Visit to the village of Gallicianò, where ancient Greek is spoken

Gallicianò (Gaḍḍicianò) is the small capital of Greek of Calabria (Grecanico), an ancient language that blends Eastern and Latin sounds, now spoken by very few people.

Nestled in the Aspromonte mountains, in the province of Reggio Calabria, the village of Gallicianò is part of the municipality of Condofuri, guardian of a community that is 'in danger of extinction', to be discovered and protected.

Let's set off on a trip with an archaic flavour and breathtaking views!

Ready to explore a unique territory where everything speaks a different language? Starting with the road, which in these parts is called a "dromo" in the Greek manner, indicating the winding, precipitous route that climbs up from the village of Condofuri, skirting the Amendolea river until it reaches the village of Gallicianò (Γαḍḍικ̍ιανό). Here, in the heart of the Aspromonte National Park, lives one of the last Greek communities in the region: ancient, wrinkled faces, waiting for a visitor to stop and say hello, to which, depending on the time of day, they will reply kalimèra (good morning) or kalispèra (good evening).  

We are in the home of the Greek ethnolinguistic minority, guardians of a dialect that is, to all intents and purposes, a language. In addition to the Greek language, Gallicianò preserves intact the rituals, customs, traditions and recipes typical of a tradition that has Greek-Byzantine origins and arrived in Calabria in the 6th century from Greece, Turkey and the Middle East, merging with the local Latin-Norman culture. Calabrian Greek is the result of these fascinating mixtures, as claimed by Gerhard Rohlfs, the scholar and linguist who first studied these communities and to whom the Museum of the Calabrian Greek Language in the nearby village of Bova is dedicated.

Despite the efforts of Prof. Salvino Nucera, a late local poet and scholar, to promote the language, Calabrian Greek is at high risk of extinction. Gallicianò, not coincidentally known as the Acropolis of Magna Graecia, is the only entirely Greek-speaking village in the region, although the language is now only spoken at home. The Greek-speaking library is undoubtedly a place of protection and knowledge: founded in the 1990s, it has a reading room and possesses ancient books and texts produced in recent years by representatives of local culture and linguistics.

Gallicianò is a small "open-air museum". Strolling slowly through the narrow streets and stone houses, you can breathe in an atmosphere of authentic xenìa, the traditional Greek and Calabrian hospitality. Alongside language, music is another identifying feature of the community, which preserves traditional instruments in the House of Music: bagpipes, lyres, tambourines and accordions that accompany the Greek tarantella of Condofuri. Added to this precious heritage is the recent donation of musical instruments by the Greek-speaking singer-songwriter Attilio Nucera. Another place to visit in Gallicianò is the Ethnographic Museum, which houses a collection of original agricultural and everyday tools: work tools, broom blankets, musulupàre (traditional moulds for Aspromonte cheese known as Musulùpu) and a series of other objects that recall the customs and traditions of the inhabitants of Gallicianò.

Among the buildings worth visiting are the Church of Panaghìa tis Elladas (Our Lady of Greece), an important centre of Greek Orthodox worship recently visited by the Patriarch of Constantinople, and the charming Theatre, which, in the Greek style, uses the enchanting Amendolea Valley as its backdrop. The latter is a destination for trekking and hiking for nature lovers, who can enjoy a range of outdoor sports in this corner of paradise and admire the monumental ruins of Ruffo Castle. The more romantic can stop off at the Fountain of Love (cànnalo tis agàpi), the ancient crystal-clear spring where the women of the village used to go to draw water and be courted.