page_title: Piana degli Albanesi
section_title: Notable people
hierarchical_section_title: Piana degli Albanesi / Notable people
caption_attribution_description: Shqip: Zef Skiroi (1865-1925), poet, historian, gjuhëtar, publicist dhe patriot shqiptarë, me i madhi përfaqësuesi më i traditës letrare dhe kulturore Arbëreshe e Sicilisë.Italiano: Zef Schirò (1865-1927), poeta, storico, linguista, pubblicista e patriota albanese, studioso e attento raccoglitore delle tradizioni poetiche arbëreshë, maggior rappresentante della tradizione culturale e letteraria albanese di Sicilia.English: Giuseppe Schirò (1865-1925), poet, historian, linguist, publicist and Albanian patriot, most representative of the literary and cultural Albanian traditions of Sicily.
context_page_description: Piana degli Albanesi is a comune with 6,128 inhabitants in the Metropolitan City of Palermo, Sicily. The official name of the town was Piana dei Greci until 1941. The comune is situated on a mountainous plateau and encircled by high mountains, on the eastern side of the imposing Mount Pizzuta, the city, which is mirrored on a large lake, is 24 km from the provincial capital.
  The town is the most important center of the Albanians of Sicily, as well as the largest and most populous colony of Arbëreshë and it is the episcopal see of the Eparchy of Piana degli Albanesi, constituency of the Italo-Albanian Church whose jurisdiction covers all Albanians of Sicily who practice the Byzantine rite.
  The community, after five centuries from its foundation, has maintained many ethnic elements of Albanian culture like language, religious ritual, traditional costumes, music and folklore. The inhabitants are the descendants of Albanian families, including nobles and relatives of Skanderbeg, that settled in Southern Italy during the Ottoman Empire conquest of the Balkans.
context_section_description: Luca Matranga (1567–1619), Orthodox priest, writer who gave the official start Albanian literature in diaspora.
  Giorgio Guzzetta (1682–1756), Apostle of the Albanians in Sicily, founder of the "Italo-Albanian Seminary" and priest of Byzantine rite for the sanctity of life and apostolic works memorable.
  Giuseppe Schirò, (1690–1769) Orthodox clergy, writer and archbishop of Durazzo (Albania) of the 18th century.
  Demetrio Camarda (1821–1882), priest of Byzantine rite, Albanian language scholar, historian and philologist.
  Nicola Barbato (1856–1923), doctor and politician among the founders of the movement of the Fasci Siciliani Workers.
  Giuseppe Schirò (1865–1925), poet, historian, linguist, publicist and Albanian patriot, most representative of the Albanian literary and cultural traditions of Sicily.
  Marco La Piana (1883–1958), scholar.
  Ercole Lupinacci (1933), bishop of the Eparchy of Piana degli Albanesi and Lungro of the Italo-Albanian Church.
  Sotir Ferrara (1937), bishop of the Eparchy of Piana degli Albanesi of the Italo-Albanian Church.
  Giuseppe Schirò Di Maggio (1944), poet, journalist, essayist, playwright and writer, among the most influential and prolific exponents of contemporary Arbëreshë literature.
caption: Giuseppe Schirò (1865–1925)
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