Chapter 7

THE ITALO-ALBANIAN VILLAGES OF CALABRIA AND LUCANIA

 

A physical description of sections of Calabria and Lucania has been given in a previous chapter. The type of terrain in these regions creates isolation. The villages are several hundred miles from any large city (e.g., Cosenza is 200 miles from Naples). Their remoteness is enhanced by the ruggedness of the Apennines, which form the backbone of the peninsula. The major cities of Italy are found far to the north of Calabria and Lucania, and the region of southern Italy is considered remote by the northern Italians.

 

The rugged terrain creates isolation even within the immediate area of the villages. In the “compartment” of Calabria, the Crati River valley provides the only connecting link among the groups of Albanian villages; otherwise, these are isolated communities. In the northern part of Calabria, the Crati valley divides this region in a northeast-southwest direction. The floodplain formed by the Crati rarely exceeds five miles in width, and only where it makes its exit to the Ionian Sea does it widen suddenly to over ten miles. The floodplain is flanked by moun- tains that rise sharply from the valley floor to heights of over 6,000 feet. The villages are perched on the sides of these hills, and the descent to the valley floor is slow and winding.

 

In calculating distances between villages, or groups of villages, the linear distance bears no relation to the road mileage. For example, the linear distance between S. Benedetto Ullano, in the Coastal Range, and S. Demetrio Corone, on the northern margin of the “Sila Greca” is 17-1/2 miles; but the road mileage between these villages is 48 miles, nearly three times the linear distance. Therefore, actual distances between settlements in Calabria remain large, thus restricting communication between villages.

 

A time factor also has to be considered in traveling these distances. For instance, both S. Demetrio Corone and S. Benedetto Ullano are equidistant from Cosenza, the largest city in the area (population 40,100). The road mileage between them and Cosenza is about 50 miles; in the United States, the coverage of this distance involves an hour’s drive, but in Calabria it requires three hours by automobile and at least four by bus. The winding road does not permit travel at high speed, and sections of the road are not paved.

 

Location

 

All Italo-Albanian villages in Calabria-Lucania are located approximately on the 500-meter contour line (approximately 1,500 feet). (See Appendix I, Map 2.) This elevation for all villages in Calabria and Lucania is not unusual because many of the villages and some of the cities in these regions also occupy high ground

 

The location of Albanian villages at higher elevations is not a distinguishing factor, but it has contributed to their isolation. Location at the 500-meter contour line has been prompted by events and conditions dating back to the days of ancient Greek settlements in southern Italy, conditions persisting to the present day

 

Reasons of Defense

 

Cities such as Metaponto, Thurii, and Sibari occupied low coastal sites along the Ionian Sea, an area known for its abundant yield of grain. The cities of Thurii and Sibari were in the delta plain formed by the Crati River and its tributaries. These low coastal positions—below the 500-meter level—made the cities vulnerable to sea invasions by neighboring Greek city-states or intrusions from the highlands by the barbaric native inhabitants. Their vulnerability to attack resulted in their eventual downfall. Some of the survivors fled into the interior and founded new settlements there.42

 

Locations at strategic points either in the southern part of peninsular Italy or on the North African coast (the area now represented by Tunisia) has been necessary for the control of the sea trade in the Mediterranean. The establishment of cities at these points, on the other hand, has also invited invaders, either military forces or pirates. Over the centuries, the continual destruction of coastal towns by invaders or pirates caused their populations to establish their settlements inland while maintaining smaller settlements along the coast. 43 The series of events that took place from the days of the ancient Greeks to the end of the seventeenth century helps to explain the isolated settlements

 

The Albanians arrived in southern Italy in the middle of the fifteenth century at the time the Ottoman Turks were nearing the peak of their power. The Albanians had just fled their native land because of the militant activities of the Turks and were seeking new land for settlement. It was natural for them to choose a site that could be easily defended rather than to settle on the coast and be exposed to the raids that the Turks conducted along the shores of the Italian peninsula. With few exceptions, / ‘the Albanian settlements are several miles from the coasts and on higher points of | ‘land

 

Malarial Conditions

 

The unhealthful conditions of the lowlands, both along the coast and in the interior of southern Italy, helps to explain why the Albanians chose to settle in high, remote places. The lowland areas of southern Italy have always been the best agricultural lands because of the alluvial soils, but unfortunately they are also the breeding places for the Anopheles mosquito, the carrier of the malarial parasite to man

 

Malarial conditions were known to exist in the delta plain of the Crati River during the days of the ancient Greeks.44 It is not known to what extent this

 

42Freeman, op. cit., pp. 28-29.

43George Kish, “The “Marine” of Calabria,” (The Geographical Review, October

1953), Vol. XLIII, No. 4, p. 495.
44Freeman, op. cit., p. 40.

 

hampered the ancient Greeks in their establishment of settlements in this area. The delta of the Crati was not as choked with silt then as it is today, and since that time the Crati has extended its delta plain. . The drainage pattern has had much to do with the creation of breeding places for the Anopheles mosquito in this area. The upper courses of the rivers in southern Italy are of the torrential type while the lower courses are filled with debris and, from this point on, the streams flow sluggishly to the sea. As the drier summer months approach, the volume of water is decreased, and small bodies of stagnant water provide breeding places for the mosquito. In order to avoid malarial conditions, the majority of the settlements in southern Italy were located at the higher elevations. In the southern part of Italy, the mosquito is not able to hibernate safely above the 500-meter line because of the cooler winter temperature. Therefore, these areas are freer of the malaria-bearing mosquito than are the lowlands. 46

 

In their native land the Albanians had had malarial conditions similar to those in southern Italy. Their desire to avoid the malarial lowlands they noticed in southern Italy was another factor in their choice of sites at higher elevations, a choice entailing isolation

 

The danger of destruction of coastal settlements by invaders has been removed. The threat of malaria has not been totally removed, but the Italian government has almost eliminated this danger by draining much of the former marsh and by massive applications of DDT. The government hoped that people in the isolated settlements would begin to move to lower elevations, but the ideas that have been ingrained in people’s minds for centuries are difficult to dislodge, and the move has been at a slow pace. Even though the people realize that the danger of invasion has been removed, they are yet to be convinced that the lowlands are now suitable for permanent settlement

 

Example of an Isolated Village

 

The Italo-Albanian village of Castroregio is an ideal example of an isolated village that was founded with defense in mind, and also is located above the reach of the Anopheles mosquito. Castroregio was founded near the end of the fifteenth century by Albanians who had fled from the northern part of present-day Greece, known as the Morea. 47 The village is located in the northeastern part of Calabria, on the southern flank of the Pollino Range. (See Appendix I, Map 4.) It is only nine lineal miles from the coast but over twice that milage via the winding road that leads to it. The village is directly on a hilltop, commanding an unhampered view in all directions. It was well chosen as a defensive site, and its defenses were further strengthened by the construction of a wall around the village. (See Figure 12)

 

45Ibid., p. 23.

46Enciclopedia Italiana di Scienze, Lettere, Ed Arti, Istituto della Enciclopedia

Italiana (Roma, 1949). Vol. XXI, p. 990.

47Zangari, op. cit., p. 28.

 

 

Figure 12. The hilltop village of Castroregio.

 

In the past, the site served the purposes for which it was chosen, but now it serves only to isolate the inhabitants both from Italian villages and from other Italo- Albanian villages in the area. 48

 

 

There are fewer than ten villages within a ten-mile radius of Castroregio, and two of these are Albanian. The largest Italian village is Amendolara, which has a population of about 2,500, and is connected to Castroregio by the winding road that begins at the coast. Although the two towns are only about eight miles apart, the nature and the condition of the unpaved roads make it a momentous journey. Furthermore, there is not a person in Castroregio who owns an automobile, and the only means of public transportation from Castroregio to the outside world is a large automobile that carries the daily mail. The trip on foot or by donkey to Amendolara is not a frequent one; the only person making it daily is the water carrier. The village is without running water, and daily a man takes his pack of donkeys to a spring in the valley below the town, fills some barrels, and sells the water at 100 lire (about $. 16) for three litres. The only other regular means of communication with the outside world is a telephone line. There are very few radios because electrification has not yet arrived, and the government has no present plans to deliver electricity. The village represents one of the more extreme forms of isolation

 

A large portion of the information gathered concerning the Albanian villages in the northeastern portion of Calabria was derived from interviews with Professor Demetrio Mauro of_S. Demetrio Corone. Professor Mauro is an Italo-Albanian schoolmaster. He is considered an authority on the Italo-Albanian villages on the eastern side of the Crati valley; both he and his late father have studied these villages and the cultural differences among them

 

Professor Mauro points out that the people of Castroregio are more like the Albanians of old than the inhabitants of the other Italo-Albanian settlements in Calabria. It was on his insistence that I undertook a visit to Castroregio, accompanied by two Italo-Albanians from S. Demetrio Corone, a priest, Zoti Talarico, and a schoolmaster, Professor Alfredo Braile. Their presence was an added assurance chat I would be accepted by the inhabitants, who have a great suspicion of outsiders. This suspicion applies even to Italians, who are regarded as agents of the government. We spent a day in the village talking with the village priest and the village elders. The differences between Castroregio and S. Demetrio Corone were not only in the dress and language of the people but also in the appearance of the village and the houses