Regions of Italy whose People Descended from the Greeks and Still Speak Greek

Published by Reblogs - Credits in Posts,



Discover the Regions in Italy Where the People Descended from the Medieval or Ancient Greeks, and Still Speak Greek

in History, Language, Travel | October 12th, 2023 5 Comments

All of us, across the world, know that Italy is shaped like a boot. But almost none of us know that, in the regions of Apulia and Calabria at the country’s "heel" and "toe," live small communities who, among themselves, still speak not Italian but Greek. The word "still" applies because these peoples, known as Griko (or Grecanici), are thought to have descended from the much larger medieval or even ancient Greek communities that once existed there. Of course, it wouldn’t have been at all unusual back then for inhabitants of one part of what we now call Italy to speak a quite different language from the inhabitants of another.

John Kazaklis at Istoria writes that "the Italian language did not become the staple language until well into the end of the 19th Century during the process of Italian unification, or the Risorgimento," which turned the Tuscan dialect into the national language. Yet "there exists today a tiny enclave of Greek-speaking people in the Aspromonte Mountain region of Reggio Calabria that seem to have survived millennia."

Are they "descendants of the Ancient Greeks who colonized Southern Italy? Are they remnants of the Byzantine presence in Southern Italy? Did their ancestors come in the 15th-16th Centuries from the Greek communities in the Aegean fleeing Ottoman invasion?" Everyone who considers the origins of the Griko/Grecanici people (or their Griko/Grico/Greko languages) seems to come to a slightly different conclusion.

"I suspect they speak a dialect more closely related to the Koine Greek spoken at the time of the 11th century Byzantine Empire, the last and final time Southern Italy was still part of the Greek-speaking world," writes Grecophone Youtuber Tom_Traveler, who visits the Griko-speaking villages of Gallicianò and Bova in the video above. "Or perhaps it was influenced by Greek refugees fleeing Constantinople upon its fall to the Turks in 1453." However it developed, it’s long been a language on the decline: "the clearest estimate of remaining Greko speakers seems to be between 200-300," Kazaklis wrote in 2017, "and numbers continue to decrease." In the interest of preserving the language and the history reflected within it, now would be a good time for a few of those speakers to start up Youtube channels of their own.

via Messy Nessy

Related content:

How the Byzantine Empire Rose, Fell, and Created the Glorious Hagia Sophia: A History in Ten Animated Minutes

Mapping the Sounds of Greek Byzantine Churches: How Researchers Are Creating "Museums of Lost Sound"

Learn Ancient Greek in 64 Free Lessons: A Free Online Course from Brandeis & Harvard

Can Modern-Day Italians Understand Latin? A Youtuber Puts It to the Test on the Streets of Rome

Meet the Americans Who Speak with Elizabethan English Accents: An Introduction to the "Hoi Toiders" from Ocracoke, North Carolina

Based in Seoul, Colin Marshall writes and broadcasts on cities, language, and culture. His projects include the Substack newsletter Books on Cities, the book The Stateless City: a Walk through 21st-Century Los Angeles and the video series The City in Cinema. Follow him on Twitter at @colinmarshall or on Facebook.


by | Permalink | Comments (5) |

Support Open Culture

We’re hoping to rely on our loyal readers rather than erratic ads. To support Open Culture’s educational mission, please consider making a donation. We accept PayPal, Venmo (@openculture), Patreon and Crypto! Please find all options here. We thank you!


Comments (5)
You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
  • John says:

    Humans today spend billions on preservation of animal species. But as for human species, we take it for granted. There are dozens of human cultures, races, backgrounds that went instinct in the last half of millennium alone.

  • John says:

    As a south american i love italy but i love the italian language
    .sorry to say i find the italian language much more romantic than greek . The italian language is meant to be sung its close to my spanish.

  • Vasileios says:

    Το υπουργειο πολιτισμου της Ελλαδος εχει ξεχασει τελειως αυτούς τους Έλληνες. Ισως να μη γνωριζουν καν την υπαρξη τους. Αλλα και να τη γνώριζαν ειναι γνωστο οτι οι Έλληνες πολιτικοι μισούν τη χωρα τους.
    Η μεγαλη Ελλάδα ζει όμως και θα ανθισει μια μερα οταν ξεκουμπιστουν οι καρεκλοκενταυροι κ ελευθερωθουμε

  • Vasileios says:

    Modern greek language has been murdered the last 60 years by politicians and academia who established by force the modern greek as more simple greek language.
    Unfortunately you are right but if you listen to Cypriots and Cretans speak the oldest version you will hear a more sing alike flow in the language which is beautiful

  • Hermano says:

    It is not very accurate though, since Greek is chanted in Orthodox Churches regularly and hearing it chanted side by side with Spanish, Portuguese, and Latin, Greek holds it’s own as a beautiful musical language, especially paired with Byzantine chant. This is coming from a native English speaker, there are biases within native speakers. I find Latin, especially latergical Latin tends to be rough in keeping fluid with painting mental pictures and keeping rhythm in songs; Spanish, and other latin languages does a much better job. This tends to be a stumbling block for liturgics within the Roman Catholic Church, having one specific language for service, and failing to recognize the miss potential and beauty in native tongues.

Leave a Reply

Name (required)

Email (required)

Message