Felitto, Italy
Dec 24, 2018 10:46:03 #
In 2012, I was lucky enough to travel to the town of Felitto in southern Italy, where my paternal grandparents were born. I spent 5 wonderful days being shown around the town, occasionally by those that spoke English (2), thank God for Google Translate!! I was treated like I was family and when I left, I honestly believe that I left a large part of my heart there. I discovered that I was staying on the same street that my grandmother was born, but could not find an address so that I could visit her home. I was able to trace back to my great, great, great, great grandfather (1785), and met my fourth cousins. Anyway, these are some of my favorite pictures taken during my visit. Hope that you enjoy!
Grandmother's street
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Felitto, Italy
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Calore River
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Castel San Angelo (view from my B & B)
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Church of Our Lady of Constantinople
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Church of Our Lady of Constantinople
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Dec 24, 2018 10:50:57 #
Dec 24, 2018 10:54:25 #
Thank you. I grew up in a small town in northeast PA and a lot of the people there actually came from Felitto to work in the coal mines. I included the church because there is a "feast" of sorts each year celebrating Our Lady of Constantinople (Felitesse festival) on the second (full) weekend of September every year both in Italy and PA. I grew up not knowing of this festival, but I attended just before my trip to Italy and I was hooked!
Dec 24, 2018 11:04:21 #
Dec 24, 2018 15:18:29 #
Dec 25, 2018 06:36:18 #
Dec 25, 2018 06:45:50 #
When I traveled to Italy in search of the origins of my grandparents, I found that the courthouse and church had wonderful records of birth/death/addresses, etc. You may also be able to get records from their point of entry. In my case, my grandparents entered through Ellis Island.
On a whim, I recently got hooked into the "Ancestry.com" site. I took their DNA test, and created a HUGE genetic tree, with contributions of information from a variety of sources. You may want to try that as well.
On a whim, I recently got hooked into the "Ancestry.com" site. I took their DNA test, and created a HUGE genetic tree, with contributions of information from a variety of sources. You may want to try that as well.
Dec 25, 2018 07:48:23 #
Beautiful set...i love the 1st & 4th...love street scenes like that.
Dec 25, 2018 08:06:09 #
Dec 25, 2018 08:10:12 #
02Nomad wrote:
In 2012, I was lucky enough to travel to the town ... (show quote)
I like the natural arch and the stone arch scenes.
Dec 25, 2018 08:20:36 #
Largobob wrote:
When I traveled to Italy in search of the origins ... (show quote)
Most of what I was able to trace was at the "town hall" with the assistance of the ex-mayor. I took pictures of the records that were available for my grandparents, which gave me the street name for my grandmother (I did get the street name for my grandfather too, but it was being on my grandmother's street that had the most impact!). I did not pursue records at the church, because the ex-mayor told me that there had been a fire at one of the churches and most of the records of that time frame (1850's to early 1900s) had been lost.
I did do the Ancestry DNA test, the results that I got initially were, I felt, rather strange. I know that DNA is a crap shoot, but it said that I was only 42% Italian-Greek, while my paternal parents (and their ancestors) were all Italian. Several months ago, I received a revised report from Ancestry stating that I was now 54% Italian and I am much more comfortable with that result. A few weeks ago, I received an email from Ancestry stating that they had received an inquiry about there being a possible connection with me. I responded to the individual and found that she had acquired a lot more information about both of my grandparents (and their ancestors) than I had. I will most likely be meeting with her after the first of the year and we'll trade whatever information that we have. I can't wait!!
I will be going back to Italy sometime in the future and dig deeper. Thanks for responding and for the suggestions.
Dec 25, 2018 08:21:50 #
Thank you all for looking and your wonderful responses! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!
Dec 25, 2018 09:56:58 #
Dec 25, 2018 11:52:16 #
Dec 25, 2018 12:06:30 #
Thanks for sharing the pictures of your visit. Wonderful series, well presented 
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