Acquaviva Collecroce (also called ''Živavoda Kruč'' or, usually, just ''Kruč'') is a small town and ''

comune The (; plural: ) is a local administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions ('' regioni'') and provinces (''province''). The can also ...

'' in the

province of Campobasso A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outsi ...

, in the

Molise Molise (, , ; nap, label=Neapolitan language, Neapolitan, Mulise) is a Regions of Italy, region of Southern Italy. Until 1963, it formed part of the region of Abruzzi e Molise, alongside the region of Abruzzo. The split, which did not become effe ...

region of southern Italy, between the

Biferno The Biferno is a river of Molise, in southern Italy. Its source is in the ''comune'' of Bojano and during the first few kilometres of its course, it receives the waters of numerous streams which flow from the Matese mountains. It runs through sev ...

and

Trigno The Trigno (Latin ''Trinius'') is an Italian river. It originates in the Apennine Mountains, in the province of Isernia and flows into the Adriatic Sea near Vasto. It also forms the border between the regions Abruzzo and Molise Molise (, , ; ...

rivers. Like the smaller towns of

Montemitro Montemitro (also called ''Mundimitar'') is a small town and ''comune'' in the province of Campobasso in the Molise region of Italy, near the Trigno river. Like Acquaviva Collecroce and San Felice del Molise, Montemitro is home to a community of ...

and

San Felice del Molise San Felice del Molise (also called ''Filić'' or ''Štifilić'') is a small town and ''comune'' in the province of Campobasso in the Molise region of Italy, near the Trigno river. Like Acquaviva Collecroce and Montemitro, San Felice del Molise i ...

, Acquaviva Collecroce is home to a community of Molisian Croats, most of whom speak a particular Croatian dialect (known as simply ''na-našo'' or ''naš jezik'', meaning "our language") as well as Italian. There are differences in the dialects of the three towns, but they all descend from the

Shtokavian Shtokavian or Štokavian (; sh-Latn, štokavski / sh-Cyrl, italics=no, штокавски, ) is the prestige dialect of the pluricentric Serbo-Croatian language and the basis of its Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian and Montenegrin standards. It ...

Ikavian Shtokavian or Štokavian (; sh-Latn, štokavski / sh-Cyrl, italics=no, штокавски, ) is the prestige dialect of the pluricentric Serbo-Croatian language and the basis of its Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian and Montenegrin standards. ...

dialect of

Dalmatia Dalmatia (; hr, Dalmacija ; it, Dalmazia; see #Name, names in other languages) is one of the four historical region, historical regions of Croatia, alongside Croatia proper, Slavonia, and Istria. Dalmatia is a narrow belt of the east shore of ...

. The language is considered an

endangered An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and inva ...

diaspora language The term diaspora language, coined in the 1980s, is a sociolinguistic idea referring to a variety of languages spoken by peoples with common roots who have dispersed, under various pressures and often globally. The emergence and evolution of a diasp ...

. Acquaviva is known for the cultivation of small, dark, zerniza

fig The fig is the edible fruit of ''Ficus carica'', a species of small tree in the flowering plant family Moraceae. Native to the Mediterranean and western Asia, it has been cultivated since ancient times and is now widely grown throughout the world ...

s, as well as

fennel Fennel (''Foeniculum vulgare'') is a flowering plant species in the carrot family. It is a hardy, perennial herb with yellow flowers and feathery leaves. It is indigenous to the shores of the Mediterranean but has become widely naturalized ...

and white

celery Celery (''Apium graveolens'') is a marshland plant in the family Apiaceae that has been cultivated as a vegetable since antiquity. Celery has a long fibrous stalk tapering into leaves. Depending on location and cultivar, either its stalks, lea ...

History

In the 12th century, Acquaviva was a base for the Knights of Malta. Though there is evidence of an earlier Slavic settlement in 1297, it is believed that the current inhabitants are not their descendants, but rather come from later migrations in the 15th and 16th centuries.Milan Rešetar, ''Le colonie serbocroate nell'Italia Meridionale'', 1911. (Reprinted in 1996.) These migrations may have been caused by Ottoman incursions into the

Balkans The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...

. Numerous inhabitants emigrated in two flows during the 20th century, and population is currently still decreasing (there were some 2,500 inhabitants in 1951, compared to the c. 730 of 2007). The first emigration took place between, roughly, 1900–1920, the emigres heading towards the United States and

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

. The second major flow took place in the 1950s, chiefly to Australia.

Culture

Every 1 May, the town celebrates the ''Festa del Maja'' by parading a puppet (the ''pagliara maja'') as a good omen for the harvest

References

External links

Official website
* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20070314222652/http://www.araldicacivica.it/comuni/indexc.php?extrac=s&id_comune=3199 The coat of arms of Acquaviva Collecrocebr>Acquaviva Online
Cities and towns in Molise {{Molise-geo-stub

History

Culture

See also

References

External links