Lungro (Arbëreshë Albanian: Ungra) is a town and comune (municipality) in the Province of Cosenza in the Calabria region of Italy.

This jurisdiction of the Catholic Church preserved the Byzantine rite and the local language, and encompasses all the Arbëreshë-speaking communities in the area.

The town is situated 67 km north of Cosenza at the foot of Mount Petrosa at 650 meters above sea level on the Campolongo plateau, flanked by the rivers Galatro and Tiro.

Lungro was founded in the second half of the 15th century CE by ethnic Albanian settlers, and developed around a Basilian monastery on lands that had been granted in 1156 from feudal landowner Ogerio del Vasto Altomonte.

They were welcomed by Abbot Paul with the approval of Prince of Bisignano, Geronimo Sanseverino, when Albanian resistance led and organized by George Castriot or Skanderbeg against the Ottoman conquest dissipated shortly thereafter his death in 1468.

It became available to the Commandery Pontiff and the inhabitants of Lungro were able to resist all attempts by the feudal lords to control civil jurisdiction and policy.

Many priests were imprisoned Albanians from the practice of the Eastern rite, but Lungresi gathered around them and fought to maintain their religious identity.

From 1768 Albanians of Lungro tenaciously undertook the defense of its Greek-Byzantine liturgical rite, because, coming from Southern Albania, they were under the jurisdiction of the Patriarch of Constantinople.

In February 1897, Girolamo de Rada, Giuseppe Schirò and Anselmo Lorecchio from the Arbëreshë community organised a congress on the Albanian question that convened in Lungro.

[3] L 'Eparchy of Lungro is the fundamental point of reference for the Italo-Albanian mainland, and continues to cherish the traditional religious, linguistic and cultural identity Arbëreshë.

This hypothesis is supported also by the name of the ancient monastery of the hamlet of Lungro, was rapidly gaining prestige and soon became one of the most important spiritual centers of Byzantine and Greek culture.

It is characterized by buildings of popular roots, in urban and rural areas, including housing units and small chapels.

Among the narrow streets of the historic district, architectural types are distinguished by gjitonia (neighborhoods and doors of medieval and ancient palaces).

To commemorate the mines of rock salt, a monument-stage course of Skanderbeg (representing miners at work) has been established, next to the town house.

In Lungro, as in most Arbëreshë settlements, the main square displays a bust of Skanderbeg, to honor their ethnic and linguistic origins.

The Cathedral of St. Nicholas of Myra (Qisha and Shën Kollit, 18th century), is the principal church of the Eparchy of Lungro.

Since 1921, after the erection of the Eparchy of Lungro in 1919 by Pope Benedict XV, the Church of St. Nicholas of Myra, elevated to a cathedral, undergoes profound changes, to be adapted to the needs of the Byzantine rite-Greek.

The mosaic of Pantocrator covers the entire surface of the 120 m² central dome, which is internal and does not leak from the roof and has a height of 18 meters.

Of great artistic workmanship are the three bronze doors with reliefs made using the lost wax sculptor Calabrian Talarico representing Gospel scenes.

Church of Santa Maria Icon (Qisha and Shën MERIS and Konxis, 16th century) is located on a cliff near the river Tyre.

The church of St. Elias (Qisha and Shën Llirit, end of 17th century), rises to a point that probably served as a lookout post for the inhabitants of the surrounding hamlet.

During the Renaissance the cult of the Saint was very popular since St. Elias was considered the liberator of the Albanian people of Lungro from Bourbon repression.

Established in 1919 at the behest of Pope Benedict XV's Eparchy of Lungro, the churches under its jurisdiction were from the province of Cosenza and beyond.

Pig offal (drudhezit), boiled meat (cingaridhet), gelatin (puftea) and salami Lungro with its characteristic aroma of fennel are popular.