Old village

Inserted in the Pollino National Park and in the list of "The Most beautiful Villages in Italy", Civita is among the historical Albanian community in Italy (Arbëreshë). Also known as the "Country of the Devil's Bridge", its landscapes isamong the most beautiful of Calabria. Civita was founded in 1467 by Albanian families, on the ruins of a preexisting village destroyed by the Saracens, in 1014. In the village is still spoken Albanian language, ethnic and linguistic Albanians minority in Italy, recognized and protected by the State. The imprint is most evident in the churches, where arbëreshë still celebrate the liturgical Byzantine-Greek ritual and retain the evocative Eastern-Christian symbolism made by ancient gestures, songs and orthodox vestments, sacred icons, mosaics and the iconostasis.