Welcome, or better yet, “Benvenuti” to Stivor, a village in Prnjavor, which is the only village in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) with an Italian national minority.
Until you see the Italian flag, you likely wouldn’t suspect that Italians have been living here for more than 140 years. They came to our country during the Austro-Hungarian period, as did many other national minorities in Prnjavor, by decision of the authorities at the time.
“When they were sent here in 1882, they got rid of their poor and no longer wanted any contact with them. When they arrived here in the fall of 1882, many got sick over the winter. What could they do? There were no houses, just makeshift shelters built in a month or two, and winters here used to be harsh. Many fell ill and died; children would catch a cold and die, as there were no medicines, doctors, or anything,” says Luigi Andreata, a resident of Stivor.
In their struggle for survival, many wanted to return to their native Italian Trento. But from Trento, there was neither word nor response.
“To this day, the letters they sent to their municipality back in Italy still exist, but none were ever answered – no invitation to return, no offer of help. They had no choice but to stay, and those who survived stayed,” Andreata added.
Italians have lived here for nearly two centuries. They have preserved their language, traditions, culture, and identity and, after a long time, reestablished ties with Italy. Still, like in most villages, there is a trend of residents leaving.
“There are currently around 100 Italians in Stivor. Unfortunately, most of them are abroad, and Stivor residents can be found on every continent, even as far away as Australia. All Stivor residents have dual citizenship,” says Franjo Rover, president of the Italian Association “Trentino” from Stivor.
“That citizenship is what influenced the youth to leave the village, to go where the money is. They go abroad, first to Italy, then to Austria, Switzerland, and so on,” Andreata explained.
They come back for weekends or holidays, and some decide to return to Stivor after retirement. But life in the village is tough; it requires work around the house and in the fields.
“Many here still rely on agriculture. Everything they plant grows well, and it pays off to work the land. Until now, they also raised animals, but with no young people left to do the work, those with some money or pensions from Italy no longer find it worthwhile to keep animals, so most have given it up,” Luigi Andreata stated.
Over the years, the Italians have built up their settlement. Today, they have houses, fields, an Italian bar, and a cultural center. They have preserved old customs and a dialect that hasn’t been spoken in Italy for at least 100 years.
“The people from Trentino are especially grateful to us for preserving the old dialect. For example, if I were to speak with any other resident of Stivor, Italians wouldn’t understand us, but neither would the local population. That is a special kind of treasure,” says Franjo Rover.
They are united by their language, shared history, and the village church named San Giovanni. Mira Moretti, 80 years old, is a regular churchgoer. She is one of the oldest villagers, whose grandfathers came to Stivor from the Italian Dolomites. The church even features depictions of this history.
“We are hard-working people. We could never starve. We had our own land and livestock. After World War II, people went to work in companies, and the women stayed home to raise the children. My mother had 11 children. We all got along, no matter our faith, and there was never any quarrel between us. That’s the story my father told me. We always lived together, and we all went to school together,” says Mira Moretti, a resident of Stivor.
Mira still knows the old Trentino dialect of Italian, which she continues to speak to this day.
In the church, Mass is still conducted in the old Italian language on Sundays. Literary Italian is taught in the nearby village of Sibovska. However, after mastering the language, the young people leave, and even the apples in the village remain unpicked.
“I have three sons, seven grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren. But they’re all over there (in Italy). I’m alone,” Mira adds.
Mira isn’t alone in the choir, where she sings old Italian songs and performs at cultural events.
“We’ve gone to Banja Luka, Travnik… there’s nowhere we haven’t gone to sing those songs our grandfathers brought with them from there,” she emphasized.
The town of Prnjavor is also known as Little Europe due to the many national minorities that have lived in this area for almost two centuries. This local community has a special budget for national minorities to preserve cultural, national, and traditional diversity and values.
