They are examples of arte povera, the result of imaginative and imaginative craftsmen; they owe their particular creations to popular beliefs and represent the most original architectural aspect of Civita.
The masters signed the construction of a new house with a chimney, the most characteristic were built between the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century, but there are also older ones, one different from the other.
The classification of Civita chimneys can be divided into three main thematic areas:
1. the first one concerning their functionality;
2. the second and third concerning respectively apotropaic symbolism and social affirmation.
Their architecture was probably inherited by Albanian refugees, who arrived in Venice and knew the taste of decorating and customizing chimneys without neglecting their primary purpose of drawing smoke.
These chimneys are a sign of how the town of Arberesh wanted to distinguish itself through its intrinsic and original form of engineering and art – expressive and allegorical – mixed with joy and sobriety.
