Calimera

The village of Calimera lies in the centre of Grecìa Salentina, the Hellenic-speaking linguistic island in the heart of Salento, an area where an ancient neo-Greek dialect, Griko, is still spoken. The very name of the village is a symbol of this linguistic heritage: 'Calimera' in fact means 'good morning' in Griko. But the Hellenic roots also emerge in other elements, such as the funerary stele that welcomes foreigners from the green public gardens, or the matrix church dedicated to the patron saint San Brizio, also Greek, but above all the House-Museum of Peasant Civilisation and Griko Culture. This House-Museum, housed in a characteristic courtyard house, preserves the history and culture of the area and its origins linked to Greece: here are housed objects of domestic use, which tell of the ancient gestures of craftsmen, traditions, rituals, but also a rich library of around three thousand publications that delve into the anthropological, linguistic and cultural origins of the area.