Lungro

Lungro (Arbëreshë: Ungra) is an Italian municipality inhabitants in the Province of Cosenza in Calabria.

Lungro is one of the most prominent centers of the Arbëreshë people and the seat of the Eparchy of Lungro. This jurisdiction of the Catholic Church preserved the Byzantine rite and the local language, and encompasses all the Arbëreshë-speaking communities in the area. The eparchy is part of the Italo-Albanian Catholic Church. Lungro is also part of the largest nature reserve in Italy, the Pollino National Park.

Geography

The town is situated 67 km north of Cosenza at the foot of Mount Petrosa at 650 meters above sea level on the Campolongo plateau, flanked by the rivers Galatro and Tiro. It is bordered to the east by the municipality of Saracena, to the south by Firmo and Altomonte, and to the northwest by Acquaformosa. The landscape is mostly mountainous towards the north, with beech and chestnut groves, while vineyards and fields are in the southern part.

History

Lungro was founded in the second half of the 15th century CE by ethnic Albanian settlers, and developed around a Basilian monastery on lands that had been granted in 1156 from feudal landowner Ogerio del Vasto Altomonte. The Albanians who migrated were housed in the area around 1486. They were welcomed by Abbot Paul with the approval of Prince of Bisignano, Geronimo Sanseverino, when Albanian resistance led and organized by George Castriot or Skanderbeg against the Ottoman conquest dissipated shortly thereafter his death in 1468.