San Costantino Albanese ( aae, Shën Kostandinit i Arbëreshëvet) is an

Arbëreshë Arbën/Arbër, from which derived Arbënesh/Arbëresh originally meant all Albanians, until the 18th century. Today it is used for different groups of Albanian origin, including: * Arbër (given name), an Albanian masculine given name * Arbëresh ...

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 Potenza The Province of Potenza ( it, Provincia di Potenza; Potentino: ) is a province in the Basilicata region of southern Italy. Its capital is the city of Potenza. Geography It has an area of and a total population of 369,538 (as of 2017). There a ...

, in the Southern Italian region of

Basilicata it, Lucano (man) it, Lucana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = ...

Geography

San Costantino Albanese sits on a hilltop overlooking the Sarmento Valley and is located across the valley from

San Paolo Albanese San Paolo Albanese ( aae, Shën Pali Arbëresheve) is an Arbëreshë village and ''comune'' of 328 people in the province of Potenza, in the Basilicata region of southern Italy. Geography At an elevation of and situated on the slope of Mt. C ...

. The Sarmento River is a dry rock-strewn riverbed during the summer but can be a torrent during the winter rains. The two towns are apart but the path through the river valley by road is about .The Italo-Albanian Villages of Southern Italy, George Nicholas Nasse The village is bordered by the towns of Alessandria del Carretto, Cersosimo,

Noepoli Noepoli is a ''comune'' in the province of Potenza, in the southern Italian region of Basilicata. This ancient Lucanian village is situated in the Sarmento Valley, at the heart of the Pollino National Park. History Originally an Onotrio- Luca ...

and

Terranova di Pollino Terranova di Pollino is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Potenza, in the Basilicata region of Italy. The town is located in the Pollino National Park Pollino National Park (Italian: ''Parco Nazionale del Pollino'') is an Italian nation ...

. It is also adjacent to

Pollino National Park Pollino National Park (Italian: ''Parco Nazionale del Pollino'') is an Italian national park in the southern peninsula, in the provinces of Cosenza, Matera and Potenza. Its named from the homonymous mountain massif Pollino. The park is home ...

History

San Costantino Albanese was founded in approximately 1534 by ethnic

Albanians The Albanians (; sq, Shqiptarët ) are an ethnic group and nation native to the Balkan Peninsula who share a common Albanian ancestry, culture, history and language. They primarily live in Albania, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Se ...

refugees or

, from

Corone Corone ( grc, Κορώνη, Korṓnē, crow) may refer to: * Koroni, also spelled Corone, a town in Greece * Corone (crow) In Greek and Roman mythology, Corone ( grc, Κορώνη, Korṓnē, crow ) is a young woman who attracted the attenti ...

Morea The Morea ( el, Μορέας or ) was the name of the Peloponnese peninsula in southern Greece during the Middle Ages and the early modern period. The name was used for the Byzantine province known as the Despotate of the Morea, by the Ottoman ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

which was occupied by the Ottoman Turks. Surnames such as Scutari, reflect this connection with the Albanian heritage. In the early 20th century, the town, like much of

Southern Italy Southern Italy ( it, Sud Italia or ) also known as ''Meridione'' or ''Mezzogiorno'' (), is a macroregion of the Italian Republic consisting of its southern half. The term ''Mezzogiorno'' today refers to regions that are associated with the peop ...

, saw a wave of emigration to the United States and South America. Immigrants initially clustered in the

New York Metropolitan Area The New York metropolitan area, also commonly referred to as the Tri-State area, is the largest metropolitan area in the world by urban area, urban landmass, at , and one of the list of most populous metropolitan areas, most populous urban agg ...

but later distributed throughout the USA.

''Frazioni''

Venticalia

Venticalia is a village located approximately from San Costantino. Since the end of the 17th century, it has been the

feudal Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was the combination of the legal, economic, military, cultural and political customs that flourished in Middle Ages, medieval Europe between the 9th and 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a wa ...

rustic retreat of the Pace family of St. Constantine Albanese. In the seventeenth century. the Pace family built a small

votive A votive offering or votive deposit is one or more objects displayed or deposited, without the intention of recovery or use, in a sacred place for religious purposes. Such items are a feature of modern and ancient societies and are generally ...

chapel dedicated to the cult of

Saint Helena Saint Helena () is a British overseas territory located in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is a remote volcanic tropical island west of the coast of south-western Africa, and east of Rio de Janeiro in South America. It is one of three constitu ...

mother of the

Emperor Constantine Constantine I ( , ; la, Flavius Valerius Constantinus, ; ; 27 February 22 May 337), also known as Constantine the Great, was Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337, the first one to convert to Christianity. Born in Naissus, Dacia Mediterranea ...

, of which today only a few remnants remain visible. Today the village is the site of a compressed wood pellet factory.

Martorino

Martorino is one of the concessions granted by the Pignatelli feudal family in the late 17th century to the Pace family. Local businesses include agriculture and agritourism.

Notable people from San Costantino Albanese

* Liborio Liguori (born 1950), football player.

References

Arbëresh settlements Cities and towns in Basilicata {{Basilicata-geo-stub