Petta family of Piana degli Albanesi

[mvarvella]

Hello,

I am the descendent from the Petta family from Nocera Inferiore, Salerno which emigrated to Brazil on or about 1900-1905. However my ancestors always told me the family was from Sicily.

As I am researching on the genealogy of the Petta family, I found out that those from Nocera came from Piana degli Albanesi which apparently is originally from Albania. I would like to establish the link between Piana and the city of Albania the Petta's came from. More specifically I would like to discover the Albanian city (or cities) the Petta family came from and if possible establish link with any living Petta.

Would you be able to recommend what are the resources available either in Albania or outside in order to help discover this information?

Thank you in advance and best regards.

Mauricio Varvella

[Marco]

The Albanians started settling in Southern Italy in XV century and I doubt that they came from a single city. They were either refugees from the Turk invasion or soldiers. They are known as Arbëresh (which is the language they still speak); in origin they were Greek Orthodox by religion, is your family still orthodox? Of course not all those who live or lived in Piana degli Albanesi were of Albanian origin. There are a lot of websites regarding Arbëresh families so you may check if your surname is among those.
good luck
Marco
BTW Piana degli Albanesi was known as Piana dei Greci until 1941.

[Marco]

This is an official (?) site of the Arbëresh.

Rootsweb has a list (here) for Arbëresh families.

Marco

[john_dominic]

Hello,

I am the descendent from the Petta family from Nocera Inferiore, Salerno which emigrated to Brazil on or about 1900-1905. However my ancestors always told me the family was from Sicily.

As I am researching on the genealogy of the Petta family, I found out that those from Nocera came from Piana degli Albanesi which apparently is originally from Albania. I would like to establish the link between Piana and the city of Albania the Petta's came from. More specifically I would like to discover the Albanian city (or cities) the Petta family came from and if possible establish link with any living Petta.

Would you be able to recommend what are the resources available either in Albania or outside in order to help discover this information?

Thank you in advance and best regards.

Mauricio Varvella

For what I understand of the groups that ended up in the Piani Degli Albanesi area, they came from two cities, in successive waves:

1. Himarë, Vlorë, Albania, leaving 1482-1485 arriving 1486-1487 in Sicily around Palermo (in, essentially, a refugee camp), settling in Piana Degli Albenesi in 1488.

2. Koróni, Peloponnisos, Greece, arriving in Piana Degli Albenesi in 1534.

Mind you, the second group was Albanian, too (or Greco-Albanian, given time passed). For what I understand, there was some sort of massacre a town or two over from Himarë (from them not converting to Islam when they Ottoman Turks came) and that spawned the idea for them to get the hell out of there. Different groups went different ways, and some became refugees immediately in Sicily, others in Greece. There are Arberesh (Italo-Albanians) in Puglia, besides Sicily, of course.

So, anyway, some of the refugees went to Greece, but when that area was threatened, again, a number of them fled to Piana.

You do have an ambitious goal - and it is one of mine, but I don't know anyone who has pulled it off, yet. Suppose your family came in the first wave, in 1482 - that's at the limit of routine records. So, if you are lucky, you'd get some sort of death record of the first generation to Italy.

However, knowing what I know about rushed immigration - the records tend to be pretty bad until the region is settled (at least a generation or two). The same thing happened in America - our Italian records were terrible until they were settled and being decently prosperous (even though the records were actually better kept in Sicily).

Anyway, it is theoretically possible - the only thing I do have to say is that, at best, you'll get the first family that came over. The churches and all their records were torched by the Ottoman Turks, and only recently (i'm talking the 1920s, at best) have there been records kept, again.

P.S. The reason certain things are known (like these cities of origin) is that they made note of it when they came over, and Piana still has solid Albanian traditions they follow.

And, yes, my family originally comes from the same place too - although I still don't get how the hell DiMaggio is considered Arberesh. (It doesn't sound remotely Albanian, like other names from there, such as Cucciarre (which comes from Cucci, which comes from Kuqi).

[Graffeo]

Hello my paternal great grandmother was a Petta. She did in fact come from Piana dei Greci which is now Piana degli Albansia. There are Petta's in that town today. You can go to this link to see for yourself. It is a search engine that shows the distribution of surnames in Sicily. http://sicilia.indettaglio.it/eng/cogno ... otore.html

[raymo]

Hi Mauricio,

I just checked the Italian White Pages (residential directory), www.paginebianche.it, and there are 48 entries for the PETTA surname in PIANA DEGLI ALBANESI. These entries have not only phone #s, but also full names & addresses.

It may be a longshot, but this worked for me in my own family research, with great results:

Write a letter in Italian to each person in Piana with the Petta surname, specifying, with details, on who your ancestors from there were, and ask them if you're possibly related. Include your home & email addresses in the letter, and ask them to kindly reply. They may know Petta "folkloric" family history that eventually was lost to those who emigrated to the Americas. You may actually "hit" on someone who is a distant relative, with a story to tell.

FYI, there are a number of other towns in the Piana region which are traditionally "Arberesh", even today: Contessa Entellina, Palazzo Adriano, Mezzojuso, Santa Cristina Gela & others. In Calabria, there is Falconara, there are more Arberesh towns, here & there, in other parts of Italy as well.

John Dominic: I have an uncle who is a DI MAGGIO from the Piana area. His family folklore says that the surname came from the fact that a group of Arberesh arrived into Piana in the month of May (Maggio). Of course, that can't be verified with documentation...

[john_dominic]

Hi Mauricio,

I just checked the Italian White Pages (residential directory), www.paginebianche.it, and there are 48 entries for the PETTA surname in PIANA DEGLI ALBANESI. These entries have not only phone #s, but also full names & addresses.

It may be a longshot, but this worked for me in my own family research, with great results:

Write a letter in Italian to each person in Piana with the Petta surname, specifying, with details, on who your ancestors from there were, and ask them if you're possibly related. Include your home & email addresses in the letter, and ask them to kindly reply. They may know Petta "folkloric" family history that eventually was lost to those who emigrated to the Americas. You may actually "hit" on someone who is a distant relative, with a story to tell.

FYI, there are a number of other towns in the Piana region which are traditionally "Arberesh", even today: Contessa Entellina, Palazzo Adriano, Mezzojuso, Santa Cristina Gela & others. In Calabria, there is Falconara, there are more Arberesh towns, here & there, in other parts of Italy as well.

John Dominic: I have an uncle who is a DI MAGGIO from the Piana area. His family folklore says that the surname came from the fact that a group of Arberesh arrived into Piana in the month of May (Maggio). Of course, that can't be verified with documentation...

Raymo - thanks TONS for that information. I know it's folklore, but you really can't do much more than that.

Now, i've got two quick questions with that:

1. When you say "Piana area", do you mean Piana itself or, say, Santa Cristina Gela? (or Contessa, etc) I only ask this, since obviously I imagine most DiMaggio's in the area are related, but we might be even more closely related than that. My family was from Santa Cristina Gela, which was originally populated with people from Piana (it's only like a mile or two away).

2. Have you already written these relatives? I don't want to reinvent the wheel or bother them twice (if you know what I mean).

[raymo]

Hi John Dominic,

I'll ask my uncle if he can be more precise about the town his family is from. He is my uncle through marriage, so he is not genetically related to my family & I don't know all that much about his. His Piana relatives - if he still has any over there - are not related to me, so I really don't know anythign about them. He's always lived in another state from where I am.

But I'll ask him your questions & see if he can give me more precise info on his, and I'll let you know.

I do know that his DI MAGGIOs originally settled in Brooklyn, NY.

[john_dominic]

Hi John Dominic,

I'll ask my uncle if he can be more precise about the town his family is from. He is my uncle through marriage, so he is not genetically related to my family & I don't know all that much about his. His Piana relatives - if he still has any over there - are not related to me, so I really don't know anythign about them. He's always lived in another state from where I am.

But I'll ask him your questions & see if he can give me more precise info on his, and I'll let you know.

I do know that his DI MAGGIOs originally settled in Brooklyn, NY.

Well, my Great-Grandfather, when he came over, had a "cousin" in NYC named Rocco (according to passenger manifest records), so it is still possible (even though my family settled in Chicago).

[MaryGene53us]

Hello, I am related to the DiMaggio and Mamola Families, who had come to the United States. They had lived in Jeanerette, Louisiana, then moved on to St. Louis, Missouri.

My Great Grandfather was Giorgio DiMaggio and he had married Domenica Mamola in Piana dei Greci.

Thank you.


Sincerely,
Mary Louise

[Graffeo]

Hello, I am related to the DiMaggio and Mamola Families, who had come to the United States. They had lived in Jeanerette, Louisiana, then moved on to St. Louis, Missouri.

My Great Grandfather was Giorgio DiMaggio and he had married Domenica Mamola in Piana dei Greci.

Thank you.


Sincerely,
Mary Louise

Hi Louise welcome aboard! I am honored to be the first one to respond to your post . Seems we both have ancestors in Piana. I hope if I find any of yours while searching for mine I will let you know. Did you know that till 11/30 you can search ship manifest for free at Ancestry.com? Pretty nice. I have been checking and snooping there for two days.

[Cathy902]

I am looking for my great grandparents who lived in Piana De Greci. My grandfather is one of 13 children, Leonardo, born into the DiChiara household. I am looking for both his maternal & paternal parents. If anyone can give me an email address or physical address so that I can request copies of documents held in the town.

Thanks,
Cathy Thompson

[vj]

I am looking for my great grandparents who lived in Piana De Greci. My grandfather is one of 13 children, Leonardo, born into the DiChiara household. I am looking for both his maternal & paternal parents. If anyone can give me an email address or physical address so that I can request copies of documents held in the town.
Thanks, Cathy Thompson

Cathy,
Hope this helps
Valarie

Address for
Piana degli Albanesi, formerly Piana dei Greci

Ufficio dello Stato Civile
Comune di Piana degli Albanesi
Via P. Togliatti 2
90037 Piana degli Albanesi PA
ITALY

http://www.nonsolocap.it/sicilia/92-pia ... -albanesi/

Italian form letter generator with instructions:
http://www.circolocalabrese.org/resourc ... civile.asp

Website for finding comune addresses:
http://www.nonsolocap.it/

[Arbereshe]

Cathy,
I think this is your Leonardo He was born 18 Dec 1885,in Piana dei Greci, his parents were Onofrio DiChiara and Giovanna (Anna) Adragna, his paternal grandparents were Giuseppe DiChiara and Giuseppa Quartuccio, the parents of Giuseppe were Pietro diChiara and Provadenza Lanza, if you think this is your Leonardo then I have more information for you.
Jo

[ajps1020]

Now to add to the linking...my grandaunt was Maria Cristiano, born July 1886, daughter of Antonio Cristiano and Rosa Quartuccio. Maria married Vito Adragna, son of Leonardo Adragna and Rosa Fileccia. Not quite the Leonardo you were looking for but there are some common last names here.