Monteiasi

Monteiasi (Tarantino: ; Brindisino: ; locally ) is a town and "comune" in the Taranto province in the Apulia region of southeast Italy.
Monteiasi is located in north of the Salento peninsula. The name "Monteiasi" derives from Ancient Greek 'monos tiasos' (literally "sacred area"), which has been inhabited since the 8th century BC.
Physical geography.
Monteiasi is located within a landscape of Mediterranean, with olive trees and vineyards.
History.
Around the 16th century, a large group of Albanian refugees coming from the Balkans during the conquest of the latter by the Ottoman Empire settled in Monteiasi. At the end of same century, it was forced to leave their houses, because the archbishops of Taranto abandoned the Greek rite.
Dialect.
Monteiasi dialect is similar to Salentino dialect, but it is also similar to Tarantino dialect.