Poliçan, Gjirokastër

Poliçan
Πολύτσανη
Village
Poliçan
Coordinates: 40°7′53″N 20°21′2″E / 40.13139°N 20.35056°E / 40.13139; 20.35056Coordinates: 40°7′53″N 20°21′2″E / 40.13139°N 20.35056°E / 40.13139; 20.35056
Country Albania Albania
County Gjirokastër
Municipality Dropull
Administrative Unit Pogon
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
 • Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)

Poliçan (Greek: Πολύτσανη, Polytsani) is a village in Gjirokastër County, southern Albania.[1] At the 2015 local government reform it became part of the municipality Dropull.[2] It is within the wider Pogoni region that stretches in both Greece and Albania.[3] Poliçan was the municipal center of the former Pogon municipality in Albania. It is nicknamed "the Bride of the Pogoni region".[4]

History

Antiquity and Byzantine period

In classical antiquity the region was inhabited by the Chaonians,[5] one of the three major Greek tribes that inhabited ancient Epirus.[6] Polican was identified with the Chaonian settlement Politeiani (Greek: Πολιτειανή) also known as Polyani (Greek: Πολυανή). The name appears to be borrowed from the nearby mountain Polyainos.[5] Ancient coins depicting Alexander the Great have been unearthed in Poliçan.[7]

The ancient name has changed to the present form (Polyts(i)ani) during the Slavic invasion (7th-8th century).[5] In the late Byzantine period (11th-15th century) two Christian Orthodox monasteries were erected next to Polican.[5] After the Fall of Constantinople in the Fourth Crusade (1204), Polican became part of the Greek Despotate of Epirus and refuge for various Byzantine noble families.[8]

Ottoman period

At the period of Ottoman occupation, that started in mid-15th century, Polican enjoyed a privileged semi-autonomous status which led to economic and cultural flourishing.[8] The settlement was included in the Koinon of Zagori, although geographically it was not part of the Zagori region, but belonged to the Pogoni villages.[3]

Religious festival next to the church of Saint Nicholas in Polican, 1931

In the early 16th century two significant church buildings were erected in the town: Saint Athanasius (1513) and Saint Demetrius (1526). Both of them display unique features of early post-Byzantine art.[9] A Greek school was founded in 1672 by the local Orthodox missionary Sophianos next to the church of Saint Athanasius.[10] The school attracted also students from the nearby regions next to Gjirokastër (Zagori and Riza).[11]

A second school started operating in 1750, sponsored by a local businessman and benefactor.[10] Greek education was expanded with the foundation of two secondary level schools in 1866, in addition to a boys' and a girls' school in 1866 and 1874 respectively.[12] The local educational institutions became renowned to such a degree that their graduates were eligible for admission to any Greek college in the Ottoman capital Constantinople (Istanbul) without qualifying examinations.[13] The schools of Polican were financed by the local community and especially by local businessmen and benefactors as well as by the town's diaspora.[14]

20th century

Polican and the rest of the settlements in the Pogon municipality became part of Albania in the 1920s.[15] In 1940, when Axis Italy launched a failed invasion against Greece from Albanian territory during World War II, the town came under the control of the II Army Corps of the Greek forces.[16]

The Greek communities that reside in Pogon have a recognized minority status by the Albanian state.[17] A Greek elementary school is currently operating in Polican.[18]

Demographics

In 1913 the population of Polican was 1,650 (Greek census).[19] It reached ca. 2,500 inhabitants in the 1960s,[20] but it decreased to 559 in 1989.[21]

Geography and culture

Polican is located on the slopes of Mount Nemërçkë, 13 km (8 mi) from the Greek-Albanian border.[4][22] It is the northernmost settlement of the Pogoni region, which is divided between Greece (40 villages) and Albania (7 villages).[3][23][24] In Polican, along with the rest of the Pogoni region, polyphonic singing is part of the local musical tradition.[23]

Notable people

References

  1. ↑ "Location of Derviçan". Retrieved 3 September 2010.
  2. ↑ Law nr. 115/2014
  3. 1 2 3 Giakoumis, 2009, p. 15
  4. 1 2 Καλανταρίδου, Σοφία. "Αποστολή αλληλεγγύης στην Πολύτσανη Πωγωνίου". enet.gr (in Greek). Eleftherotypia. Retrieved 3 February 2015.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Giakoumis, 2009, p. 12
  6. ↑ Boardman, John; Hammond, Nicholas Geoffrey Lemprière (1982). The Cambridge Ancient History - The Expansion of the Greek World, Eighth to Sixth Centuries B.C., Part 3: Volume 3 (Second ed.). Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press. pp. 430, 434. ISBN 0-521-23447-6.
  7. ↑ Hammond, 1967, p. 722
  8. 1 2 Giakoumis, 2009, p. 141
  9. ↑ Giakoumis, 2009, p. 139
  10. 1 2 Koltsida, 2008, p. 131
  11. ↑ Koltsida, 2008, p. 197
  12. ↑ Koltsida, 2008, p. 229
  13. ↑ Koltsida, 2008, p. 235
  14. ↑ Koltsida, 2008, pp. 281–285
  15. ↑ (Eds.), Andreas Hemming ... (2010). Albania : family, society and culture in the 20th century. Münster [u.a.]: LIT. p. 103. ISBN 9783643501448.
  16. ↑ Carr, John C. (2013). The defence and fall of Greece 1940-1941. pp. 82–83. ISBN 9781781591819.
  17. ↑ Tziovas, 2003, p. 196
  18. ↑ "Second Report Submitted by Albania Pursuant to Article 25, Paragraph 2 of the Framework onvention for the Protection of National Minorities" (PDF). Council of Europe. p. 62. Retrieved 7 February 2015.
  19. ↑ Koltsida, 2008, p. 100
  20. ↑ Hammond, 1967, p. 29
  21. ↑ 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 Greek). Εκδόσεις Σιδέρης. p. 57. Retrieved 2 February 2015.
  22. ↑ Hammond, 1967, p. 215
  23. 1 2 Tziovas, 2003, p. 196
  24. ↑ Hammond, 1967, p. 213

Sources

Traditional songs

Website

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