Noemi Comi

Caraffa di Catanzaro is an Italian-Albanian country of almost
two thousand inhabitants. It represents one of the first settlements
of the Albanian people in Italy, which began around 1400. Gharafjotë (Albanian name of the inhabitants of Caraffa) are
very proud of their origins and still maintain a
ancient Albanian dialect, transmitted only in oral form,
but with many points in common with respect to the Albanian language
Contemporary. While maintaining and retaining part of the
Albanian linguistic heritage, the country has however lost,
over the years, the Byzantine rite, that is the particular rite
liturcigo characteristic of the Orthodox Churches.
Caraffa di Catanzaro looks like a country still a lot
rooted in tradition, but which nevertheless begins to leak some
hint of modernity.