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Greek Italy - Una Faccia Una Razza Much of Southern Italy was colonised by songs, both modern day and traditional, Greeks 2500 years ago, and these areas e.g. Mari by Neapolitan artist Nino form what we still know today as Magna D'Angelo. Traditional Southern Italian Grecia (Greater Greece). As a result, and Greek music both use similar Southern Italy became a centre of Greek instruments such as the mandolino culture, music, and language for (similar to the Greek bouzouki) and hundreds of years. Greece has in the tamburello (tambourine), which is the past also been occupied by Romans and most important percussion instrument in Italians. To this day, we can see the Italy's music tradition. The Greek influence in Italy, and Italian 'tamburello' was originally introduced influence in Greece, through via Greek influence in South Italy, and architecture, music, food and language. also through the Arabic influence in Naples, for example, was a city founded Sicily.The tarantella is a famous by the Greeks, and it's name derives traditional Southern Italian dance and from the Greek Nea Polis (New City). is directly related to the ritual of the Naples was also a Greek speaking town cult of Dionysus (the patron god of until the 9th century BC. It is an wine) of Ancient Greece. It is named ancient Greek city, with a 'secret after the tarantula spider. In around abandoned' underground city, where there the 16th and 17th centuries, people were are many original city walls, and even a poisoned by deadly tarantula bites from Greek-Roman theatre where the famous the Lycosa Tarantula, and it was Emperor Nero used to perform opera! The believed that they could only be cured underground city can be visited on by frenetic dancing. The dance would guided tours organised by Napoli start on a regular beat and then Sottoteranea -'Napoli Underground'. In gradually speed up. The victim works Piazza Bellini in the centre, you can themselves into a 'trance' and dance in also see some Greek ruins of the a state of ecstasy so much so until they original city.Agrigento, Sicily, is were exhausted. Once they reached famous for Valle dei Templi (Valley of exhaustion and slowed down it would be Temples), one of the most important taken as a sign that they had been archelogical sites in the world, and is cured. There is obviously a lot of Greek a UNESCO World Heritage site. There are influence on the history and music in many Doric Greek temples just outside the Magnia Grecia areas where Griko and the main centre of Agrigento, including Greacanic is spoken. Temple of Hercules, Temple of Zeus and Greek and Southern Italian cuisine do Temple of Concord.The Sicilian town of share many similarities. Primarily, this Siracusa was also an ancient Greek town. is due to the fact that they are two The Greeks arrived here in 734BC and areas of the Mediterranean situated very named the small Island of Ortigia in near each other, sharing similar Siracusa after 'ortgyia', the Greek word climates and soils...as a result they for 'quail', as it was 'quail shaped'. use and grow similar products, e.g. (how did they know what it looked like olives and olive oil, aubergines, from above...?) They also built various courgettes, peppers, garlic and temples, such as the Temple of Apollo in tomatoes. This in turn results in the central Piazza Pancali, and the similar dishes and recipes. There is Temple of Athena. They also built the also however Greek influence in some Arethusa fountain, named after the Southern Italian cuisine and vice versa, legendary nymph of Arethusa, which is due to historical factors; Greek now a 'hangout' for local youngsters. occupation in Southern Italy, and Roman Also, inland from the main Siracusa occupation in Greece. For example, when centre, they built the biggest theatre the Romans occupied Greece, many Greek in Sicily. tutors were employed by rich Roman With many areas of Southern Italy families for their children as well as speaking Greek for many years, (Naples Greek chefs for their kitchens...Other was Greek speaking until the 9th dishes to be compared, are the century) it's no surprise that there is Neapolitan dish Parmigiana to the some Greek influence to be found in some Greeks' Moussaka , (both dishes include accents or dialects in the South. layering similar ingredients such as Admittedly the Greek language on the aubergines, tomato sauce and cheese), whole is very different, but there are a Pepperonata from Campania with the few words that still remain.With the Greeks' salata me psites piperies , (a Romans also having occupied Greece, some charred pepper salad with olives), and words also may have been brought into Campania's melanzane a scarpetta (also the Greek language by the know as melanzane a barchetta) to the Romans.....Griko and Graecanic are Greeks' melitzanes papoutsakia (stuffed languages spoken by the Italians living aubergine halves- the Italian scarpetta in the Bovesia Calabria region, and and Greek papoutsakia mean 'shoes' could be described as an Italian-Greek referring to how they look ). pidgin languages. These languages are It is no wonder, then, that Italians and dying out, and there has been a law Greeks have a saying "Una Faccia Una brought in to protect them, although Razza" (pronounced una fatsa una razza some believe it may be too late. in Greek)! ( Translated literally, it Greek, Arabic and Spanish influence on means "one face one race" and refers to Southern Italian music can be heard from similarities and history that Greece and listening to various pieces of music and Italy. 1 A B C D 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110