Calabria · Cosenza
San Benedetto Ullano
An Arbëreshë village in the hills west of Cosenza, where the Byzantine rite is still sung and the 1723 Italo-Albanian college trained generations of priests.
Known for
ARBËRESHË
Albanian-rite community founded by refugees from the Ottoman conquest, still speaking Arbëreshë and celebrating the Byzantine liturgy.
COLLEGIO CORSINI
Italo-Albanian college founded here in 1723 by Pope Clement XII to train Greek-Albanian clergy and preserve Arbëreshë culture.
BYZANTINE RITE
The parish still follows the Greek-Catholic Byzantine rite, with iconostasis and Albanian liturgical chant.
When to visit
Best · Apr–Oct
- J
- F
- M
- A
- M
- J
- J
- A
- S
- O
- N
- D
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
Why come
San Benedetto Ullano (Shën Benedhiti in Arbëreshë) sits at about 460 meters in the hills west of Cosenza, twenty kilometers from the city, on the inland slope of the Catena Costiera. It's one of the twenty-seven Arbëreshë communes of Calabria, founded by Albanian refugees who arrived between the fifteenth and eighteenth centuries fleeing the Ottoman advance. The Byzantine rite is still celebrated in the parish church, and the language is still spoken at home.
In 1723, Pope Clement XII, born Lorenzo Corsini, founded the Italo-Albanian Corsini College here to train clergy for the Greek-Albanian rite. The college became a centre of Albanian culture in Italy and produced prominent figures of the Arbëreshë intellectual revival before being moved in 1794 to San Demetrio Corone. The village stayed a frazione of Montalto Uffugo until 1937, when it became an autonomous commune. The festa of Sant'Antonio in June draws Arbëreshë families back from across Italy.
The Sunday letter
We haven’t written San Benedetto Ullano’s letter yet.
One town every Sunday, with the photo, the food, the festa. Be there when this one comes up. Free, by Peter & Sophia from Pietrasanta.
By subscribing you agree to Substack’s Terms of Use, our Privacy Policy and our Information collection notice.
What to see
Chiesa di San Pietro e Paolo
Parish church of the Byzantine rite, with iconostasis and frescoes following the Arbëreshë liturgical tradition.
Sede storica del Collegio Corsini
Building that housed the 1723 Italo-Albanian college founded by Pope Clement XII to train Greek-Albanian clergy.
Centro storico
Compact Arbëreshë centre of stone houses, with the original Albanian street names and the small square in front of the church.
Riserva Naturale Valle del Crati
Protected wooded valley below the village, part of the regional reserve along the Crati river basin.
The slow-trip planner
Building a trip? Find where San Benedetto Ullano fits in a slow Italy circuit.
Answer five questions. We will shape a geographically coherent slow trip from the 1,000 Italian towns most travelers skip. Yours to save and share.
Living here
- Population 1,370
- In-betweeni
- Pharmacy: none mapped
- High school within a 30-minute drive
- Nearest airport Lamezia / Reggio, 1 h 30 min drive
- Regional capital Catanzaro, 1 h 45 min drive
Tags & datadesignations · numbers · sources
The numbers
- Elevation: 460 m
- Population: 1,370
- Surface area: 19.57 km²
These figures were compiled from public directories — ISTAT, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata — and from the official listings of the guides named on this page. Town details change; verify with official sources before you travel.
Close by
More towns near San Benedetto Ullano
Altomonte
Province: Cosenza
The highest Gothic-Angevin church in Calabria, a Simone Martini panel commissioned in 1326, and a hill of 455 meters in the Esaro valley.
Mendicino
Province: Cosenza
A silk-mill village at the foot of Monte Cocuzzo, ten kilometers from Cosenza, where water still drives the old spinning wheels.
Fiumefreddo Bruzio
Province: Cosenza
A Tyrrhenian hill town under Monte Cocuzzo, with a thirteenth-century castle frescoed in the 1990s by the Sicilian painter Salvatore Fiume.
Aiello Calabro
Province: Cosenza
A hilltop borgo at 502 meters in the Tyrrhenian hinterland of Cosenza, ruled for two centuries by the Cybo-Malaspina from Massa Carrara.
Morano Calabro
Province: Cosenza
A conical hill of stone houses stacked under a Norman-Swabian castle at the southern gate of the Pollino, called Italy's nativity village.