Griko people

With its sugarcube houses, labyrinthine streets and hyper-Baroque churches, Corigliano d'Otranto seems at first like any other village in Italy's southern Salento region. But as you wander around and explore, an entirely different world begins to reveal itself. 

Greek diasporas have been a constant in Greek history. From the ancient times to more modern eras, Greeks have left their homeland for a long list of reasons. Due to proximity and ties, geographic and political, Italy hosted many diaspora communities. The Greek communities of Salento and Calabria, in southern Italy, are, however, fundamentally different.