Firmo

Firmo is located in the harmonious development of hills overlooking the Sibari plain, with, as protection, the majestic Pollino and the cool valley of the Tiro river. Repopulated by Albanian refugees in the second half of the 15th century who had to leave their country due to Turkish persecution, today the village is a centre of Calabria's ethnic Albanian community, which maintains the language, religious rites, culture, customs and traditions of its ancestors. The small village is characterized by a dominant central area where the ancient Dominican Convent is located (ka këllogjeri, which literally means 'by the monk'), a historical reference point for the valorisation of the traditions of rural civilization and the culture of the Arbëreshë people. Firmo offers a wide variety of reasons to visit it: the parish church of Santa Maria Assunta in Cielo, built around the 19th century; the Grancia del Convento dei Domenicani built at the end of the 15th century by the Dominican Fathers of Altomonte, recently restored; the Palazzo Giuseppe Martino; the Piazza Giorgio Castriota Scanderbeg.