The masseria properties in Puglia are located in an area of southern Italy known in ancient times as Magna Graecia. This term, meaning ‘Great Greece’ in Latin, refers to the numerous colonies founded by Greek cities in the eighth century BC.
The Greek incomers brought with them their language, their religion and their alphabet as well as their architectural style and their concept of the polis or city state.
The Pyrrhic War (270 – 280 BC) saw Magna Graecia become part of the Roman Republic, but when the Byzantines came to Southern Italy in the Early Middle Ages (500 – 1000 AD) they found they had much in common with the remaining Greek colonies.
Over time the majority of these Hellenic colonies were absorbed into the Italian culture and starting to speak Italian or local dialects. But amazingly, a small group of Greek speakers survived. This group is located in two geographically separate parts of the south – the Lecce area of Salento, location of the masseria properties, and in the area of Bovesia in Reggio Calabria.
Believed to number about 30,000, these people speak Griko, a combination of Koine Greek and Doric Greek, although there are distinct linguistic differences between the Griko spoken in the two areas.
The area of Salento where these Griko speakers are from is known as Grecia Salentina and you will see shops in the region bearing names in Greek, as well as calendars and books of folklore. It adds another dimension to your life in this lovely part of Italy.
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