Contessa Entellina

It is nestled on rolling hills in an area of farming and agriculture. Settled in the 15th century A.D. by people of Albanian ancestry, many of the customs, language and religion of these original immigrants have survived for over 500 years. Many of the residents speak the Albanian language referred to as "Tabresh", in addition to Italian.

Piana degli Albanesi , Santa Cristina Gela, Mezzojuso, and Palazzo Adriano are near-by towns with similar Albanian history. Many of the same surnames are in these towns

Is it any wonder that these Arbreshe, these Albanians who survived Roman onslaught, Visigoth and Hun raids, Byzantine persecution and Turkish occupation: that these heirs of Alexander the Great and of Scanderbeg; these direct descendents of those noble names who fought with Scanderbeg and founded Contessa Entellina in 1467, should survive today in this, the most romantic and mysterious of the cities in the United States.

The momentous achievement of the centennial of the Contessa Entellina Society is willingly eclipsed only by the greater glory of our sustaining faith and by the memory of Albania's greatest king. From the poem SCANDERBEG - FROM TALES OF A WAYSIDE INN. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote:

"... Then onward he rode and afar,
With scarce three hundred men,
Through river and forest and fen,
O'er the mountains of Argentar;
And his heart was merry within,
When he crossed the river Drin,
And saw in the gleam of the morn
The white Castle Ak-Hissar,
The city Croia called,
The city moated and walled,
The city were he was born,
And above it the morning star.

... from the castle walls
The crescent banner falls,
And the crowd beholds instead,
Like a portent in the sky,
Iskander's banner fly,
The Black Eagle with double head;
And a shout ascends on high,
For men's souls are tired of the Turks,
And their wicked ways and works,
That have made of Ak-Hissar
A city of the plague;
And the loud, exultant cry
That echoes wide and far
Is: "Long live Scanderbeg!"
And we echo, long live Scanderbeg; long live Scanderbeg; long live Scanderbeg!

In 1448, while Skanderberg was victoriously fighting off the Turkish invasions, three military colonies, commanded by Demetrio Reres along with his sons Giorgio and Basilio, were dispatched to help Alfonso V of Aragon, King of Naples and Sicily, defeat the barons of Naples who had rebelled against him. After the defeat of the rebellious barons, Alfonso V sent Demetrio Reres and his son Giorgio to Sicily. Demetrio, promoted to commander, and his son, Giorgio, to captain, they left Naples to defend Sicily against the raids of the Angioni. Thus, in 1449 Giorgio Reres, leaving his father in Calabria, took his Arbreshe troops to Sicily where they stationed themselves in the old Castle of Bisiri, located between Mazara del Vallo and Marsala. In 1450, after two years of battling the Angioni, the Arbreshe left the castle victorious. After leaving the Castle of Bisiti the Arbreshe, led by Giorgio Reres split up into three groups.

The first of these three Arbreshe groups ventured into the interior of Sicily, to the lands of the house of Cardona-Peralta, and founded a small town in the vicinity of the ancient military fortress and Trojan settlement of "la Rocca di Entella" (Rock of Entella). They named their newly found home Contessa, after Countess (Contesssa) Cardona-Peralta dei Colonna, who had given them this land. During the unification of Italy in the nineteenth century, the "Contessiotti" (citizens of Contessa) added to the name of their town, Entellina. They did this to record the fact that their town was founded near the site of "la Rocca di Entella". Thus, that first Arbreshe settlement in Sicily is known by us today as Contessa Entellina.

The second of the three Arbreshe groups ventured still deeper into the interior of Sicily, near the lands of the monastery of "San Giovanni degli Eremiti" and of the house of Cardona- Peralta. They settled near the ruins of the old castle of Mensel Juspuh, (Castle of Joseph), and founded the town of Mezzojuso.

The last group went, following the previous two, westward onto the slopes of the "Montagna delle Rose" (Mountain of the Roses). There, on a high plain, dominated by a very fertile valley which is irrigated by the River Sosio, they founded Palazzo Adriano.

Evidence that these three towns were originally part of the military colony of Giorgio Reres is easily seen. The Arbreshe language is spoken, with few exceptions, with equivalent pronunciations in three towns, unlike the pronunciation in Piana degli Albanesi. Also, all three communities, Contessa Entellina, Mezzojuso and Palazzo Adriano, originally shared the same patron saint, San Nicolo di Mira. San Nocolo di Mira, or "Shen Nikolli" as he is known in Arbreshe, was also the patron saint of the Reres family.

It was also around this time that another group of Arbreshe immigrants founded Piana degli Albanesi (Plain of the Albanians). This town was mistakingly called Piana dei Greci (Plain of the Greeks) for a long time, until Mussolini corrected its name to reflect the town's true, Arbreshe founders. From Piana degli Albanesi a nucleus of Arbreshe later settled in the nearby town of Santa Cristina Gela.

There are four other Sicilian towns, that are of Arbreshe origin, they are: Sant'Angelo Muxaro, San Michele di Ganzaria, Biancavilla and Bronte.

In 1453, Maometto II, Sultan Amurat's successor, conquered Constantinople. This meant that the Turks could intensify and concentrate their strength on the Albanian populus. This led to the immigration of many prominent people, coming from many regions of Albania, to Contessa.

In 1462, the "Bisirioti" of Contessa, those who had fought the Angioni in the Castle of Bisiri, left for their homeland. Seeing the eminent danger to "Shqipria" (Arbreshe for Albania meaning "land of the eagles") they naturally wanted to rejoin the ranks of Skanderberg and their fellow countrymen to fight for Christianity and their beloved "Shqipria". Skanderberg was having great success battling the Ottomans, who were now commanded by Maometto II. At times, Skanderberg and his twenty-thousand Arbreshe warriors had defeated up to two-hundred thousand Turks.

On January 17, 1468, at the age of sixty-five, Prince George Kastriot Skanderberg died, thus leaving his Holy War against the Ottoman Turks in the hands of his son, John. Young John Kastriot, though a brave Albanian soldier, could not contain the Turks as his illustrious father had done. Not long after, Maometto II and his men finally crushed the Arbreshe forces and dominated Albania.

The Turks, as much of an enemy to Skanderberg as they were, visited his tomb to secure pieces of his bones to make potions to cure fear and to strengthen oneself.

After the death of Skanderberg and the fall of Albania, the Arbreshe who remained in Albania were forced either to convert to the Muslim religion and forsake their ByzantineCatholic faith, or die. In order to preserve their Holy Catholic tradition, these remaining Arbreshe resolved to leave their homeland. This large migration was delayed until 1521, when the first founders of Contessa along with other families from Pelopensia (Greece) returned to Contessa. The evacuation of their homeland was to be the saddest event in their lives.

"When the boats had put out to sea

And our mountains descended below the horizon,

All the warriors sighed profoundly,

And the women loudly cried out

O Albania! Farewell! Farewell Albania!"

"Gjaku Ine I Shprishur!"

The last line, "Gjaku Ine I Shprishur!", when translated from Arbreshe reads, "Our blood has been scattered!"

Thus, the Arbreshe were destined to live a life in Contessa, very different from their past. They were to put away their weapons and begin new lives, which although filled with nostalgia for Albania, these new lives were to serve as the beginning of a whole new epic of Arbreshe history. One can still stroll through the streets of present-day Contessa and almost relive the past. When the founding fathers were laying out their streets, they called upon their rich, Arbreshe heritage. In Contessa there are such streets as: VIA ALBANIA-recalling the beloved homeland; VIA CIACCIO-a family of old Contessa; VIA CLESIan old Albanian family; VIA CUCCIA-an old Albanian family; VIA SCHIRO-a distinguished family of Contessa; VIA SCIAMBRA-an Albanian family, VIA VERGINE -honoring the Blessed Mother whom we celebrate as patroness of our society as "Shen Meria e Favars", VIA ZAMANDA-an Albanian family; and one of the main streets, VIA KASTRIOTTA -named after the great Albanian hero, George Kastriot Skanderberg, and many other such symbolically named streets.

Even the coat of arms of Contessa retains a bit of old Albania. The coat of arms depicts the two headed eagle of Albania, upon which a warrior's shield rest. Upon the shield there is a column which is surmounted by a crown. In between the eagles' heads there is a female sphinx grasping two snakes.

Contessa itself lies in the brim of Mount Genuardo. The town is framed by three hills which the "Contessiotti" call, "Brinjat" (Arbreshe for "Horns", because of their peering, hornlike appearance). Contessa belongs to the province, military district and postal district of the capital city, Palermo, Many "Contessiotti" live in and/or work in Palermo, which is only ninety kilometers or fifty-four miles away.

When the Arbreshe settled in Contessa, they did so by the hundreds. This gave Contessa the population necessary to sustain a town. Naturally, Contessa began to grow, but this growth was never so large as to crowd the town. Between the years 1516 and 1554, under the rule of Emperor Carlo V, Contessa's population numbered over five-hundred. The chart below shows the growth and partial decline of the "Contesssiotti". The population had grown

from 1,565 inhabitants in 1718 to over 3,400 in 1861. It was around 1861 that Contessa reached her peak in population. It was around that year (1861) that the Arbreshe of Contessa made their second great immigration in over four-hundred years. Due to the social and economic conditions of Italy at that time, and also due in part to the bright promise of the United States, the "Contessiotti" left their town to find a brighter future. The major part of this immigration, which soon numbered almost three thousand, settled here in New Orleans. These Arbreshe immigrants came to New Orleans as strangers, but in time they were to assume meaningful roles in New Orleans life. It was on the feast day of "Shen Meria e Favars" or "Santissima Maria della Favara" that the Contessa Entellina Society was founded. On September 8, 1886 the "Contessiotti" of New Orleans united into a brotherhood, where each member could find shelter, relief and help from within their own ranks. Incorporated on October 22nd of that same year, the Contessa Entellina Society sought, and still seeks to preserve the rich heritage of the Arbreshe people and to keep their people united.

The genealogy of Scanderbeg's family is preserved for history and often intertwined with other princely and royal houses of both East and West. Indeed, through marriage, Scanderbeg's name is claimed amongst the ancestors of England's royal family. Queen Elizabeth II, her son, the Prince of Wales, and now the Prince of Wales's son, England's king well into the twenty first century, will proudly recite Scanderbeg as part of their history.