Zagori, Albania

Zagori, Albania
Administrative Unit
Zagori, Albania
Coordinates: 40°13′N 20°13′E / 40.217°N 20.217°E / 40.217; 20.217Coordinates: 40°13′N 20°13′E / 40.217°N 20.217°E / 40.217; 20.217
Country  Albania
County Gjirokastër
Municipality(s) Libohovë
Time zone UTC+1 (CET)
 • Summer (DST) UTC+2 (CEST)
Website www.zagoria.webs.com

Zagoria is a former municipality in the Gjirokastër County, southern Albania. At the 2015 local government reform it became a subdivision of the municipality Libohovë.[1] The population at the 2011 census was 411.[2] The region is at the center of the Zagoria Regional Nature Park.[3]

The region of Zagori traditionally has consisted of 10 settlements spread out from Doshnicë to Sheper and its people practised endogamy by intermarrying within their group, although occasionally the Greeks of Pogoni would marry a bride from the area and teach her Greek.[4] The population of Zagori have dialectal and cultural characteristics of both the Lab and Tosk Albanian subgroups though also forming a unique unit of their own.[4] Its population is mostly Albanian speaking, traditionally with an Orthodox Christian majority. It borders the regions of Lunxhëria to the west and Pogoni to the south.

Demographics

The municipality of Zagori has an Orthodox Albanian majority and an Aromanian minority.[5] The municipality consists of the following villages:[6][7] Konckë is inhabited by an Orthodox Albanian population.[5] Doshnicë and Lliar are wholly populated by Orthodox Christians.[5] The villages of Nderan, Nivan, Sheper, Topovë and Zhej are inhabited by Orthodox Albanians and these villages contain some Aromanian families while in Hoshtevë and Vithuq the Aromanian community is a significant minority population of the villages.[8][5] The Aromanian presence in the villages of Zagori dates to the 20th century when during the communist era of Albania they settled in the area.[8] According to another study Aromanian families were already in some villages of Zagori in 1880, in particular in Topovë, Zhej and Lliar.[9]

History

In 1319-1414 the region was known as "great Zagori" and was part of the Despotate of Epirus with its capital in Ioannina.[10] In 1399 the Greek speaking population of great Zagori joined the Despot of Epirus, Esau, in his campaign against various Albanian and Aromanian tribesmen.[11]

During the 17th century Greek elementary schools were opened in villages and monasteries of the region. Local Greek education was sponsored by the Orthodox communities and the guilds of Orthodox craftsmen.[12]

During the era of conversions to Islam in the 18th century, Christian Albanian speaking areas such as the region of Zagori strongly resisted those efforts, in particular the villages of Konckë and Sheper.[13] Christianity was preserved in Zagori due to the contribution of various prominent scholars, such as the Greek Orthodox missionary Sophianos who preached in the villages of the area in the early 18th century.[13]

Notable people

Jorgo Telo (Poet)

References

  1. ↑ Law nr. 115/2014
  2. ↑ 2011 census results
  3. ↑ http://www.ata.gov.al/parku-natyror-i-zagorise-me-nje-plan-menaxhimi-te-avancuar-344226.html
  4. 1 2 Hammond, Nicholas Geoffrey Lemprière (1967). Epirus: the Geography, the Ancient Remains, the History and Topography of Epirus and Adjacent Areas. Oxford: Clarendon Press. p. 29. ISBN 9780198142539. "Zagorië has the same characteristics, its ten villages extending from Doshnicë to Shepr; the group is endogamous and does not marry with the people of Llunxherië. The people of Zagorië have some characteristics of the Liaps and some of the Tosks in their dialect and customs, but form a 'a special unit of their own'.... The Pogoniates normally only marry within their own group, but occasionally a bride may be taken from Zagorië and she is taught Greek."
  5. 1 2 3 4 Kallivretakis, Leonidas (1995). "Η ελληνική κοινότητα της Αλβανίας υπό το πρίσμα της ιστορικής γεωγραφίας και δημογραφίας [The Greek Community of Albania in terms of historical geography and demography." In Nikolakopoulos, Ilias, Kouloubis Theodoros A. & Thanos M. Veremis (eds). Ο Ελληνισμός της Αλβανίας [The Greeks of Albania]. University of Athens. p. 51. "Ε Έλληνες, ΑΧ Αλβανοί Ορθόδοξοι Χριστιανοί, AM Αλβανοί Μουσουλμάνοι, ΤΣ Τσάμηδες, Β Βλάχοι, Μ Μικτός πληθυσμός"; p.56. "KOMUNA ZAGORI/KOINOTHTA ΖΑΓΟΡΙΟΥ (ΑΧ+β), DOSHNICA ΔΟΣΝΊΤΣΑ 108 Χ, ZHEJ ΖΕΗ 219 ΑΧ, HOSHTEVE ΧΟΣΤΕΒΑ + VITHUQI ΒΙΘΟΥΚΙ 203 Χ, LLIAR ΛΙΑΡΗ 93 Χ, KONCKA ΚΟΝΤΣΙΚΑ 116 ΑΧ, TOPOVA ΤΟΠΟΒΑ 133 ΑΧ, NIVANI ΝΙΒΑΝΉ 130 ΑΧ, SHEPERI ΣΕΠΕΡΗ 253 ΑΧ, NDERANI ΔΕΡΑΝΉ 193 ΑΧ"
  6. ↑ Albanian government budget legislation
  7. ↑ Greece – Albania Neighbourhood Programme
  8. 1 2 Kahl, Thede (1999). Ethnizität und räumliche Verbreitung der Aromunen in Südosteuropa. Universität Münster: Institut für Geographie der Westfälischen Wilhelms. ISBN 3-9803935-7-7. p. 133. R. Rrămăn (Aromunen mit der Eigenbezeichnung Rrămăn = Farscheroten, Arvanitovlachen)"; p. 146. "Hoshtovë-Vithkuq... hoher Anteil R; Zheji... einige familie R; Nivan... einige familie R; Nderan... einige familie R; Sheper... einige familie R; Topovë... einige familie R; zu kommunischtischer Zeit angesiedelte aromunische Bevölkerungsgruppen aus südostalbanischen Gebirgen und aus Greichenland."
  9. ↑ Kukudēs, Asterios I. (2003). The Vlachs: Metropolis and Diaspora. Zitros Publ. p. 289. ISBN 9789607760869. In 1880, Lambridis gives us the names of seventeen villages near Permet and in the Zagoria area that were inhabited by Arvanitovlachs:394 Topove, Iliar, Zheji, Maleshove, Mbrezhdan, Grabove, Argove, Buhal, Lipe, Leuse, Badelonje, Gjinkar, Bodar, Kutal, Kosine, Hotove, and Lupcke.
  10. ↑ Marandet, Marie-Claude (2017). La ville et le plat pays (in French). Presses universitaires de Perpignan. p. 175. ISBN 9782354122881. Carte 8
  11. ↑ Hammond, Nicholas Geoffrey Lemprière (1976). Migrations and Invasions in Greece and Adjacent Areas. Noyes Press. p. 61. ISBN 9780815550471. There the Greek pocket of resistance, which preserved the Greek language even when its ruler was Serb or Italian, was the plateau of Ioannina and its hinterland... When Isaou, the Italian ruler of Ioannina, passed to the offensive in 1399, he had already won over the Mazarakii (Albanians) and the Malakasaei (perhaps Vlach- speakers) and he recruited Greeks evidently from Zagori, Papingo (above Konitsa), and "Druinoupolis with Argyrokastro and the great Zagoria" (probably the high country northwest of Argyrokastro, of which a part is still called Zagorie).
  12. ↑ Stavro, Skendi (1982). "The Millet System and its Contribution to the Blurring of Orthodox National Identity in Albania". Christians and Jews in the Ottoman Empire: the Functioning of a Plural Society (1. publ. ed.). New York, NY [u.a.]: Holmes & Meier: 246. ISBN 9780841905191. Greek elementary schools were... of Orthodox craftsmen.
  13. 1 2 Gerogiorgi, Sofia (2002). "Επιγραφικές μαρτυρίες σε λειψανοθήκη από τη Βόρεια Ήπειρο". Δελτίον της Χριστιανικής Αρχαιολογικής Εταιρείας. 23: 79. "Ιδιαίτερη εντύπωση προκαλεί η ισχυρή αντίσταση που προέβαλαν ορισμένες περιοχές στο έντονο κύμα εξισλαμισμών του 18ου αιώνα, όπως οι περιοχές της Ζαγοριάς (όπου υπάγεται η Κόνσκα και η Σέπερη), της Ρίζας (όπου υπάγεται το Χόρμοβο και η Πρεμετή) και της Λιντζουριάς, μολονότι κατοικούνταν από αλβανόφωνους χριστιανούς... δίδασκε το λόγο του Θεού στα χωριά της Ζαγοριάς"
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