Himarë

Himarë
Himarë is located in Albania
Himarë
Coordinates:
Country  Albania
County Vlorë County
District Vlorë District
Government
 - Mayor Vasil Bollano
Elevation 0-2,000 m m (0 ft)
Population (2001)
 - Total 3,214
Postal code 9425
Area code(s) 0393
Website www.himara.gov.al

Himarë (also Albanian: Himara, from Greek: Χειμάρρα, Himarra) is a bilingual town and region in southern Albania, part of the District of Vlorë. Apart from the town of Himara, the region consists of 7 other villages:Dhërmi, Pilur, Kudhës, Qeparo, Vuno, Ilias, and Palasë.

The coastal district of Himara is predominantly populated by an ethnic Greek community.[1][2][3][4]

Contents

Location

The Himara region is characterized by high mountains (~2000 meters), called Llogara (known in antiquity and in the local Greek dialect as the Ceraunian mountains (Greek: Κεραύνια Ώρη, Keravnia ori) falling steeply to the sea. There are long white sandy beaches and the few hills close to the sea are terraced and planted with olive and citrus trees.[5] The villages of Himara are perched up high on the spurs of the Ceraunian range in positions which offered natural defences against the nearby Lab Albanians during the Ottoman era.[2]

The municipal town of Himara consists of the old town, Kastro, situated on and around the old castle and the coastal region of Spilea, which is the touristic and economic center of the region. Other parts of the town are Potami, Livadhi, Zhamari, Michaili and Stefaneli. North of the town of Himara lie the villages of Vuno, Liates, Dhërmi, with its coastal region Jaliskari, and Palasë. On the mountains lie Pilur and Koudesh, while Qeparo lies to the south of the town of Himara.[5]

The region has several Orthodox churches and monasteries, built in the traditional Byzantine architecture, like the Monastery of the Cross, Athaliotissa, Saint Theodore, Virgin Mary in Dhermi and Saint Demetrious. Moreover, a number of churches are located inside the castle of Himara, which was initially built in classical antiquity, like the Church of Virgin Mary Kasopitra, Episkopi, which is built on the site of an ancient temple dedicated to Apollo, as well as the Aghioi Pantes church, in the entrance of the castle. Additional monuments in the castle include the mansion of Spyromilios family and the Greek school.[5]

History

Antiquity

Tribes of Epirus in antiquity.

In antiquity the region was inhabited by the Greek tribe of the Chaonians[6]. The Chaonians were one of the three principal Greek-speaking tribes of Epirus, along with the Thesprotians and the Molossians.[7][8] The town of Himara is believed to have been founded as Χίμαιρα[9], (Chimaira[10], 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"[11].

In classical antiquity, Himara was part of the Kingdom Epirus under the rule of the Molossian Aeacid dynasty, which included King Pyrrhus of Epirus. When the region was conquered by the Roman Republic in the 2nd century BC, its settlements were badly damaged and some were destroyed by the Roman General Aemilius Paulus.

Middle Ages

Himara and the rest of the southern Balkans passed into the hands of the Byzantine Empire[12][13] following the fall of Rome, but like the rest of the region it became the frequent target of various attackers including the Goths, Avars, Slavs, Bulgars, Saracens and Normans. Himara is mentioned in Procopius of Caesarea's work of 544 AD called Buildings[14] as Chimaeriae. He mentions it of being part of Old Epirus and that a new fortress was built in its location. In 614 the Slavic tribe of the Baiounetai invaded the area and controlled a region from Himara to Margariti called Vagenetia[14].

The use of the name "Chaonia" in reference to the region apparently died out during the 12th century, the last time it is recorded (in a Byzantine tax collection document). In 1278 Nicephorus of Epirus surrendered to the Angevins the ports of Himara, Sopot and Butrint. As a result, Charles of Anjou controlled the Ionian coast from Himara to Butrint.[15] In 1372 Himara, together with Vlora, Kanina and Berat region was given as a dowry to Balša II due to his marriage with the daughter of John Comnenus Asen. After the death of Balša II, his widow and his daughter which married Mrkša Žarković, managed to keep the possession of the region up to 1417 when Ottomans captured Vlora.[16]

Ottoman era: autonomy and revolts

The flag of Himara during the Ottoman era, depicting the Archangels Michael and Gabriel.

The Ottoman Empire overran northern Epirus from the late 14th century, but being a natural fortress, Himara was the only region that did not submit to Ottoman Turkish rule. It became a symbol of resistance to the Turks but suffered from an almost continuous state of warfare. In the summer of 1473 the chieftain John Vlasis, with a small unit from nearby Corfu as well as with native Himariot support, took control of the entire coastal region from Sagiada to Himara, but when the ongoing Turkish-Venetian war ended (1479) the region was again under Ottoman control.[17] In 1481, one year after the Ottomans had landed in Otranto in southern Italy, the Himariotes joined the forces of Gjon Kastrioti, son of Skanderbeg in his uprising against the Ottomans.[18] The uprising failed, but the Himariotes rose again in 1488, and between 1494–1509, destabilizing Turkish control but failing to liberate their territory. Following the rising of 1482 several Himariote families fled the town for Sicily where they were granted land near Palermo which subsequently became the village of Piana degli Albanesi, the inhabitants of which still speak a dialect of Albanian called Arbërisht.

The Ottoman Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent personally led a large army to take Himara in 1537, resulting in a particularly bloody but indecisive confrontation. Following this result, he set forth a number of laws to regulate the relationship of Himara with the Empire. These included such rights as the exemption of the Himariotes from taxes, the right to sail under their own flag into any Ottoman port, and the right to carry guns while traveling in Ottoman territory.

Despite this agreement, the Ottomans subsequently made several unsuccessful attempts to conquer Himara, first in 1571, then again in 1595, 1690, and 1713. In total three different Ottoman sultans personally led military campaigns against Himara, each failing in turn. On the other hand the Himariotes were often attacked by the Labs, a nearby Albanian tribe, on the grounds of race and religion.[19] In one occasion, in 1577, the chieftains of Himara appealed to the Pope for arms and supplies promising to fight the Ottomans. They also promised to transfer their religious allegiance to Rome, provided that they will retain their Eastern Orthodox liturgical customs since the majority of the population was Greek.[20]

During these years, the people of Himara established close links to the Italian city states, especially Naples and the powerful Republic of Venice, and later with Austro-Hungary, which controlled Corfu and the other Ionian Islands. During this time and thereafter, many Himariotes emigrated to the outside world and brought valuable skills back home with them. In 1848 even a small village like Dhermi could boast two doctors graduated in Athens and Vienna.

The first school in the region opened in 1627, where lessons were held in the Greek language. The following years (until 1633) Greek language schools opened also in the villages of Dhërmi and Palasa.[21]

Late Ottoman period

Ethnographic map of the Epirus region from 1878, with the Himara region highlighted.

In 1797, Ali Pasha, the Muslim Albanian ruler of the Ottoman Pashalik of Yanina, led a raid on the town of Himara because they supported his enemy, the Souliotes, and more than 6,000 civilians were slaughtered.[22] Two years later, Ali Pasha tried to create good relations with the Himariotes after declaring their enclave part of his emerging semi-independent state, by financing various public works and churches. A church he built near Himara, opposite of the Porto Palermo (Panormos) Castle is the largest and most magnificent in the region and still stands today as a major tourist attraction. Ali Pasha's rule over Himara lasted about 20 years until it was abruptly terminated by his murder at the hands of the Ottoman agents. Himara subsequently reverted to its status quo ante of an enclave surrounded by Ottoman territory. To emphasize the region's special status, the terms that the Himariotes had reached with Suleiman the Magnificent were inscribed on bronze tablets at the request of their leaders, who wanted to record the agreement on a durable medium. These tablets are preserved to this day in the Topkapi palace museum in Istanbul.

When the Greek War of Independence (1821–1830) broke out, the people of Himara rose in revolt.[23] The local uprising failed, but many Himariotes, veterans of the Russian and French Army, joined the revolutionary forces in today southern Greece, where they played a significant role in the struggle.[24] In 1854, during the Crimean War, a major local rebellion broke out, with Himara being one of the first towns that joined it. Although the newly found Greek state tried tacitly to support it, the rebellion was suppressed by Ottoman forces after a few months[25][26].

20th century

The region of Himare rose in revolt in November 1912, under Spyros Spyromilios, during the Balkan Wars[27], wanting to join Greece and expelling the local Ottoman authorities. In March 1914, the "Protocol of Corfu" was signed, which established the Autonomous Republic of Northern Epirus, of which Himara formed a part, though the region formally remained part of the newly formed Albanian state. During the First World War, Himara was under Greek administration (Oct. 1914-Sept. 1916) and then occupied by Italy. The Italians used Austro-Hungarian prisoners of war to build a road running through Himara, which greatly reduced the region's isolation.

In 1921 the region came under the control of the Albanian state. The locals rose in revolt, in 1924, protesting against a series of Albanian reforms and demanding the same privileges they enjoyed prior to incorporation to Albania.[28] Other uprisings followed in 1927 and 1932, both supressed by king Zog of Albania.[29]

Later, Himara was again occupied by the Italians as part of the Italian invasion in Albania. The Italian Fascist Army was evicted by the Greek Army during the Greco-Italian War of 1940-41, and Himara was briefly re-joined Greece until the German invasion in 1941.

Demographics

Orthodox church in Himara

The population of the Himara region is estimated at around 11,000 inhabitants,[30] with the ethnic composition of both the town and region predominantly Greek.[31][32] This appears to be backed by the high popularity levels of the Greek minority's Unity for Human Rights Party in the region, while the possibility of victory by the party in the municipal elections in the past triggered nationalist rhetoric, both at the local and even national level, and heightened tension in the town[33][34].

Language

The vast majority of people in Himarë, who call themselves "Horiani", meaning locals,[35] are bilingual in both Albanian and Greek, while 85% of the municipality's population use Greek as their mother tongue according to the municipal authorities.[5] In the town of Himara as well as in nearby villages of Dhërmi and Palasa mainly speak a unique local Greek dialect that preserves many archaic features no longer found in standard Modern Greek. This dialect has small variations in the way it is spoken in every town, especially in the accent. On the other hand the surrounding towns of Ilias, Vuno, Qeparo, Kudhes and Pilur mainly speak the Tosk Albanian dialect.[36]

In the spring of 2006, a private Greek-language school has reopened in the town of Himara,[37] on the same position the Orthodox missionary Cosmas the Aetolian founded the Acroceraunian school at 1770.[5]

Sports

The city of Himarë's soccer club SK Himarë. The club currently plays in the Albanian Second Division.

Notable Himariotes

  • Dhimitër Anagnosti, People's Artist of Albania, cineast, and former Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports born in Vuno.
  • Christos Bekas, Greek Army general in the Greek War of Independence (1821-1830).[38]
  • Panos Bitsilis, revolutionary.
  • Vasil Bollano, current mayor of Himara and President of the organization of the Greek minority, "Omonoia".
  • Spiro Çomora playwright.
  • Ioanna Dedi top model.
  • Andreas Dimas (-1945), leader of the local anti-communist revolt.
  • Pyrros Dimas the world-famous Greek weight-lifting athlete, whose nickname is "the Lion of Himara". He is the only weight-lifter in the world to have won four Olympic medals. Three of his medals are gold (1992 Summer Olympics, 1996 Summer Olympics, 2000 Summer Olympics) and the last one, from the Athens 2004 Olympics, is a bronze.
  • Odhise Grillo, writer.
  • Kostas Kaznezis, Greek Army general in the Greek War of Independence.[39]
  • Spiro Koleka (1908–2001), long-serving member of the Politburo of the Party of Labour of Albania, one of the few members of the Greek minori serving in the Socialist People's Republic of Albania political system.[40]
  • Anastas Kondo, writer
  • Sofokli Lazri, counselor of Enver Hoxha and writer
  • Petro Marko, one of the most famous Albanian writers of the post World War II era.[41]
  • Zachos Milios (1805–1860), Greek Army officer and revolutionary.
  • Paskal Milo politician
  • Neço Muko, famous Albanian musician of the 1920s and creator of the avaz himariote music genre that became identified with Himarë.
  • Robert Ndrenika, actor
  • Andon Qesari, actor and director
  • Sotiris Ninis football player of Panathinaikos (Athens)
  • Athanasios Pipis (-1821), revolutionary of the Greek War of Independence, from Vuno.
  • Spyromilios (1800–1880), Greek Army general and politician.
  • Spyros Spyromilios (1864–1930), Greek Gendarmerie officer, declared the region's autonomy (1914).
  • Pyrros Spyromilios (1913–1961), Greek Navy officer and director of the Greek Radio Orchestra.
  • Andreas Tatos (1989-), footbal player of Atromitos (Greek Superleague).

Gallery

The Himara region seen from the Llogara pass.

The Ionian sea at sunset seen from the Llogara pass.

Cove near Himara, including Communist-era submarine pen.

The beach of Himara town

Typical scenery of the Himara region

The Ceraunian mountains (Llogara) up close

Himara coastline

The village of Vuno

See also

References

  1. ↑ Europa Publications Limited. Central and South-Eastern Europe 2004, Volume 5. Routledge, 2003. ISBN 9781857431865, p. 78.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Hammond (1993). Collected Studies: Alexander and his successors in Macedonia. A.M. Hakkert. p. 405. http://books.google.com/books?ei=JMdhTIHWHY2iON_EpIwK&ct=result&hl=el&id=1WwiAQAAIAAJ&dq=%22Liaps+of+the+Kurvelesh.+In+the+past+the+Himariotes%22&q=%22range+in+positions+which+offer+natural+defences+against+the+Liaps%22#search_anchor. "It is one of the several Greek-speaking villages in which the centre is Himare... Liaps" 
  3. ↑ Economist Intelligence Unit. (Great Britain). Country report: Albania, Issue 1., 2001.
  4. ↑ "Albania: The state of a nation" (PDF). ICG Balkans Report N°111. p. 15. http://www.crisisgroup.org/~/media/Files/europe/Albania%205.ashx. Retrieved 2010-9-2. "The coastal Himara region of Southern Albania has always had a predominantly ethnic Greek population." 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 Tourist Guide of Himara. Bashkia e Himares.
  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. ↑ Hecataeus of Miletus, Fr.103
  8. ↑ Plutarch, Pyrrhus at The Internet Classics Archive
  9. ↑ 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
  10. ↑ Chimaira, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, at Perseus
  11. ↑ Cheimarros, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, at Perseus
  12. ↑ Badlands, borderlands: a history of Northern Epirus/Southern Albania by Tom Winnifrith,2002,ISBN-0715632019,page 80
  13. ↑ "Byzantine Empire". Encyclopaedia Britannica.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Epirus Vetus: The Archaeology of a Late Antique Province (Duckworth Archaeology) by William Bowden,2003,ISBN 0715631160,2003,page 14
  15. ↑ The Late Medieval Balkans: A Critical Survey from the Late Twelfth Century to the Ottoman Conquest Author John Van Antwerp Fine Edition reprint, illustrated Publisher University of Michigan Press, 1994 ISBN 0472082604, 9780472082605 page 185-186.
  16. ↑ The Late Medieval Balkans: A Critical Survey from the Late Twelfth Century to the Ottoman Conquest Author John Van Antwerp Fine Edition reprint, illustrated Publisher University of Michigan Press, 1994 ISBN 0472082604, 9780472082605 page 383, 390.
  17. ↑ M. V. Sakellariou. Epirus, 4000 years of Greek history and civilization. Ekdotikē Athēnōn, ISBN 9789602133712, 1997, p. 244: "In the summer of 1473 the chieftain John Vlasis and a small band of men, using Corfu as a base... while the inhabitants of Cheimara liberated many of the Greek villages."
  18. ↑ Gli Umanisti e la guerra otrantina: testi dei secoli XV e XVI Volume 5 of Nuova biblioteca DedaloAuthors Lucia Gualdo Rosa, Isabella Nuovo, Domenico Defilippis Editors Lucia Gualdo Rosa, Isabella Nuovo, Domenico Defilippis Publisher EDIZIONI DEDALO, 1982 ISBN 8822060059, 9788822060051 page 97 link [1]
  19. ↑ Hammond Nicholas Geoffrey Lemprière. Collected Studies: Alexander and his successors in Macedonia. A.M. Hakkert, 1993, p. 405.
  20. ↑ Charles A. (2006). Catholics and Sultans: The Church and the Ottoman Empire 1453-1923. Cambridge University Press. pp. 103–104. http://books.google.gr/books?id=X6DM4szwUpEC&pg=PA104&dq=himara%2Bgreek%2Bislam&hl=el&ei=hHpoTPvSOIyOjAf2xMzUBA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=9&ved=0CFEQ6AEwCA#v=onepage&q=himara&f=false. 
  21. ↑ Gregorič 2008: p. 67.
  22. ↑ Antonina Zhelyazkova.Urgent Anthropology. Vol. 2. Albanian Prospects. IMIR, Sofia, 2003. p. 90
  23. ↑ Pappas, Nicholas Charles (1991). Greeks in Russian military service in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Institute for Balkan Studies. p. 318. http://books.google.com/books?ei=mHpkTLSbF8yQjAfbgJ3DCQ&ct=result&hl=el&id=eAW5AAAAIAAJ&dq=%22such+as+Lieutenant+Generals+chrestos+Bekas%22&q=%22Some+joined+existing+units+and+became+ranking+officers%2C+%22#search_anchor. "Following the failure of an insurrection in Cheimarra in 1821" 
  24. ↑ Banac Ivo, Ackerman John G., Szporluk Roman, Vucinich Wayne S. (1981). Nation and ideology: essays in honor of Wayne S. Vucinich. East European Monographs. p. 46. ISBN 9780914710899. http://books.google.com/books?hl=el&id=2tuCAAAAIAAJ&dq=bitsiles&q=Melios#search_anchor. "Cheimarriote veterans played a significant role in the Greek War of Independence (1821-1830)"" 
  25. ↑ M. V. Sakellariou. Epirus, 4000 years of Greek history and civilization. Ekdotike Athenon, 1997. ISBN 9789602133712, p. 288
  26. ↑ Reid, James J. (2000). Crisis of the Ottoman Empire: prelude to collapse 1839-1878. Franz Steiner Verlag. ISBN 9783515076876. http://books.google.com/books?id=Zgg6c_Ndtu4C&pg=PA182&dq=Russo-Turkish+War+1878+Greeks&lr=&as_brr=0&hl=. 
  27. ↑ Badlands, borderlands: a history of Northern Epirus/Southern Albania by Tom Winnifrith,2002,ISBN-0715632019,page 129
  28. ↑ Gregorič 2008: p. 124.
  29. ↑ Gregorič 2008: p. 156.
  30. ↑ Gregorič 2008: p. 226
  31. ↑ ,Urgent anthropology Vol. 3. Problems of Multiethnicity in the Western Balkans. International Center for Minority Studies and Intercultural Relations. Sofia 2004. Page 39
  32. ↑ The politics of national minority participation in post-communist Europe, Jonathan Stein, EastWest Institute, p. 187 "...who came from the predominantly ethnic Greek town of Himara."
  33. ↑ http://www.setimes.com/cocoon/setimes/xhtml/en_GB/features/setimes/newsbriefs/2007/01/22/nb-01
  34. ↑ [2] Nationalist rhetoric during the campaign, both at the local and national level, had heightened tension in the town over a possible victory by the local ethnic Greek Human Rights Union Party.
  35. ↑ Gregorič 2008: p. 43: most of the people who claim to originate from Himarë/Himara area have declared themselves as horiani (pl.), meaning locals.
  36. ↑ Gregorič 2008: p. 63
  37. ↑ Gregorič 2008: p. 68
  38. ↑ Ivo Banac, John G. Ackerman, Roman Szporluk, Wayne S. Vucinich (1981). Nation and ideology: essays in honor of Wayne S. Vucinich. East European Monographs. p. 46. ISBN 9780914710899. http://books.google.com/books?ei=H1B6TIuMBo2OjAfK8LX1DA&ct=result&hl=el&id=4OBoAAAAMAAJ&dq=melios%2Bhimara&q=Spyros#search_anchor. 
  39. ↑ Ivo Banac, John G. Ackerman, Roman Szporluk, Wayne S. Vucinich (1981). Nation and ideology: essays in honor of Wayne S. Vucinich. East European Monographs. p. 46. ISBN 9780914710899. http://books.google.com/books?ei=XeN7TJODC8ON4gbdsfCPBg&ct=result&hl=el&id=2tuCAAAAIAAJ&dq=%22Melios%2C+General%22&q=%22General+Kostas%22#search_anchor. 
  40. ↑ Pettifer James, Poulton Hugh. The Southern Balkans. Minority Rights Group, 1994, ISBN 9781897693759: "some Greeks rose to high positions under the one party state, with an ethnic Greek, Spiro Koleka, from the minority southern village of Himara"
  41. ↑ Marko, Petro. Intervistë me vetveten (Retë dhe gurët) (memories). OMSCA, 2000. 99927-40-33-7

Sources

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