umenitsa - Patras - Grimaldi Group

Itinerario / Route
Collegamenti Grimaldi / Grimaldi Links
want to introduce this amazing melting pot of Italic land and
I ancestral Greek, Byzantine and Balkan culture and art with a
ballad. It comes from a land bursting with love, musicality and
infinite colours of infinite beauty.
“Oria-mu, jenomeni jenomeni
Oria sekundu sena
‘en ei kammia”
CivitaveCChia
Barcelona
salerno
Brindisi
tunis
CivitaveCChia
salerno
igoumenitsa
patras
Brindisi
leCCe
Is the meaning not that clear? Hardly surprising since it’s written
in griko, the lingua franca of the Greek Salentine peninsula;
this Doric dialect is dying out, much like all the other ancient
traditions teetering on the brink of extinction due to cultural
homogenisation, though it lives on in poetry, in the writings of
scholars, and indeed in ballads. The lines above are an ode to
women and female beauty. A universal message whose words
come from our ancestors who arrived in Homeric times by sea
from Crete, Corfu, Rhodes and Cyprus. And, like all people
forced to migrate by sea, they retreated into the hinterland of
this rugged territory, settled and readied their defences against
other ancient mariners. Thus they forged a new world in spite
of all adversity.
Today the Greek Salentine has achieved DOC status, it has its
own website and – thanks to the work of scholars, enthusiasts
and researchers – it has reassembled a series of traditions
and legends. The area comprises about ten municipalities in
the province of Lecce: Calimera, Martignano, Carpignano,
Zollino, Castrignano, Conigliano, Melpignano, Cutrofiano, Sternatía,
Soleto. The efficient local tourism network provides an
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