The village was razed by the earthquake of 1456 and repopulated a few decades later by Albanians fleeing the Turks, whom the Sanseverino attracted with tax exemptions; in 1539 the prince of Bisignano even married Irene Castriota, a great-niece of Skanderbeg. The name, they say, comes from the Arbëresh qifti, eagle: the village hangs over the Raganello gorges like a nest.
On 23 June 1603 something rare happened: two Albanians of Civita, Dimitrio Belluscio and Pietro de Martino, bought the hamlet they lived in for four thousand three hundred ducats. Arbëresh is still spoken here, the municipality was among the first to open a language desk, and in the church of Santa Maria Assunta the liturgy is Greek-Byzantine, with iconostasis and icons.
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📅 Every year, on 11 February
On 11 February Civita, an Arbëreshë town, celebrates Saint Blaise, patron together with Our Lady of the Rosary, with Mass in the Greek-Byzantine rite; on Easter Tuesday the Vallje are danced.
Straight-line distances from the town centre. Tap a point to open its page.
The closest destinations covered by our editors, with straight-line distance.
Outside Civita, but an easy day trip away.
