Even this year the Easter is widely celebrated by Arbëresh in Italy, although they are of orthodox descent since 500 years ago.
As they can be seen from the video above, they celebrate by keeping the Albanian tradition with fanaticism.Arbëresh are living mainly in Sicily, where they live together with several ethnic groups.
In addition to religious rites the Arbëresh maintain also strong bonds with their ancestry.
For more than 500 years in Italy, they have preserved their original folk, costumes and culture.
There are various manifestations in the Hora of Arbëresh, for the Easter.A recent census shows that there are about 800 vests in the Hora of Arbëresh, 500 of these are dressed for Easter.
To mark Easter, Arbëreshët organize parades after which the blessings are given and red eggs are distributed.
The Arbëresh chorus has preserved many ethnic elements of its Albanian culture, its cultural, linguistic and religious peculiarities (language, Byzantine rite, traditional dresses, customs, music, folklore).
These residents are descendants of Albanian families, including the nobles and relatives of Skanderbeg, who settled in southern Italy during the invasions of the Ottoman Empire in the Balkans.
The arbëresh identity of Hora of Arbëresh is strong, in fact Arbëresh language is spoken by the whole community and is used in newspapers, schools and radio.
The municipality uses official Albanian and Italian language documents for its inhabitants, based on the existing law on the protection of ethnic and linguistic minorities in Italy.