Pietro Bianco

Pietro Bianco (Albanian: Pjeter Bardhi) was an Albanian pirate from Durres who lived in the 1450s. In 1448 he arrived in Forli, supposedly after his ship sunk. Here he found a local Fransican monastic movementand joined it. He chose to repent his sins and built a small oratory in the city named after Santa Maria delle Grazie, known as the Madonna del Pianto or, more popularly, the Celletta dello Zoppo, where he then lived in repentance and devotion, living right in the chapel. He was called ”a hermit dressed in white” since Byzantine monks dressed similar. It was deconsecrated in 1806 by the French occupants, who sold it to a certain Francesco Romagnoli, who later demolished it. Local inhabitants believed he could do miracles. Bianco was of the Orthodox tradition.