws and the inscription N.P.A.C. In the former Town Hall in Piazza Vitt. Emanuele, now the seat of the Municipal Library "G. Schirò", has a stone coat of arms with the figure of Gjergj Kastrioti Skënderbeu in the center. According to the Statute of the municipality of Piana degli Albanesi, the municipality has its own anthem in Albanian.