In Greek the village is known as Τσαρτσόβα (Tsartsova) or Κεράσοβο/Kerasovo.[1] In Aromanian it is known as Ciarshova.
Demographics
The population of the former municipality at the 2011 census was 918.[2] The total number of registered citizens of Çarçovë is 2.969 as of 2019.[3] At the 2015 local government reform it became a subdivision of the municipality Përmet.[4] The municipal unit consists of the villages Çarçovë, Vllaho-Psilloterë, Biovizhdë, Zhepë, Draçovë, Iliar-Munushtir, Strëmbec, Pëllumbar and Kanikol.[5] The town of Çarçovë also has Greek and Aromanian communities.[1] Two villages in the former municipality of Çarçovë[6][7] are predominantly Greek speaking, in particular: Biovizhdë (Greek: Βαλοβίστα) and Vllaho-Psilloterë (Greek: Βλάχο-Υψηλοτέρα).[8] In Biovizhdë there is a significant Aromanian minority population. Their presence was originally temporary, related to their transhumant lifestyle, before becoming permanent in the village.[9] According to a 2014 report by the Albanian government, there were 245 ethnic Greeks in Vllaho-Psillotere and 200 in Biovizhde in the total number of registered citizens.[10] Some Biovizhdë Aromanians have migrated to Albanian cities.[9] In Vllaho-Psilloterë, three Muslim Albanian families used to live there with a single member from one family still remaining in the early 2010s.[8] Some Greek speakers also exist in the nearby villages of Zhepë (Greek: Ζέπο) and Draçovë (Greek: Δράκοβο).[7] The destroyed village of Mesarë located on the Albanian-Greek border was inhabited by Muslim Albanians.[8]
Notable people
Hasan Tahsin Pasha, An Albanian Pasha from the now ruined village of Mesarë.
^ abcNitsiakos, Vassilis (2010). On the border: Transborder mobility, ethnic groups and boundaries along the Albanian-Greek frontier. LIT Verlag. p. 80. "Çarçovë is the base of the homonymous municipality (Komuna Çarçovë), which includes nine more villages, Biovizhdë, Vllaho-Psilloterrë, Zhepe, Kanikol, Dracovë, Pëllumbar, Strembec, Iliar, Manushtir-Toranik, the first two of which are Greek speaking."; p. 254. "He use to tell us about the Muslim beys who used to live in the next settlement, Vllahi, and occupied the land as ciftlik (landed estate), while the Christian inhabitants of the two settlements would work for them as vassals. Our previous interlocutors had referred to these beys, as well as identifying three particular families. One of their descendants still lives in the village, his name is Kurani." pp. 249-263. ; p. 282. "Mesarë (destroyed Muslim Albanian village next to the border)"
^ abKahl, Thede (1999). Ethnizität und räumliche Verbreitung der Aromunen in Südosteuropa. Universität Münster: Institut für Geographie der Westfälischen Wilhelms. ISBN3-9803935-7-7. p. 133. R. Rrămăn (Aromunen mit der Eigenbezeichnung Rrămăn = Farscheroten, Arvanitovlachen)"; p. 144. "Biovizhdë... hoher Anteil R, ursprünglich bodenvage Sommersiedlungen der R, vermutliches Herkunftsgebiet der Farsheroten; heute z.T. gemischte Dauersiedlungen, z.T Abwanderung in sudalbanische Stadte.";
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