Grec\u00eca salentina is a Hellenic linguistic island of Salento located in southern Puglia, in the province of Lecce, and consisting of nine municipalities where a neo-Greek dialect known as Griko is spoken.<\/p>\n
Since 1990, however, the term \u201cGrec\u00eca salentina\u201d has been partly distorted from its original meaning, becoming the expression of a consortium of municipalities, also sponsored by the European Union. In fact, since 2007, three other non-Hellenophone municipalities have been added to the original nine, which have become part of the Union of Municipalities of Grec\u00eca Salentina, comprising approximately 60,000 inhabitants.<\/p>\n
The Union of Municipalities of Grec\u00eca Salentina currently includes twelve centers: Calimera, Carpignano Salentino, Castrignano de\u2019 Greci, Corigliano d\u2019Otranto, Cutrofiano, Martano, Martignano, Melpignano, Sogliano Cavour, Soleto, Sternatia, Zollino. The municipalities of the Union share not only the culture and (partly) the language, but also a series of district services. Although only Melpignano and Soleto do not have any Griko speakers, other towns have also almost completely lost the language. The language is still spoken and understood (especially by older citizens) mainly in the municipalities of Sternatia, Martignano, Calimera, Corigliano d\u2019Otranto, Zollino and Martano. The municipalities of Carpignano Salentino, Cutrofiano and Sogliano Cavour, however, are not Hellenophones.<\/p>\n
L’area attuale della Grec\u00eca Salentina \u00e8 in realt\u00e0 la parte residua di una grecit\u00e0 pi\u00f9 vasta, che andava dallo Ionio all’Adriatico, con particolare rilevanza nel quadrilatero ideale ai cui vertici sono i comuni di Otranto, Casarano, Gallipoli<\/span> e Nard\u00f2.<\/p>\n