The Greek heritage in Italy (2024)

This map, created by Philoveritas in 2024, showcases the Greek heritage in southern Italy.

Around the 11th century, Greek was the main common language in southern Italy. This was partly due to the significant presence of the Magna Graecia and the former colonies, but also as a result of the migrations of Byzantine Greeks during the Early Middle Ages.

The map shows the evolution of Greek speakers in the region from the 10th to the 20th century in different colours:

• Rosa: area with Greek speakers between the 10th and 12th centuries.
• Lila: area with Greek speakers between the 13th and 15th centuries.
• Purple: area with Greek speakers between the 16th and 18th centuries.
• Blue: area with Greek speakers between the 19th and 20th centuries.

In addition, the map also includes the Greek colonies that existed in the region (purple dots) and the towns where a variety of Greek is still spoken today (blue dots). Griko is a Greek language, different from modern Greek, which currently has around 5,000 speakers. The language has two varieties, Greco-Calabrian and Greco-Salentine, both of which are in serious danger of disappearing.

Sources

• The historical spread of Greek in Calabria and Salento