San Demetrio Corone is a town and comune

Comune

In Italy, the comune is the basic administrative division, and may be properly approximated in casual speech by the English word township or municipality.-Importance and function:...

in the province of Cosenza

Province of Cosenza

The Province of Cosenza is a province in the Calabria region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Cosenza.It has an area of 6,650 km², and a total population of 733,797 . It is the biggest Calabrian Province...

 in the Calabria

Calabria

Calabria , in antiquity known as Bruttium, is a region in southern Italy, south of Naples, located at the "toe" of the Italian Peninsula. The capital city of Calabria is Catanzaro....

 region of southern Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

. It is notable for the Collegio of Sant'Adriano, a boarding school which produced many patriots and theorists/revolutionaries in the Italian Independence wars

Italian Independence wars

The Wars of Italian Independence were three wars fought between Italian states and the Austrian Empire between 1848 and 1866, ending with the conquest of the entire Italian Peninsula...

Geography

The village is surrounded by lush vegetation and overlooks the Piana (plains) di Sibari. Majestic views of the Apennine Mountains

Apennine mountains

The Apennines or Apennine Mountains or Greek oros but just as often used alone as a noun. The ancient Greeks and Romans typically but not always used "mountain" in the singular to mean one or a range; thus, "the Apennine mountain" refers to the entire chain and is translated "the Apennine...

 and the Ionian Sea dominate the scenery. It is bordered by Acri

ACRI

Acri can refer to:*Acri, a town in the province of Cosenza, southern Italy*The Association for Civil Rights in Israel*ACRI, acronym of the African Contingency Operations Training and Assistance*ACRI, acronym of the American Committee for Relief in Ireland...

, Corigliano Calabro

Corigliano Calabro

Corigliano Calabro is a comune and town located in the province of Cosenza, in Calabria, southern Italy. In the comune are the ruins of the ancient city of Thurii.-External links:* * *...

, San Cosmo Albanese

San Cosmo Albanese

San Cosmo Albanese is a village and comune in the province of Cosenza in the Calabria region of southern Italy.There is a majority ethnic Arbëresh in the village. The founders of the settlement were christian Albanians who migrated to Italy after Albania's resistance against the Ottoman empire...

, Vaccarizzo Albanese

Vaccarizzo Albanese

Vaccarizzo Albanese is a village and comune in the province of Cosenza in the Calabria region of southern Italy.The town is bordered by Acri, San Cosmo Albanese and San Giorgio Albanese.- Language :...

, Santa Sofia d'Epiro

Santa Sofia d'Epiro

Santa Sofia d'Epiro is an Arberesh town and comune in the province of Cosenza in the Calabria region of southern Italy.The town is bordered by Acri, Bisignano, San Demetrio Corone and Tarsia.-People:*Ferruccio Baffa Trasci Bishop...

, Tarsia

Tarsia

Tarsia is a town and comune in the province of Cosenza in the Calabria region of southern Italy. The ancient town of Caprasia is thought to be the modern Tarsia....

 and Terranova da Sibari

Terranova da Sibari

Terranova da Sibari is a town and comune in the province of Cosenza in the Calabria region of southern Italy. It is located between the river Crati and the last stretches of the Sila Mountains...

.

History

San Demetrio Corone has its origins in the 1470s, founded by arbëreshë

Arbëreshë

The Arbëreshë are a linguistic and ethnic Albanian minority community living in southern Italy, especially the regions of Apulia, Basilicata, Molise, Calabria and Sicily...

fleeing their motherland to escape persecution from the invading Ottomans. The townsfolk (Sandemetresi), as is the case with other Italian/Albanian towns, are generally fluent in both Italian and Albanian, though the latter is a rather italianised dialect.

The church of Sant'Adriano (built ca. 1000AD), adjacent to the aforementioned Collegio, is a fine example of early Norman-Byzantine architecture and contains some exquisite mosaics and other ancient artifacts.