Himarë (town)

For a general view on history, geography, demographics and political issues concerning the region, see Himarë.
Himarë
Map
Coordinates: 40°6′5″N 19°44′48″E / 40.10139°N 19.74667°E / 40.10139; 19.74667
Government
 • MayorVangjel Tavo (PS)[1]
Area code0393
Websitewww.himara.gov.al

Himarë (Albanian definite form: Himara, Greek: Χειμάρρα, romanized: Himárra) is a town in Southern Albania along the Albanian Riviera and part of the Vlorë County. It is the largest settlement and the seat of the municipality of Himarë.[2] The town is populated predominantly by an ethnic Greek community.[3][4][5]

History

In antiquity the region was inhabited by the Greek tribe of the Chaonians.[6] The town of Himarë is believed to have been founded as Χίμαιρα,[7] (Chimaira[8] or Chimaera,[9] hence the name Himara) by the Chaonians as a trading outpost on the Chaonian shore. However, another theory according to the name suggest that comes from Greek χείμαρρος (cheimarros), meaning "torrent".[10] The Chaonian castle in Himara appears to belong to the set of the earliest Chaonian fortifications.[11] Its ancient walls probably date to the 5th-4th centuries BC.[12] In antiquity the town was known for its mineral springs.[13] Nearby Panormοs, must have served as one of the town's harbors considering that the beaches of Spile and Livadh in the open bay below the town are unsuitable for sheltering vessels during marine storms.[14]

The town of Himara during the 16th-18th centuries was ecclesiastically under the jurisdiction of Rome, and some of its inhabitants were Catholics of the Eastern rite.[15]

Himarë is recorded in the Ottoman defter of 1583 as a settlement in the Sanjak of Delvina with a total of 130 households. The anthroponymy recorded predominantly belonged to the Albanian onomastic sphere (e.g., Gjok Dhim Gjini, Dedë Kola, Gjika Gjoni, Lika Kondi), however, personal names reflecting broader Orthodox Christian anthroponymy are also recorded – including Greek (e.g., Thanas Jorgonllu).[16]

The Italian missionary Giuseppe Schirò wrote in 1722 that the town of Himarë was inhabited by Greeks.[17]

In the Ottoman census of 1895 in the town of Himara around 220 houses were counted, being also the center of a Nahiyah that consisted of seven settlements.[18]

After World War II the town was not included by the state system of minority schooling inside the Albanian state, and as such from 1946 until 2006, there had been no education in the Greek language.[19]

Old and new town

The town of Himara consists of the old settlement (Fshat) located at the top of a hill overlooking the Ionian Sea which coincides with the location of the ancient settlement of Chimarra.[20][21][22]

The modern settlement is located on the adjacent coast centered on Spilë. It is the administrative and financial center of the municipality of Himarë. Commercial services, schools, a health center and organized sports facilities are also located in Spilë. The settlement was developed during the Socialist Post-World War II era.[23]

Monuments

View from the old town inside the castle district

One of the main attractions is the castle located in the old town of Himara.[24] A number of Orthodox churches are located there among them Panagia Kassopitra,[25][24] Saint Sergios and Bakchos (11th century),[26][24][27] Saint Michael (13th century).[28] and the All Saints.[29]

Beaches

View towards Livadhi beach as seen from the castle

The beaches that are found in the town of Himara or directly linked to the town are located in Spile, Potam, Llaman and Livadhi.[30][23]

Demographics

In 1990 the population of the town was estimated to 5,224: The old town Fshat and Shen Mehill with 1,595 was inhabited by a Greek community, while Spile with 3,629 inhabitants was predominantly Greek including also less numerous communities of Albanian Christians and Muslims (the latter c. 1,000).[31]

In 2005 according to the Albanian Civil Registry offices the town has a population of 5,418.[32]

Language

The locals of the town of Himara mainly use the local Greek dialect and partly a Tosk Albanian dialect.[33] Having lived in present-day Albania, the local ethnic Greeks are fairly balanced bilinguals in both their local Greek and Albanian varieties.[34]

Although the town of Himara is geographically located on the northern borders of the Greek-speaking world in the Balkans, local Greek speech in the town is classified as a part of the southern Modern Greek. However, the speech of the adjacent villages of Palasë and Dhërmi is classified as semi-northern Greek.[34]

Notable people

See also

References

  1. ^ Sinoruka, Fjori (5 August 2024). "Albania Ruling Party Candidate Wins Himara Local Elections". Balkan Insight.
  2. ^ "Law nr. 115/2014" (PDF) (in Albanian). p. 6376. Retrieved 25 February 2022.
  3. ^ Bell, Imogen; Vickers, Miranda (2003). Central and South-Eastern Europe 2004. Routledge. p. 78. ISBN 978-1-85743-186-5. Representatives of Albania's ethnic Greek minority also claimed violations in electoral procedures, particularly in the southern, predominantly ethnic Greek district of Himara.
  4. ^ COUNTRY REPORT - Albania (PDF). United Kingdom: Economist Intelligence Unit. 2001. p. 14. that marred voting at Himare, a Greek-speaking district
  5. ^ "ALBANIA: THE STATE OF THE NATION 2001". ICG Balkans Report N°111. 2001. p. 10. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-08-08. Retrieved 2010-09-02. The coastal Himara region of Southern Albania has always had a predominantly ethnic Greek population.
  6. ^ Hammond, NGL (1994). Philip of Macedon. London, UK: Duckworth. "Epirus was a land of milk and animal products...The social unit was a small tribe, consisting of several nomadic or semi-nomadic groups, and these tribes, of which more than seventy names are known, coalesced into large tribal coalitions, three in number: Thesprotians, Molossians and Chaonians...We know from the discovery of inscriptions that these tribes were speaking the Greek language (in a West-Greek dialect)"
  7. ^ An Inventory of Archaic and Classical Poleis: An Investigation Conducted by The Copenhagen Polis Centre for the Danish National Research Foundation by Mogens Herman Hansen, 2005, page 340.
  8. ^ Chimaira, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, at Perseus
  9. ^ Public Domain Smith, William, ed. (1854–1857). "Chimaera". Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography. London: John Murray.
  10. ^ Cheimarros, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, at Perseus
  11. ^ Cipa, 2007, p. 75
  12. ^ Cipa, 2007, p. 72
  13. ^ Nicol, Donald M. (1984). The Despotate of Epiros 1267-1479: A Contribution to the History of Greece in the Middle Ages. Cambridge University Press. p. 24. ISBN 978-0-521-26190-6. Chimara, now Himara in Albania, was an ancient city known for its mineral springs.
  14. ^ Cipa, 2007, p. 66
  15. ^ Nilo Borgia: I monaci basiliani d'Italia in Albania: appunti di storia missionaria, secoli XVI-XVIII, periodo secondo. Reale Accademia d'Italia. Centro di studi per l'Albania. 1942. pp. 73, 113. [1]
  16. ^ Frashëri, Kristo (2005). Himara dhe Përkatësia Etnike e Himarjotëve. Toena. pp. 40–41.
  17. ^ Kyriazis 2016, p. 9: "Δεν τα έφερε εκείνος τα ελληνικά στη Χιμάρα, αλλά τα βρήκε εκεί, κι αυτό μας το μαρτυρά ο εξ Ιταλίας ιεραπόστολος Giuseppe Schiro (Zef Skiro) από το έτος 1722, ... O Schiro έγραφε ότι «η Cimara (Χιμάρα) ..., Drimades (Δρυμάδες), Balasa (Παλάσα) [είναι] ελληνικής εθνότητας -"di natione greci"-, ενώ τα υπόλοιπα χωριά της Χιμάρας είναι αλβανικής εθνότητας -"di natione albanesi"»."
  18. ^ Kokolakis, Michalis (2004). Η Τουρκική Στατιστική της Ηπείρου στο Σαλμανέ του 1895 (PDF) (in Greek). Athens, Greece: Institute of Modern Greek Studies. p. 288. Retrieved 2015-07-15.
  19. ^ Zheltova, Ekaterina (2021). ""The state doesn't exist here": Political imaginaries in the Greek minority of Albania". 2: 5. halshs-03753749. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  20. ^ White, Linda; Dawson, Peter; Dawson, Andrea (1995). Albania: A Guide and Illustrated Journal. Bradt Publications. p. 76. ISBN 978-1-56440-697-2. Over the Piluri Pass is Himara, a twin town - its modern quarter on the seashore, the stony - brown old town on the mountainside . Known as Chimarra in pre - Christian times
  21. ^ Post, Susan E. Pritchett (1998). Women in Modern Albania: Firsthand Accounts of Culture and Conditions from Over 200 Interviews. McFarland & Company. p. 243. ISBN 978-0-7864-0468-1. The old village of Himarë sits atop a hill overlooking the sea, but the modern village sits directly on the water .
  22. ^ Cipa, 2007, p. 66: "Ancient Himara is situated in a town of the same name in southwestern Albania"
  23. ^ a b Triantis, 2016, p. 98
  24. ^ a b c Pantazopoulos, Giannis (28 October 2022). "Tour in the historic town of Himara". www.lifo.gr (in Greek). ligo.gr. Retrieved 29 June 2023. η παλαιά πόλη της Χειμάρρας, στην οποία ξεχωρίζει το επιβλητικό Κάστρο... [the old town of Himare, with its imposing castle...]
  25. ^ Cipa, 2007, p. 70
  26. ^ Konstantinos., Giakoumis (2002). "The monasteries of Jorgucat and Vanishte in Dropull and of Spelaio in Lunxheri as monuments and institutions during the Ottoman period in Albania (16th-19th centuries)": 176. Archived from the original on 16 July 2020. Retrieved 8 July 2018. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  27. ^ Cipa, 2007, p. 73
  28. ^ Cipa, 2007, p. 69
  29. ^ Μαμασούλα, Μαρία. "Παιδεία και Γλώσσα στον Άγιο Κοσμά τον Αιτωλό [Education and language in Saint Kosmas Aetolos works]" (PDF). University of Ioannina. Retrieved 8 November 2011.
  30. ^ Souha, Asmi; Atef, Liman (2013). "Socio-Economic Survey and Tourism Development Study" (PDF). Project MEP-MPAnet: Regional Activity Centre for Specially Protected Areas (RAC/SPA): 11. Retrieved 28 June 2023. The main sea beaches are located in... Spile, Potam, Llaman (town of Himara)
  31. ^ 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. "KOMUNA HIMARA/KOINOTHTA ΧΕΙΜΑΡΑΣ ΧΙΜΑΡΑ: 1. FSHAT & SHEN MEHILL 1595 E, 2. 2. SPILE, 3629 E + AX + A M (1000)"
  32. ^ Gregoric, 2007, p. 44: "According to the official population registration (INSTAT 2004) Himarë/Himara area is populated by 11.257 residents among whom 5.418 people are said to reside in the town of Himarë/Himara
  33. ^ Gregorič, 2008, p. 63: "In their day-to-day conversations locals of Dhërmi/Drimades, Palasa and Himarë/Himara mainly use a local Greek dialect31 and partly a southern Albanian (Tosk) dialec"
  34. ^ a b Joseph, Brian D.; Ndoci, Rexhina (2023). "Ideology and Greek-Albanian bilingualism: On the permeability of language boundaries". Researching Language Repertoires, Practices, and Identities in Minoritized Settings: Insights from Diverse Greek-speaking Communities(RoutledgeCritical Studies in Multilingualism. Routledge Publishers: 20. Retrieved 28 June 2023.
  35. ^ Banac, Ackerman, Szporluk, Vucinich, 1981: p. 46
  36. ^ Banac, Ackerman, Szporluk, Vucinich, 1981: p. 46

Bibliography

  • Media related to Himara at Wikimedia Commons