BEING ARBËRESHË IN ITALY | SALENTO, PUGLIA | UNIQUE CULTURAL MIX BETWEEN ALBANIA AND ITALY

These Italians are Italians... and more!

We are in the town of San Marzano di San Giuseppe, home to an ethnic group many people have never heard of: the Arbëreshë. It’s an ethnic group that lives all over Southern Italy: mostly in Calabria and Sicilia, but also Puglia, Campania, Molise, Basilicata, and Abruzzo.

In today’s video we visited San Marzano di San Giuseppe, one of largest Arbëreshë communities in Italy. We had a chance to interview some of its residents and hear their personal experiences growing up as Arbëreshë.

We hope you'll enjoy watching this video because we really had a great time traveling to San Marzano and filming this important piece of history for the Arbëreshë community in Italy.

Among the various topics we explored in this video there are: the history of the Arbëreshë people coming from Albania to Southern Italy, the Arbëreshë traditions from different towns, the Arbëreshë presence all over Southern Italy, the Arbëresh language, growing up speaking Arbëresh and learning Italian in school, the history of the Brigante Pizzichicchio, and many more personal stories from our protagonists.

Special thanks to:

- Leonardo, our first guest in the video, who showed us around town, and allowed us to have a special tour of the “Arbëria in miniature”. His passion for this community is truly admirable and we were so happy that we met him. Grazie Leo, ci vediamo presto!

- Lorenzo, one of the most welcoming people you can find in Southern Italy. He made us feel at home from the moment we met, and made sure we found as many contacts as possible for our video. Grande Lorè!

- Antonio, Cosimo, and Tony, for sharing so much of their lives with us - on and off camera! These guys were an incredible resource in terms of personal stories, the history of the Arbëreshë people of Italy, and much more. Tony's art is truly incredible and we recommend you all to visit San Marzano di San Giuseppe even just to see his work - don't miss the Presepe (Nativity Scene) that him and Cosimo set up every year! Also, Cosimo and Tony are the artists behind the "Arbëria in Miniature" so make sure you check it out in person if one day you decide to visit San Marzano di San Giuseppe.

Enjoy!

👍🏼 -- Do you like our work?
Please consider supporting us to help the Travel Dialogues project continue sharing more inspiring stories from all over the world.
Here's our PayPal link for a donation: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?busine...
Thank you so much!

💙 -- We love to hear from you!
When commenting, please keep in mind that this video reflects personal experiences and opinions. We ask you to be respectful of any people who allowed us to interview them.
Thank you!

🎥 -- Do you have a story that the public of Travel Dialogues might be interested in?
We'd be curious to discuss the idea with you, develop it, and maybe even film it!
Send us an email at [email protected]

#puglia #sanmarzano #arbereshe #albania #heritage #culture
#albanian #italy #visititaly #visitpuglia #visitalbania
#italianconversation #learningitalian #italian #dialect