Delvinë Δέλβινο | |
|---|---|
 | |
 Emblem | |
.svg)  Delvinë | |
| Coordinates:39°57′N20°6′E / 39.950°N 20.100°E /39.950; 20.100 | |
| Country |  Albania |
| County | Vlorë |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Besmir Veli (PS) |
| Area | |
| • Municipality | 183.01 km2 (70.66 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 207 m (679 ft) |
| Population (2023) | |
| • Municipality | 6,166 |
| • Municipality density | 33.69/km2 (87.26/sq mi) |
| • Administrative unit | 4,952 |
| Time zone | UTC+1 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+2 (CEST) |
| Postal Code | 9704 |
| Area Code | (0)815 |
| Website | www |
Delvinë (Albanian:Delvinë orDelvina,Greek:Δέλβινο,romanized: Delvino) is a town and a municipality inVlorë County, southernAlbania, 16 kilometres (10 miles) northeast ofSarandë. It was formed in the 2015 local government reform by the merger of the former municipalities Delvinë andVergo, which became municipal units. The seat of the municipality is the town Delvinë.[1] The population of the municipal unit Delvinë at the 2023 census was 4,952 and of the municipality was 6,166.[2]
The town is built on a mountain slope. It has a mosque, a Catholic church, a Protestant church, and an Orthodox church. Nearby are the remainders of a mediaeval castle. To the southwest of the city is the site of ancientPhoenice, which was declared an Archaeological Park in 2005.[3]
The town's population consists of a majority of Albanians and a substantialGreek minority. Other communities includeBalkan Egyptians and until WWII, Jews. There is little local employment apart from that provided by the state, and Delvinë benefits little from the tourist boom in Sarandë.
The Albanian toponymDelvinë (Albaniandefinite form:Delvina) is connected to the Albaniandele,delmë, meaning 'sheep'.[4] Linguist Xhelal Ylli translatesDelvinë as 'white sheep'.[5] In Greek it is known asΔέλβινο,Delvino and in Turkish asDelvine.
In antiquity, the region was inhabited by theAncient Greek tribe of theChaonians. In theMiddle Ages, Delvinë was part of theDespotate of Epirus. After defeat of theSlavic tribes in 616, when they unsuccessfully besiegedThessaloniki, one of the tribes (Vajunites) migrated toEpirus.
In the 14th century, Delvinë was ruled by Pietro Bua Shpata lord ofAngelokastron and Delvinë according toKarl Hopf.[6][page needed][need quotation to verify][7][page needed][need quotation to verify] Pietro was the father ofGjin Bua Shpata andSkurra Bua Shpata of theShpata family, and they were likely born within the regions of Delvinë down to Angelokastron. Pietro is the first noble of the Shpata family mentioned in history and he may have been from the region he controlled including Delvinë but nothing conclusive can be said.[citation needed]
The separateSanjak of Delvina was established in 1537[8] byAyas Mehmed Pasha, the Albanian-born vizier ofSuleiman the Magnificent who pacified the area, due to the need to secure Ottoman control in the region towards potentialVenetian infiltration from nearbyButrint and to control the rebellious zone ofHimara.[9][10] The county town was Delvinë, yet during the 18th century the local Pasha moved the seat of the sanjak from Delvinë toGjirokastër. The official name did not change, however, as it was also referred to as theSanjak of Gjirokastër.[11]
In anecclesiastical entry of 1635, theCodex of the church of Delvinë written in Greek noted that theMuslim population had increased and dwelt in quarters inhabited byOrthodox Christians, had confiscated their churches and converted them intomosques, thereby forcing the non-Islamized Christians to move to other quarters of the town.[12] TheTurkish travellerEvliya Çelebi visited Delvinë around 1670 and gave information about the city in his travel book. He reported that in the Middle Ages Delvinë was in the hands of theSpanish and later the Venetians.[13] In his own time, Ajaz Mehmet Pasha – a native Albanian – governed theSanjak-bey of Delvinë.[14] The sanjak covered 24zeamets and 155timars.[14] There was a Turkish garrison, whose command on the castle was from Delvinë.[14] According to the description of Çelebi, the small fortress had a good cistern, an ammunition depot and a small mosque.[14] In the city there were about 100 brick-built houses.[15] These stood relatively far apart and nearly every house had a tower.[15] He noted that a town wall was missing.[15] There were several mosques, threemedreses and about 80 stores, as well as an open marketplace.[16] Çelebi also observed that during this time, all the inhabitants of Delvinë spoke the Albanian language while having no knowledge of the Greek language.[17]
In an ecclesiastical entry of 1730, theCodex of the church of Delvinë noted that some of the Christian Greek clergy had linguistic difficulties in administrating their congregations, as there were Christian villagers living within the region of Delvinë who were Albanian-speaking.[18] The local diaspora in Venice as part of the Venetian Greek community's Brotherhood of Saint Nicholas financially supported various initiatives for the expansion of Greek education in the 18th century.[19] Thus, in two instances in 1713 and 1749, Spyros Stratis and Spyridon Rizos respectively, notable members of the local diaspora in Venice, financially supported the expansion of the local Greek education system, as well as donating vast sums of money to local Orthodox monasteries and churches.[19][20][21]In the 18th century control over Delvina was disputed between the Koka and Delvina clans, until the town was seized byAli Pashë Tepelena in 1784. Delvinë was taken over by Albanian rebels in 1833 causing the Ottoman government to comply to the rebel requests.[22][10]
Some Ottoman inscriptions have been preserved in Delvina. They are written mainly on tombstones, and some graffiti also appear in the porch of the Gjin Aleksi Mosque. They consist of simple verses and invocations made by the pilgrims who visited this important centre. Delvina hosted dervishes of theHalveti order, which was spread towards Albania byHelvacı Yakub Efendi around 1530. In the Xhermahalle section of Delvina aBektashi tekke can be found. Monuments like the citadel, the mosque, the Halveti tekke, the Bektashi tekke, and thehamam, indicate Delvina's great importance in the Ottoman period.[23]
In 1847, when anAlbanian revolt broke out, 500 revolutionaries led byZenel Gjoleka took over Delvinë.In 1878 aGreek revolt broke out, with a unit of 700 revolutionaries, mostly Epirotes from theIonian Islands, taking control ofSarandë and occupied Delvinë. However, it was suppressed by the Ottoman troops, who burned 20 villages of the region.[24] In September 1912, the Greek Band ofIoannis Poutetsis was defeated by Albanian groups and a Turkish detachment in the vicinity of Delvinë, and Poutetsis was killed.[25]
In the early 20th century açetë (armed band) consisting of 200 activists of theAlbanian National Awakening was formed in Delvinë.[26] During theBalkan Wars and the subsequent Ottoman defeat, the Greek Army entered the city on 3 March 1913.[27] In June 1914 the town hosted theconstituent assembly of the representatives ofNorthern Epirus that discussed and finally approved theProtocol of Corfu, on 26 July 1914.[28] Delvinë then became part of the short-livedAutonomous Republic of Northern Epirus.[29] Soon after theBalkan Wars and during theWorld War I much of Delvinë was burned out by Greek brigands.[23] After World War I, Greek guerrillas led byGeorgios Christakis-Zografos harassed the Albanian inhabitants and destroyed a large number of Ottoman monuments.[10] InWorld War II, in the initial stage of theGreco-Italian War (1940–1941) the Greek forces of the3rd division marched Delvinë and took Sarandë insouthern Albania.[30]
After the fall of the Communist system in 1991, the town declined in both population and economic importance.[10]
In the early 19th century during the rule ofAli Pasha, British diplomatWilliam Martin Leake arrived in town on 24 December 1804. According to him, the town had an Albanian Muslim majority who had eight or ten small mosques. The Greeks occupied the eastern suburbs called Láka and consisted of about thirty families, ten of whom had the surname Kanáki.[31]
The town has a majority population ofAlbanians alongside communities ofGreeks andBalkan Egyptians.[32][33] According to theHuman Rights Watch, Greeks constituted 50% of the town's population in 1989 (~4000 individuals), but this fell to 25% (500) in 1999.[34] According to fieldwork by Kallivretakis (1995), the town had an Albanian majority and populations of Albanians (Muslims and Christians) and Greeks.[32] The villages Rusan, Vllahat, Bamatata, Kopaçezë, Varfaj were inhabited by Albanians. Greeks lived in two villages of the municipality, Lefterhor and Kakodhik, while Vlachs in one village Vana.[32]
The population of the city alone in the 2011 census was 5,754 and the total registered population of the same year was 14,218. With the administrative addition ofVergo in the municipal reform in 2015, the total resident population of Delvinë municipality was 7,598 and the total registered population was 18,074.[35][36][37] Apart from Albanians, according to a 2014 report by the Albanian government, there were 2,300 Greeks in the number of total registered citizens in the municipality of Delvinë.[38]
According to the 2011 census, Albanians constituted approximately 66% of the total population, Greeks constituted approximately 6% of the total population, Roma 0,25%, with the remainder not being registered.[39] In the 2011 census, Albanian was recorded as the mother tongue of ~95% of the population, ~4% Greek, 0.02% Macedonian[40]During the procedure organisations of the Greek minority and Albanian nationalist parties called for a boycott.[41] Indeed the census results were affected by boycott by a significant number of the Greek community.[39] According to the Advisory Committee on theFramework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities, the 2011 census is unreliable, inaccurate, and incompatible with established standards for the protection of national minorities.[42][43] As of 2014, there are 134 students in the municipality of Delvinë who are enrolled in Greek-language education.[38]
Until the Second World War, a small Jewish community existed in Delvinë. It consisted of Jews from Spain who had come to Delvinë when under Ottoman rule and had close connections to the large Jewish community inIoannina. After the war, nearly all the Jews emigrated to Israel.
The first school in Delvina, a Greek-language school, was founded in 1537, when the town was still underVenetian control, and was maintained by bequests from wealthy local families.[44] Moreover, in 1875 a Greek female school was founded.[45]
A dalmata/delmata illír törzs, Dalmatia/Delmatia terület, Delminium/Dalmion illír város neve, továbbá a mai Delvinë és Delvinaqi földrajzi tájegység neve az albán dele (többese delme) 'juh', delmer 'juhpásztor' szavakhoz kapcsolódik. Strabon Delmion illír város nevéhez ezt az éretelmezést fűzi „...πεδιον μελωβοτον...", azaz „juhokat tápláló síkság".
Delvinë (,weißes Schaf')
Afterwards, when the Sanjak of Delvina has been created (about the middle of XVI century),
In order to combat Butrint, the last Venetian stronghold on Epirote soil, and to consolidate their control over the rebellious zone of Himarre, the Ottomans founded a separate sancak of Delvine
{{cite journal}}:Cite journal requires|journal= (help)In diesem Zusammenhang ware als nur ein Beispiel die "Griechische Bruderschaft St. Nikolaus... Delvino und Joannina finanziert... Der Kaufmann Spyridon Rizos... 200 Dukaten zur Verfugung.
S. Rizos, from Delvino in Epirus (1749)... left money to 15 monasteries and churches in and around the place of his birth
Εκτός ἀπό τό ̓Αργυρόκαστρο, ἡ Αὐτόνομη Βόρεια Ηπειρος περιλάμβανε τίς πόλεις Χειμάρρα, Δέλβινο, ̔Αγίους Σαράντα καί Πρεμετή.
On 5 December the Greek 3rd Division marched Delvina and took Sarande, Albania's southermoust port, a stone-built town on a bushy slope overlooking the north coast of Corfu.
Ακόμη και εκεί που η ύπαιθρος είναι ελληνική ή ελληνίζουσα, οι πόλεις διαθέτουν αλβανική πλειοψηφία. Αυτό φαίνεται καθαρά στις περιπτώσεις Αργυροκάστρου και Δελβίνου, όπου οι Νομαρχίες πέρασαν στα χέρια της μειονότητας, όχι όμως και οι Δήμοι των αντιστοίχων πόλεων. (p.43)
{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location (link)Ethnic Greek minority groups had encouraged their members to boycott the census, affecting measurements of the Greek ethnic minority and membership in the Greek Orthodox Church.
However, in the last minute, the Albanian authorities made amendments that introduced fines for incorrect responses to the questionnaire. According to these changes, a response not corresponding with the data contained in the civil registry would be considered as incorrect. Namely, according to article 20 of the Census law, anyone who would declare anything other than what was written in the civil registry might be risking a fine of up to 1,000 USD. OMONIA and Greek opposition parties heavily criticised such amendments and again called to boycott the census. ... Although the census held in 2011 has for the first time since the fall of the communism contained questions on ethnic origin, it clearly failed to yield reliable data about the exact number of minorities in the country. On the one hand, the figures produced by the census were questioned by representatives of almost all minorities. On the other hand, the fact that some 14 percent of the population did not answer the question on ethnic origin is certainly quite troublesome. ... The Advisory Committee on the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities also considered the 2011 census in Albania as unreliable, inaccurate, and incompatible with established standards for the protection of national minorities.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of July 2025 (link)The municipalities of Albania are the country's administrative divisions consisting of local administrative units and their inclusive villages. | ||
| Berat County |  | |
| Dibër County | ||
| Durrës County | ||
| Elbasan County | ||
| Fier County | ||
| Gjirokastër County | ||
| Korçë County | ||
| Kukës County | ||
| Lezhë County | ||
| Shkodër County | ||
| Tiranë County | ||
| Vlorë County | ||
Subdivisions ofVlorë County | ||
|---|---|---|
County seat:Vlorë | ||
| Municipality ofDelvinë |  | |
| Municipality ofFiniq | ||
| Municipality ofHimarë | ||
| Municipality ofKonispol | ||
| Municipality ofSarandë | ||
| Municipality ofSelenicë | ||
| Municipality ofVlorë | ||
Subdivisions ofDelvinë municipality | ||
|---|---|---|
Municipal seat:Delvinë | ||
| Administrative unit ofDelvinë |  | |
| Administrative unit ofVergo |
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| International | |
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| National | |
| Other | |
