Piana was officially founded in 1488 following an act of land allocation and is therefore home today to one of the oldest and most cohesive Arb\u00ebresh\u00eb communities in Italy, the most important Italo-Albanian community in Sicily. It is notably the only village where almost all the inhabitants descend from these 15th-century refugees, particularly attached to their heritage, having preserved their language, their culture and their Byzantine religious rite. <\/p>\n
![\"Streets](\"https:\/\/www.sicile-sicilia.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/centro-storico-piana-degli-albanesi-sicilia_3179-300x200.jpg\")
<\/a>Streets and wall frescoes<\/p><\/div>\n
Beyond this singularity, Piana’s other treasure is the truffle cheese fondue<\/strong> (Fondu al tartuffo<\/em> in Italian), which can be enjoyed in various ways, even in a simple panino. A few kilometres to the west, the Porta della Ginestra memorial<\/strong> recalls the massacre of 1 May 1947, and in the municipality of San Cipirello, the remains of the ancient city of Laitas<\/strong><\/a> (or Laatia) overlook Mount Jato, <\/strong>an ancient pre-Roman and Roman city of local importance.<\/p>\n The traditional language spoken, Arb\u00ebresh<\/strong>, descended from the old Albanian Tosk dialect (but rather call it a “language” if you happen to talk with the inhabitants), transmitted over the centuries, is less and less mastered by the younger generations. This language is therefore today closer to the Albanian spoken in Kosovo than in Albania, Kosovo being on the margins of the main linguistic area, and has consequently evolved less.
Still on the subject of gastronomy, its canoli<\/em>, a typical Sicilian pastry filled with ricotta, also attract many Sicilians from the region.<\/p>\n\n
Arb\u00ebresh\u00eb culture<\/h3>\n
The Arb\u00ebresh\u00eb community is also characterised by traditional richly embroidered costumes worn during festivals, as well as liturgical music and a community life marked by specific religious celebrations.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n