Fleeing the Ottoman conquest of the Balkans five centuries ago, nobles linked to the Albanian commander Skanderbeg established what remains Italy’s largest Arbëreshë settlement. Called Piana dei Greci until 1941 because of its Byzantine Catholic rite, this Sicilian town of 6,010 residents fiercely maintains its linguistic heritage, with Albanian still visible on modern road signs.
Situated 24 kilometers from Palermo, the center overlooks an artificial lake beneath Mount Pizzuta. It holds a remarkably radical history, having published the first literary work of the Albanian diaspora in 1592 and briefly operating as an independent republic in 1944. Just outside town, the Portella della Ginestra memorial commemorates the infamous 1947 massacre.
The Piana degli Albanesi guide
Near Piana degli Albanesi
The closest destinations covered by our editors, with straight-line distance.
