Early migrations The first Greek contacts with Italy are attested since prehistoric period, when
Mycenaean Greeks established settlements in Central and Southern Italy and Sicily. In ancient times the
Italian Peninsula south of
Naples including the coasts of
Calabria,
Lucania,
Apulia,
Campania and
Sicily were colonized by the
Ancient Greeks beginning in the 8th century BC. The Greek settlements were so densely collected there that during the Classical period the region came to be called
Magna Graecia (Greater Greece). and the Eastern Emperor loosely governed the area until the advent of the
Lombards; then, in the form of the
Catapanate of Italy, they were superseded by the
Normans. Moreover, the Byzantines would have found in
Southern Italy people of common cultural roots, the Greek-speaking
eredi ellenofoni of Magna Graecia. The Greek language never died out entirely in southern Italy, although the area in which it was spoken was significantly reduced by the progression of Latin. Records of Magna Graecia being predominantly Greek-speaking, date as late as the eleventh century (the end of Byzantine domination in Southern Italy). During this time, parts of Southern Italy that were reintegrated into the Byzantine Empire, began to experience significant demographic shifts as Greeks began to settle regions further north such as
Cilento, which had an overwhelmingly Greek population by the time of the
Norman conquest. Around the end of the Middle Ages, large parts of
Calabria,
Lucania,
Salento, and
Sicily continued to speak Greek as their mother tongue. During the 13th century a French chronicler passing through the whole of Calabria stated that "the peasants of Calabria spoke nothing but Greek". In 1368 the Italian scholar
Petrarch recommended a stay in Calabria to a student who needed to improve his knowledge of
Greek. and Latinization of the Greek populations of southern Italy and Sicily would reduce the Greek language and culture further.
Antonio de Ferraris, a Greek born in
Galatone in 1444, observed how the inhabitants of Kallipoli (
Gallipoli in
Salento) as still conversing in their original
Greek mother tongue, he indicated that the Greek classical tradition had remained alive in this region of Italy and that the population is probably of
Lacedaemonian (Spartan) stock. The Greek of Southern Italy, although greatly reduced, remained active in isolated enclaves in Calabria and Salento. Even after the Middle Ages there were sporadic migrations from mainland Greece. Thus, considerable numbers of refugees entered the region in the 16th and 17th centuries. This happened in reaction to the conquest of the Peloponnese by the
Ottomans. During the 20th century the use of the Griko language was considered, even by many of the Griko themselves, as a symbol of backwardness and an obstacle to their progress, parents would discourage their children from speaking the dialect and students who were caught talking Griko in class were chastised. For many years the Griko of Calabria and Salento have been forgotten. Even in
Greece, Greeks were unaware of their existence.
Griko national awakening The Griko national awakening began in
Grecia Salentina through the labors of
Vito Domenico Palumbo (1857–1918), a Griko native of the town of
Calimera. Palumbo embarked on to re-establishing cultural contacts with mainland Greece. He studied the folklore, mythology, tales and popular songs of the Griko of Magna Graecia. The revival of attention is also due to the pioneering work of the German linguist and philologist
Gerhard Rohlfs, who contributed much to the documentation and preservation of the
Griko language. Professor Ernesto Aprile of Calimera viewed his community support for preservation and growth of Griko poetry, history, and performance as a civic responsibility until his death in 2008, and published multiple monographs on the subject for local and national dissemination, acting as recognized—but unofficial—ambassador to visitors and dignitaries to Calimera and the sea-side sections of Melendugno nearby. == Culture ==