Palazzo Adriano ( IPA: , , Gasca Queirazza, Giuliano (ed.) (1990). ''Dizionario di toponomastica. Storia e significato dei nomi geografici italiani'', p. 468. UTET. ) is a town and ''

comune A (; : , ) is an administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions () and provinces (). The can also have the City status in Italy, titl ...

'' of Arbëresh origin in the

Metropolitan City of Palermo The Metropolitan City of Palermo (; ) is a metropolitan city in Sicily, Italy. Its capital is the city of Palermo. It replaced the province of Palermo and comprises the city of Palermo and 82 other ''comuni'' (: ''comune''). It has 1,194,439 in ...

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

, southern

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. Located in the heart of Sicania on the northern slopes of Monte delle Rose, almost equidistant from

Palermo Palermo ( ; ; , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The ...

and

Agrigento Agrigento (; or ) is a city on the southern coast of Sicily, Italy and capital of the province of Agrigento. Founded around 582 BC by Greek colonists from Gela, Agrigento, then known as Akragas, was one of the leading cities during the golden ...

, it is a town of

Arbëreshë Arbën/Arbër, from which derived Arbënesh/Arbëresh originally meant all Albanians, until the 18th century. Today it is used for different groups of Albanian origin, including: * Arbër (given name), an Albanian masculine given name *Arbëres ...

origin. Although the inhabitants have abandoned the use of the

Arbëresh language Arbëresh (; also known as ''Arbërisht'') are the Albanian linguistic varieties spoken by the Arbëreshë people of Italy, brought there by several migratory waves of Albanians from Albania and Greece since the Late Middle Ages. Arbëresh var ...

, the town's inhabitants preserve the Byzantine rite in their liturgy. Palazzo Adriano is best known internationally for being among the filming locations of the

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People and fictional and mythical characters * Oscar (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters named Oscar, Óscar or Oskar * Oscar (footballer, born 1954), Brazilian footballer ...

-winning film ''

Cinema Paradiso ''Cinema Paradiso'' (, , ) is a 1988 Coming-of-age film, coming-of-age comedy-drama film written and directed by Giuseppe Tornatore. Set in a small Sicilian town, the film centres on the friendship between a young boy and an aging projectionist ...

''. The local economy is primarily dedicated to

agriculture Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

History

The first mention of a ''casale Adrianum'' (

farmstead A farmstead refers to the buildings and service areas associated with a farm. It consists of a house belonging to a farm along with the surrounding buildings. The characteristics of a specific farmstead reflect the local landscape, which provides ...

of Adriano) dates from before 1060 under the reign of the Norman

Roger I of Sicily Roger I (; ; ; Norse: ''Rogeirr''; 1031 – 22 June 1101), nicknamed "Roger Bosso" and "Grand Count Roger", was a Norman nobleman who became the first Grand Count of Sicily from 1071 to 1101. As a member of the House of Hauteville, he parti ...

. More reliable is information about the hamlet of Palazzo Adriano reported in a 1243 document. From 1282, the fiefs land holdings that now constitute the area of Palazzo Adriano saw more than thirty baronies granted leases by the abbots of the monastery of Santa Maria di Fossanova. In the late 15th century, the Dara family was one of the first Albanian families to migrate from

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

to Italy after

Skanderbeg Gjergj Kastrioti (17 January 1468), commonly known as Skanderbeg, was an Albanians, Albanian Albanian nobility, feudal lord and military commander who led Skanderbeg's rebellion, a rebellion against the Ottoman Empire in what is today Albania, ...

's death. They migrated from the region of Rrjoll,

northern Albania Northern Albania () is one of the three NUTS-2 regions of Albania, along with Central Albania and Southern Albania (). It consists of the counties of Dibër, Durrës, Kukës, Lezhë and Shkodër. Historically and in ethnography, Northern ...

Malësia Malësia e Madhe ("Great Highlands"), known simply as Malësia (, ), is a historical and ethnographic region in northern Albania and eastern central Montenegro corresponding to the highlands of the geographical subdivision of the Malësi e Madhe ...

to Palazzo Adriano. Other Albanian families also came here and they are the today

families of the region. In 1787, the Royal Court of

Ferdinand IV of Naples Ferdinand I ( Italian: ''Ferdinando I''; 12 January 1751 – 4 January 1825) was King of the Two Sicilies from 1816 until his death. Before that he had been, since 1759, King of Naples as Ferdinand IV and King of Sicily as Ferdinand III. He was ...

captured all these land holdings, which fell under the control of

Ethnic groups

Starting in the 15th century, a group of

Albanians The Albanians are an ethnic group native to the Balkan Peninsula who share a common Albanian ancestry, Albanian culture, culture, Albanian history, history and Albanian language, language. They are the main ethnic group of Albania and Kosovo, ...

, the

, settled in the sparsely populated areas around Palazzo Adriano. The fall of the last Albanian resistance under

after the Ottoman invasion prompted many Albanians to flee

. The Arbëreshë settled in small farmhouses built by shepherds and peasants. Throughout the ensuing centuries, the Arbëreshë kept their culture intact and continued to speak

Albanian Albanian may refer to: *Pertaining to Albania in Southeast Europe; in particular: **Albanians, an ethnic group native to the Balkans **Albanian language **Albanian culture **Demographics of Albania, includes other ethnic groups within the country ...

. In the 19th century, the flow of immigrants from Albania dried up, such that the Albanians in Palazzo Adriano became cut off from those in their homeland. Although Palazzo Adriano is defined as an 'Albanian minority town' under the Law 482/99 ('Rules on the protection of historical linguistic minorities'), the

is no longer the common language within the Albanian community, and is today lost. The

Albanian language Albanian (Endonym and exonym, endonym: , , or ) is an Indo-European languages, Indo-European language and the only surviving representative of the Albanoid, Albanoid branch, which belongs to the Paleo-Balkan languages, Paleo-Balkan group. It ...

continues in the prayer and liturgy of churches that follow the

Byzantine Rite The Byzantine Rite, also known as the Greek Rite or the Rite of Constantinople, is a liturgical rite that is identified with the wide range of cultural, devotional, and canonical practices that developed in the Eastern Christianity, Eastern Chri ...

Main sights

*Church of ''Maria SS. Assunta ''(16th century),

Eastern Catholic The Eastern Catholic Churches or Oriental Catholic Churches, also known as the Eastern-Rite Catholic Churches, Eastern Rite Catholicism, or simply the Eastern Churches, are 23 Eastern Christian autonomous ('' sui iuris'') particular churches of ...

*Church of ''Maria SS. del Lume ''(18th century),

Latin Church The Latin Church () is the largest autonomous () particular church within the Catholic Church, whose members constitute the vast majority of the 1.3 billion Catholics. The Latin Church is one of 24 Catholic particular churches and liturgical ...

*Church of ''Maria SS. del Carmelo ''(16th century). It has a single nave, with a portal with Corinthian columns. *Sanctuary of ''San Nicola'' (16th century) *Sanctuary of ''Santa Maria delle Grazie'' (16th century) * Bourbon Castle

Culture

In 1988,

Giuseppe Tornatore Giuseppe Tornatore (born 27 May 1956) is an Italian film director and screenwriter. He is considered one of the directors who brought critical acclaim back to Italian cinema.Katz, Ephraim, "Italy," ''The Film Encyclopedia'' (New York: HarperRes ...

also chose Palazzo Adriano as the setting for his film '' Nuovo Cinema Paradiso''.

Notable people

* Giovanni Emanuele Bidera, librettist and playwright, born in Palazzo Adriano in 1784 *

Francesco Crispi Francesco Crispi (4 October 1818 – 11 August 1901) was an Italian patriot and statesman. He was among the main protagonists of the Risorgimento, a close friend and supporter of Giuseppe Mazzini and Giuseppe Garibaldi, and one of the architect ...

, Prime Minister of Italy; his father Tommaso Crispi was from Palazzo Adriano. * Giuseppe Crispi, author of the first monograph on the

. Uncle of Francesco Crispi, brother of his father Tommaso * Gavril Dara Junior, politician and poet

References

External links

Official website
{{authority control Arbëresh settlements Municipalities of the Metropolitan City of Palermo