Last Friday, a monument to Gjergj Kastrioti, also known as Skanderbeg, was inaugurated in Piana degli Albanesi, the principal town of the Arbëresh community in Sicily. The 3.5-meter-tall statue was a gift from the Albanian community from Kosovo, now residing in Switzerland, known as “Hora e Skënderbeut.”

The unveiling ceremony was conducted by Rosario Peta, the mayor of Piana degli Albanesi, with the presence of Albania’s Speaker of Parliament, Elisa Spiropali, alongside hundreds of local residents and tourists. The statue, one of the largest Skanderbeg monuments installed in Europe, was created by sculptor Gëzim Muriqi from Graçanica, Kosovo.

The project, initiated several years ago by a group of Kosovars living in Bern and Zurich in collaboration with the municipality of Piana, commemorates the town’s founding date of August 30, 1488. Giorgio Cuccia, an activist for promoting the Arbëreshë town, highlighted the historical significance, noting that Albanians who migrated to the Apennine Peninsula after the Ottoman invasion of Albania settled around Palermo. The documents proving the town’s establishment on August 30, 1488, have been preserved for centuries.

Dozens of citizens from Kosovo and Albania participated in the celebrations and the unveiling of Skanderbeg’s monument. Veli Berisha, a financial supporter of the project, emphasized that the monument’s erection was driven by the diaspora’s strong will and desire, with no political agenda or collaboration with the governments of Albania or Kosovo.

Berisha, a 41-year-old engineer from Kosovo residing in Bern, expressed satisfaction with the event and the warm reception from the Arbëreshë community. He stressed the importance of preserving the Arbëreshë heritage.

The statue of Skanderbeg, installed in Piana degli Albanesi 536 years after the town’s founding, is contributing to the town’s growing status as a tourist destination for visitors from Italy, Kosovo, and Albania.

/k.s/