Chandra Prakash Bhongir, Civil Engr, May04 - Repositories

It was these memories that Albanians clung to as they began their exile to
neighboring Italy, when faced once again with the threat of Turkish occupation. As
Albania fell under Ottoman control, it was the Arberesh who settled in Italy that
became the protectors of Scanderbeg’s memory and heritage.
Immigration of Arberesh in Italy
The roots of the Albanian Diaspora in Italy date as far back as the late
fifteenth century. After resisting Turkish occupation for nearly 25 years under George
Castriota Scanderbeg, Albanian resistance against the Ottoman Empire weakened and
many Albanians chose Italy for refuge rather than surrender themselves to Turkish
hands. Italy proved to be a safe haven for Albanians escaping Turkish occupation of
their country, not only because of its traditional geographic proximity, but also
because Albanians and Italians have been bound to one another through trade
throughout their existence.
Since the eighth century sources document the presence of Albanians in
Italian lands, whether they were there as traders, soldiers, slaves or called on by the
Byzantine emperors to tend to their possessions. 40 This relationship between the two
countries intensified in the thirteenth and fifteenth centuries when the kingdoms of
Napoli, Ragusa and the Republic of Venice invested in Albanian lands and held
Albanian assets.
40 Luigi De Rosa, “The Balkan Minorities (Slavs and Albanians) in South Italy,” in The
Journal of European Economic History 29: 2-3 (Fall/Winter,2000):249.
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