Montemitro (also called ''Mundimitar'') 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 ou ...

in the

Molise it, Molisano (man) it, Molisana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 ...

region of

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

, near the

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. See also * Barb ...

river. Like

Acquaviva Collecroce Acquaviva Collecroce (also called ''Živavoda Kruč'' or, usually, just ''Kruč'') is a small town and '' comune'' in the province of Campobasso, in the Molise region of southern Italy, between the Biferno and Trigno rivers. Like the smaller town ...

and San Felice del Molise, Montemitro is home to a community of Molisian Croats, most of whom speak a particular Croatian dialect (they call it simply ''naš jezik'', or "''our language''") as well as

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

Culture

Montemitro was granted an Honorary Consulate by

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = " Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capi ...

. The patron saint of Montemitro is

Saint Lucia Saint Lucia ( acf, Sent Lisi, french: Sainte-Lucie) is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean. The island was previously called Iouanalao and later Hewanorra, names given by the native Arawaks and Caribs, two Ameri ...

; the church dedicated to her is the church of Santa Lucia Vergine e Martire. However, the town does not celebrate the feast of Saint Lucia on its customary date (December 13), but rather on the first and last Fridays of May. This honors the crossing of the

Adriatic Sea The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) to th ...

to Italy in the 15th century by the town's ancestors; they are believed to have carried a statue of Saint Lucia with them, arriving in Italy on a Friday in May. The language of the three cities 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 in ...

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 ...

References

External links

UNESCO Red Book on endangered languages and dialects: EuropeMundimitar.it
Cities and towns in Molise {{Molise-geo-stub