Craco's San
Nicola Welcomed at St. Nicholas Center
The St. Nicolas
Center, an organization dedicated to discovering
the truth about Santa Claus, recently notified
the Society that it updated their website to
expand the listing for the churches named after
St. Nicholas. These include two listings for
Craco, one showing scenes of the abandoned
Chiesa Madre in Craco Vecchio, and another that
shows the new church in Craco Peschiera.
Craco
has a long association with San Nicola that
predates the arrival of San Vincenzo in the
town. This connection to St. Nicolas in Italy
dates to the 10th century about the time Craco’s
iconic Norman Tower was built.
San Nicola, was
the Bishop of Myra, a city in what is now
Turkey. He became known for his generosity to
those in need, to children, and his concern for
sailors and their ships. He was jailed under the
Roman Emperor Diocletian, the same emperor
responsible for the martyrdom of San Vincenzo,
during a period of Christian persecution. After
being released from jail, he participated in the
Council of Nicaea, the First Ecumenical Council,
that laid the foundation of the church. He died
in 343AD and was buried in his cathedral in
Myra.
By 1087 concern
over access to his tomb by Christians became
critical with the wars and attacks occurring in
the region. Sailors from Bari were able to
spirit away San Nicola’s bones and bring them to
Italy. The shrine and Basilica di San Nicola
that was built there made Bari a great
pilgrimage and tourist center. His popularity as
a saint led to the adoption of him as a patron
by many Italian towns, including Craco which is
believed to have occurred in the 13th century
according to Note Storiche sul Comune di Craco.
San Nicola continued to be venerated by
Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant Christians
creating widespread appeal in Europe. This led
to the giving of candies on his feast day of
December 6th and ultimately became the Santa
Claus figure we know today.
The main church in
Craco Vecchio, which as commonly called Le
Chiesa Madre (the mother church) was named after
him, San Nicola Vescovo. When the town was
relocated to Craco Peschiera the newly built
church carried his name.
Notes from
Basilicata
As we plan for our 5th Reunion the San Felese
Society of New Jersey will be preparing for
their 110th anniversary as an organization.
The
roots of this group go back 150 years when the
first immigrants from San Fele, province of
Potenza, settled in central New Jersey.
After the early
arrivals were settled they were involved in the
founding of their society as “Unione E
Frattellanza San Felese.” They were involved in
the creation of St. Joachim's parish in Trenton
in 1901. The entire parish counsel and 60-80 per
cent of the original parish population was
Lucani.
Since then their
descendants have maintained their organization
and continuing the traditions from their home
town in Italy.
Basilicata - A
Brief History
Last month the
Society was recognized by the Basilicata
Regional Authority. Basilicata, also known as
Lucania, borders Campania to the west, Apulia
(Puglia) to the north and east, and Calabria to
the south. The regional capital is Potenza. The
region is divided into two provinces: Potenza
and Matera.
Basilicata
is the most mountainous region in southern
Italy, with 47% of the area mountainous, 45%
hilly and 8% is made up of plains. Geological
features include the volcanic Monte Vulture and
the seismic faults in Melfi and Potenza in the
north and around Monte Pollino in the south.
Much of the region was devastated in an 1857
earthquake. There was another major earthquake
in 1980.
The combination of
the mountainous terrain with the rock and soil
types makes landslides prevalent but the problem
is compounded by the lack of forested land. The
area, while originally abundant with dense
forests, was made barren during the Roman era.
The variable
climate is influenced by the coastlines
(Adriatic, Ionian and Tyrrhenian) and the re-gion's
physical features. The climate is continental in
the mountains and Mediterranean along the
coasts.
Human presence in
Basilicata dates to the late Palaeolithic Age.
From the 5th millennium BC people built
settlements on rivers leading to the interior (Tolve,
Tricarico, Alianello, Melfi, Metaponto). The
first known stable market center of the
Appennine culture on the sea is near Maratea,
dating to the Bronze Age. The first Iron Age
communities lived in large villages on plateaus
bordering the plains and the rivers, in places
fitting their agricultural activities.
In ancient times
the region was known as Lucania, named for the
Lucani tribe, the first known settlers. Their
name was derived from lucus, Latin for forest.
The first colonists, coming from the Greek
islands and Asia Minor, date to the late 8th
century BC. The Greeks established a settlement
first at Siris and then Metaponto which lead to
the conquest of the whole Ionian coast.
After the fall of
the Western Roman Empire, Basilicata fell to
German rule, which ended in the mid-6th century
when the Byzantines reconquered it. They also
renamed the region "Basilicata", from the Greek
term basilikos, meaning "imperial".
In the 11th
century Basilicata, together with the rest of
southern Italy, was conquered by the Normans.
Later it was inherited by the House of
Hohenstaufen, who were ousted in the 13th
century by Angevine domination. This led to the
establishment of a feudal system that hampered
economic growth.
After a century or
so under the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies,
Basilicata autonomously declared its annexation
to the Kingdom of Italy on August 18, 1860 with
the Potenza insurrection. It was during this
period that the State confiscated and sold off
vast tracts of Basilicata's territory formerly
owned by the Church. Since the owners were a
handful of wealthy aristocratic families the
average citizen did not see economic and social
improvements after unification and poverty
continued unabated. This gave rise to the
phenomenon of brigandage when the Church
encouraged the local people to rise up against
the nobility and the new Italian State. This
strong opposition movement continued for many
years.
After the Second
World War things slowly began to improve due to
land reform but many of Basilicata’s population
had emigrated or were in the process of
emigrating, which led to a demographic crisis
from which it is still recovering.
Meanwhile, Fiat,
the Italian automobile manufacturer established
a huge factory in Melfi, leading to jobs and an
upsurge in the economy. In the same year the
Pollino National Park was established.
Agriculture
consists mainly of grains (especially wheat),
which represent 46% of the total land use.
Potatoes and maize are produced in the mountain
areas. Olives and vines are also commonly found.
A quality wine called '“Aglianico del Vulture”
is produced.
Among industrial
activities, the manufacturing sector contributes
with 64% economic activity while the building
sector contributes 24%. Recently, new production
of oil provided 11% of Italy's domestic demand.
A Gift of
History
Maria (Colabella)
McKendry, the grand daughter of Domenico
Colabella was kind enough to donate several
pieces of photographic history to The Craco
Society that reflect the experiences of 1940s
era Cracotan family experiences in Brooklyn, NY,
including the 1941 photo of the
Societá San Vincenzo Martire di Craco seen above.
The material
consists primarily of wedding photographs. These
were in a large format that was common for the
period. They show an entire reception in a
single 10x19 inch photograph. Digitally scanned
copies of each photograph are available to
members who might wish to view them to locate
family members. The digitized versions can be
enlarged allowing close-up images of individuals
to be seen.
The photos
available are as follows:
Bookbinders Association Dinner 1/20/1940
Mr. & Mrs. Nicholas Grossi Wedding12/8/1940
Mr. & Mrs. Chas. Sallusto (Rose Grieco)
Wedding 9/20/1941
Mr. & Mrs. William Colabella Wedding 9/27/1941
Mr. & Mrs. Frank Vitale Wed-ding 1/18/1942
Mr. & Mrs. Andrew Colabella Wedding 10/30/1948
The Society would
like to thank Maria McKendry for her gift of our
history. It is a priceless addition to our
holdings.
Calandra
Institute
For those not
familiar with the Calandra Institute, a good
introduction to their work and mission might be
seen by viewing the video of their June 22 panel
discussion, “Sacred Stories and the Festa
Tradition in New York City.” It was recently
posted online at:
http://livestre.am/UZ3q.
This video focuses
on the stories behind traditional Italian feast
celebrations and includes panel members from
several societies including, Anthony Donofrio
(Society of St. Mary of the Snow), Stephen La
Rocca (St. Rocco Society of Potenza), Joe
Santoro (Padre Pio Society), Rosemary Tedeschi
(St. Rita Society) and includes folklorists Kay
Turner (Brooklyn Arts Council) and Joseph
Sciorra (Calandra Institute).
The John
D.Calandra Italian American Institute, Queens
College, is a university-wide research institute
of the City University of New York, dedicated to
the history and culture of Italians in the
United States. Italian-Americans represent the
largest European ancestral group in New York
State, New York City, and at CUNY. Thus, the
primary purpose of the Institute is to foster
higher education among Italian-Americans.
Click
here to view
A Year in Craco. Events in Craco for
every month are listed. Thank you to Joe Rinaldi
in Canada for his contribution to this page.
