Top to bottom, left to right: View over Korçë and theResurrection Cathedral, House Çeva,Old Bazaar by night, Traditional architecture around the Old Bazaar and House Lubonja
Korçë (pronounced[ˈkɔɾtʃə];Albaniandefinite form:Korça) is theeighth most populous city ofAlbania and the seat ofKorçë County and Korçë Municipality. The total population of the city is 51,152 and 75,994 of Korçë municipality (2011 census),[3] in a total area of 806 km2 (311 sq mi).[4] It stands on a plateau some 850 m (2,789 ft)above sea level, surrounded by the Morava Mountains.
The area of theOld Bazaar, includingMirahori Mosque, is considered as the urban core of the city. Founded by the localOttomanAlbanian noblemanIlias Bey Mirahori, the urban area of Korçë dates back to the late 15th century and the beginning of the 16th century, however its actual physiognomy was realized in the 19th century, during a period that corresponds with the rapid growth and development of the city. The Old Bazaar has played a dominant role in Albania's market history.[5] Korçë is the largest city of eastern Albania and an important cultural and industrial centre.[6]
Korçë is named differently in other languages:Aromanian:Curceaua,Curceauã,[7]Curceau orCurciau;[8]Bulgarian,Macedonian andSerbian: Горица,Goritsa;Greek:Κορυτσά,Korytsa;Italian:Coriza;Romanian:Corcea orCorița;[9]Turkish:Görice. The current name is ofSlavic origin.[10] The word "gorica" means "hill"[11] inSouth Slavic languages, and is a very common toponym in Albania and Slavic countries (e.g.Podgorica in Montenegro,Gorizia,Dolna Gorica in thePustec municipality, and so on). It is diminutive of the Slavic toponym "gora", meaning mountain, which is also found in placenames throughout Slavic countries as well as non-Slavic countries like Albania, Greece and Italy.
Mirahori Mosque, Korçë. Built between 1484 and 1495 byIljaz Bey Mirahor, it is Albania's second oldest mosque and one of the most important examples of Islamic architecture of the country.[12][6]
Korçë's foundation is closely related with the actions ofIlias Bey Mirahori, a MuslimAlbanian convert born in the village ofPanarit in the Korçë area, who acquired large properties in the location of present-day Korçë.[13] Ilias Bey was the 'Master of the Stables' of SultanBayezid II, and the first equerry and conqueror ofPsamathia in the Ottomancapture of Constantinople.[6][14] In 1484 Ilias Bey received, as a reward from the Sultan, seven villages located in the Korçë area: Leshnjë, Vithkuq, Peshkëpi,Boboshticë,Panarit, Treska, and Trebicka. This accord was finalized gradually through fourfirmans. In the first firmanLeshnjë andVithkuq were accorded to Ilias Bey asmülk (land tenure). However he met difficulties while collecting the incomes and after twelve years these villages turned into their earlier status oftimars, being substituted through a second firman in the year 1497 by the localityPiskopiye, which included two sections. In the third firman (1497) the boundaries of Piskopiye were defined, establishing its demarcation betweenMborje,Barç andBulgarec, a site area corresponding to the territory of today's Korçë city.[14][6][15] As a product of this process, the town of Korçë dates from the end of the 15th century.
The nameGorica corresponded to an older fortified settlement, and was later attached to Piskopiye, which was a separate community, and as suggested by its name, a bishop's residence. Ilias Bey founded his works of charity in Piskopiye, building amosque, animaret and a muallim-hane and ahammam.[6][16] Built between 1484 and 1495, themosque, named after him, represents one of the most important examples of Islamic architecture ofAlbania and its second oldest mosque after theSultan's Mosque ofBerat.[12][6] The nameEpiskopi inGreek signifies a sacred place for the Orthodox faith, however, it is not certain if it was a coincidence or an intended strategy to build a mosque on the site of an older Orthodox church or monastery.[16] With the establishment of the religious, educational and charitable institutions in the area, Ilias Bey must have planned to make the village a local Islamic centre and to raise it to the rank ofkasaba ("town"), through the registration of its inhabitants as citizens instead of farmers.[6] Being subjected to the Kaza of Korça, the villages of Episkopi, Boboshtica, Leshnjë and Vithkuq were used in 1505 as sources of income on behalf of the five institutions of Ilias Bey'svakfa.[17] The vakfa he founded also served the purpose of organizing the settlement of Muslim inhabitants in an area that was recently abandoned by the original Christian inhabitants.[16]
The new town must have been dominated initially by the old castle ofMborje. Throughout the 15th century and the beginning of the 16th century the castle was maintained by the Ottomans. The Tapu Defter of 1519 records acemaat of Christianmüsellems in the castle. According to this document the village of Mborje (Emboryo), which depended on Korçë (Görice), numbered 88 households of Christians and 18 households of Muslims.[6]
Korça was divided into two great neighborhoods: Varosh and Kasaba. In the 16th century Muslims constituted the 21% of the population of the town and inhabited Kasaba, which was subdivided into the smaller neighborhoods of Çarshi, Ratak, Qoshk and Dere, including the institutions established by Ilias Bey. The Christian population inhabited Varosh, which was subdivided in Varosh i Sipërm (Upper Varosh) and Varosh i Poshtëm (Lower Varosh). Varosh i Sipërm was further subdivided into the smaller neighborhoods of Mano, Barç, Jeni-Mahallë, Qiro, Penço, Manço, Manto and Kala, while Varosh i Poshtëm consisted only of Katavarosh, which was known also as "Lagja e Shën Mërisë", named after the Church that was located there.[18]
When the nearby town ofİskopol (Moscopole or Moschopolis or Voskopojë) was destroyed byAli Pasha's men in 1789, some of its commerce shifted to Görice (Korçë) andArnavud Belgrad (Berat).[20] Korçë grew as part of its population came from nearby Moscopole.[21] Greek sources (Liakos andAravandinos) have noted of the Korçë Aromanian populations' origins that in addition to many being from Moscopole, others settled during a time of calm and were from the village of Shalës, Kolonjë and established the market district of Korçë known as Varosh.[22] Aromanians from the Arvanitovlach subgroup that in the early 19th century arrived to the Korçë area played a significant role in establishing the Korçë Christian urban class.[22] InPsalidas' workGeography from 1830 noted that in the district of Varosh in Korçë, 100 Aromanian families lived there.[22]
According to French diplomatFrançois Pouqueville there were 1,300 families living in the city in 1805 with two thirds of them being Christian.[23] Korçë went from having a population of 8,200 (1875) to 18,000 (1905) and of those 14,000 adhered to Orthodox Christianity.[21] Of those considered asGreek in Korçë, this was because they adhered to Orthodox Christianity, butMichael Palairet argues that most were probably Aromanians (Vlachs).[21] Sources of the early 20th century report that the population was primarily ethnic Albanian.[24] Greek was the language of the elite and the majority of theAromanian population engaged in commerce, crafts and international trade becoming one of the wealthiest communities in Epirus and Macedonia.[21] Albanians of Korçë engaged mostly in stockbreeding, agriculture and were poor.[21] The inhabitants of the city spoke both Albanian and Greek.[23]
Korçë's cultural isolation was reduced due to Greek schools, the first one being founded in the city at 1724.[25][26] Subsequently, Muslim Albanian revolutionary intellectuals from the city emerged in the 1840s that wanted to preserve a Muslim Albania within a reformed Ottoman state.[26] Due to increasing Hellenisation by the 1870s, those sentiments became replaced with the concept of an Albanian nation based on linguistic and cultural factors through struggle against a collapsing Ottoman Empire.[26] During the late Ottoman era, Orthodox Albanians involved in theAlbanian National Awakening came mainly from Korçë and its surrounding areas.[27] On the other hand, the city council of Korçë, known as demogerontia (Greek:Δημογεροντία), and the metropolitan bishop of the city who identified as Greeks sent a secret memorandum to the foreign office department of Greece suggesting various ways to tackle activities by Albanian nationalists.[28] In 1885,Jovan Cico Kosturi became the founder of a committee called the Albanian Cultural Society, along with co-foundersThimi Marko andOrhan Pojani, but the formation of the organization was suppressed by both the Ottoman and Orthodox Church authorities, so it went underground and carried on its activities as the Secret Committee of Korça (Albanian:Komiteti i Fshehtë i Korçës),[29] and two years later, in March 1887, with the help of the Frashëri brothers, the Secret Committee set up the first Albanian school.[30]
In the late Ottoman period, inhabitants from Korçë and surrounding areas emigrated abroad for economic opportunities, often by the Orthodox community who mainly as qualified craftsmen went to Romania, Greece and Bulgaria while Muslims went to Istanbul performing mainly menial labour work.[31] Late nineteenth century Albanian migration to theUnited States consisted mainly of Orthodox Albanians from Korçë and surrounding areas who went to work there, save money and intending to eventually return home.[32]
Students in front of the first officially recognized Albanian school in modern Albania, in 1899The building of former Albanian school that now serves as a museum
At beginning of the 18th century the inhabitants of Korçë attended the schools of nearbyMoscopole.[25] The first school, aGreek language school, in the city was established in 1724 with the support of residents of nearbyVithkuq.[25][33] This school was destroyed during theGreek War of Independence but it reopened in 1830. In 1857 a Greek school for girls was operating in the city.[34] During the 19th century various local benefactors such asIoannis Pangas andAnastas Avramidhi-Lakçe donated money for the promotion of Greek education and culture in Korçë, such as theBangas Gymnasium.[35][36] Greek education was also financed by members of the diaspora in Egypt.[25] Similarly, kindergartens, boarding and urban schools, were also operating in the city during this period.[25] Under these developments, a special community fund, named theLasso fund, was established in 1850 by the local Orthodox bishop Neophytos,[37] in order to support Greek cultural activity in Korçë.[38] At the eve of theBalkan Wars (1912) the total number of students attending Greek education in the city numbered 2,115.[39]
Around 1850,Naum Veqilharxhi created an Albanian alphabet in which a few small books were published and thescript briefly flourished in Korçë.[21] At the end of the 19th century local Albanians expressed a growing need to be educated in their native language.[40] The Albanian intellectual diaspora from Istanbul and Bucharest initially tried to avoid antagonism towards the notables of Korçë, who were in favor of Greek culture. Thus they suggested the introduction of Albanian language in the existing Greek Orthodox schools, a proposal which was discussed with the local bishop and the city council, thedemogeronteia, and finally rejected by theEcumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople.[41] In the late 1870s the Albanian Committee of Patriots devised a Latin-based Albanian script which was also adopted by British and U.S. Protestant missionaries[21]
Students and teachers of the Greek Urban School, 1897 (left) and Bangas Gymnasium, early 20th century of the several institutions sponsored by the communityLasso fund (right)
TheCentral Committee for Defending Albanian Rights founded in the late 1870s promoting Albanian cultural development set up an Albanian secondary school for boys.[21] The founding in 1884 of the boy's secondary school is regarded as the first Albanian school in Korçë[21] and established in 1887 by theDrita (English:the Light) organization and funded by notable local individuals. Its first director wasPandeli Sotiri.[41][42]Naim Frashëri, the national poet of Albania played a great role in the opening of the school.[43] As a high-ranking statesman in the ministry of education of the Ottoman Empire he managed to get official permission for the school.[43] The Ottoman authorities gave permission only for Christian children to be educated in Albanian, but the Albanians did not follow this restriction and allowed also Muslim children to attend.[43] It survived until 1902 under the teachers Leonidis and Naum Naça who were arrested and declared as traitors by Ottoman authorities at the request of Greek clergy with the school being closed down, vandalised and wrecked.[21] Albanian efforts for an Albanian school are represented in Greek sources as a failure due to weak demand and limited funding, but Palairet notes that Greek interference undermined the school.[21][43] In the late 1880sGjerasim Qiriazi began his Protestant mission in the city. He and fellow members of theQiriazi family established Albanian speaking institutions in Korçë, with his sisterSevasti Qiriazi founding the first Albanian girls school in 1891.[31] It was started byGjerasim Qiriazi and later run by his sisters, Sevasti andParashqevi Qiriazi, together with Polikseni Luarasi (Dhespoti). Later collaborators were the Rev. & Mrs. Grigor Cilka and Rev & Mrs. Phineas Kennedy of the Congregational Mission Board of Boston. Both schools were closed by the Ottoman authorities during 1902–1904.[44]
When the city was under French administration in 1916 (theRepublic of Korçë), Greek schools were closed and 200 Albanian schools were opened.[45] In the city of Korçë itself, four primary schools opened, and one secondary school opened and functioned quite successfully.[45] A plebiscite was held and voters indicated that they wanted the Albanian schools to stay open.[45] However, a few months later Greek schools were reopened as a reward and result of Greece's adherence to theEntente alliance along with France.[46] Particularly relevant was the opening in 1917 of theAlbanian National Lyceum.
Korçë's proximity to Greece, which claimed the entire Orthodox population as Greek, led to its being fiercely contested in theBalkan Wars of 1912–1913. Greek forcescaptured Korçë from the Ottomans on 6 December 1912 and afterwards proceeded to imprison the Albanian nationalists of the town.[51]
Its incorporation into Albania in 1913 was disputed by Greece, who claimed it as part of the region calledNorthern Epirus, and resulted in a rebellion by the Greek population residing in the region of Korçë, who asked the intervention of the Greek army.[52] This rebellion was initially suppressed by the Dutch commanders of the Albanian gendarmerie, that consisted of 100 Albanians led by the Orthodox Albanian nationalistThemistokli Gërmenji, and as a result the local Greek-Orthodox bishop Germanos and other members of the town council were arrested and expelled by the Dutch.[53][54]
Under the terms of theProtocol of Corfu (May 1914), the city became part of theAutonomous Republic of Northern Epirus inside the borders of theprincipality of Albania,[55] but on 10 July 1914 the Greek Northern Epirote forces took over the city.[56] Under Greek occupation, for the purpose of convincing theCongress of London of Greek expansionist claims, the Greek authorities took a census, which counted 15,453 inhabitants in the city, of which 11,453 were designated as "Greeks" and the rest 4,000 as "Albanians", however, the census did not inquire about ethnicity, but rather instead explicitly had all Christians renamed "Greeks" and all Muslims changed to "Albanians", by religious criteria alone.[57]
At the time, even ethnographers sympathetic to the Greek claims considered the city Albanian. Since the passes over thePindus mountain range were much difficult, the Greeks wished to retain this city after the 1914 occupation of parts of southern Albania because only Korçë granted the successful maintenance of communications by land between the territories ofEpirus andMacedonia that were acquired by Greece in 1913.[58][59]
In October 1914 the city came again under Greek administration. During the period of theNational Schism (1916) in Greece, a local revolt broke out, and with military and local support Korçë came under the control ofEleftherios Venizelos'Movement of National Defence, overthrowing the royalist forces.[60] However, due to developments in theMacedonian Front ofWorld War I the city came soon under French control (1916–1920).
The French initially awarded control of Korçë and the surrounding area to Greek allies, but Albaniançeta guerilla bands led by Themistokli Gërmenji andSali Butka fought against Venizelist forces for Albanian self-administration.[61] In response to the French administration supporting the Greek demands ofEleftherios Venizelos for the partition of southern Albania, Sali Butka - accompanied by Themistokli Gërmenji's small armed band - led 1,500 men towards Korçë and surrounded the city. Sali Butka's Albanian band burnedMoscopole in response to the pro-Greek behaviour of the French administration, and threatened that Korçë would share the same fate. Meanwhile, the Venizelos Movement of National Defence was unable to dispatch reinforcements to the region, and French GeneralMaurice Sarrail demanded the withdrawal of the local Greek garrison.[62][63]
While Gërmenji negotiated with the French in the city, Butka continued the encirclement; eventually, Butka and the Albanians sent their demands to the French, which ultimately culminated in the creation of theAutonomous Province of Korçë.[63] After coming to the conclusion that the local Albanians thoroughly disliked the Greek administration of the area,[45] on 8 December 1916, Sarrail cabled that French military policy should change to support the Albanian nationalist uprising; by converting the Albanian uprising to the Allied cause, Sarrail hoped to protect his left flank and enable it to join up with the Italians in Vlorë and discourage the Austrians from trying to advance through Albania.[64] Furthermore, a peaceful and stable allied Korçë under French influence would reduce the number of troops the French army needed to commit to hold the area.[64]
On the 10th of December 1916, fourteen Albanian delegates, including seven Muslims and seven Christians, proclaimed the Autonomous Albanian Republic of Korçë.[64] The French agreed to these demands and the fourteen representatives of Korçë and Colonel Descoins signed a protocol that proclaimed theAutonomous Albanian Republic of Korçë under the military protection of the French army and with Themistokli Gërmenji as president.[53][61][65] The French pursued policies which strengthened expressions of Albanian nationalism.[66] Greek schools were closed down, Greek clergy and pro-Greek notables expelled while allowing Albanian education and promoting Albanian self-government through the autonomous Korçë republic,[66] although Greek schools were reopened after a year and two months in February 1918.[64] Another factor that reinforced Albanian sentiments among the population was the return of 20–30,000 Orthodox Albanian emigrants mainly to Korçë and the surrounding region who had attained Albanian nationalist sentiments abroad.[67] The change in French policy to support the Albanians did create some tensions between France and Italy; the French assured the Italians that they did not have any territorial claims on either Korçë; General Sarrail's reports insisted that the local Albanians had proclaimed the republic, then asked for it to be put under French protection, and that Descoins had merely complied with the wishes of the local population.[64]
On 16 February 1918, Sarrail's successor officially abrogated the proclamation, and following the re-entry of Greece into the war, made concessions to Greek interests including the reopening of Greek schools, but the Albanians were assured that this did not threaten their independence.[64] The Autonomous Albanian Republic of Korçë remained a reality on the ground, continuing to rule its territory and fly its flag, while inter-religious cooperation was also maintained with both Muslims and Christians being grateful to the French for allowing them to continue their self-governance without much interference.[64]
The Autonomous Republic of Korçë was greatly important for the Albanian nationalist movement, as it demonstrated to the world a resurgence in power for Albanian nationalism in one of the areas where it had been the strongest before the war, and it also demonstrated the successful cooperation of Albanian Christians and Muslims in governance.[64] The government is considered to have been a successful experiment in Albanian self-administration, as the French allowed the entity to "act as if it were an independent state", minting its own coinage, introducing its own flag, and printing its own stamps. According to Stickney, the republic gave Albanians the opportunity for self-government under the light tutelage of the French, and they were able to build a state in the absence of the great power rivalry that had beset King Wilhelm's earlier government.[64] However, this French initiative of Albanian self-rule ended without success and the head of this Republic was shot on the accusations of being an Austrian spy.[68] It later became clear that the military tribunal had made a grave judicial error, its members having been led astray by Greek informers who wished Gërmenji removed since he was a powerful Albanian leader.[69] The severity of this decision seems to indicate that the French military authorities favored the movement of Eleftherios Venizelos and their Greek allies who entered the war alongside the Entente on 12 June 1917, and were against the Albanian national movement led by Gërmenji.[70]
In response to the French turning on the Albanians and the subsequent execution of Themistokli Gërmenji,Sali Butka gathered a force of 20,000 Albanians and surrounded Korçë yet again. He sent the French forces an ultimatum, and Korçë was once again handed over to the Albanians rather than the Greeks, as the French wanted to place Korçë under Greek administration.[63] TheConference of ambassadors, considering Albania's claims to the area, commissioned aLeague of Nations report consisting of three on the ground commissioners in December 1921.[71] One commissioner, Finnish professorJakob Sederholm noted in 1922 that Korçë's population was "entirely Albanian; the numbers of Greeks being insignificant"[71] and continued that "there are, however, amongst the population two parties, — one nationalist and the other Grecophile"[72] Sederholm also stated that the Orthodox inhabitants of Korçë abstained from the elections, and criticized the Albanian government for drawing electoral districts in such a way so as to practically disenfranchise the Christian inhabitants.[73] It ultimately remained part of Albania, as determined by theInternational Boundary Commission, which affirmed the country's 1913 borders. Although assurances were given in theParis Peace Conference by Albanian officials for the recognition of the Greek minority, Greek speech was prohibited in local education, religious life and in private within Korçë in the 1920s.[74][75] At November 1921 the Albanian authorities expelled the Greek Orthodox metropolitan bishop Jakob. This event triggered demonstrations by the Orthodox community of the city.[76] Immigration quotas during 1922-4 restricted former migrants returning to the United States and Korçë residents instead migrated to Australia toMoora,Western Australia andShepperton,Victoria working in farming and agriculture related employment.[32]
Italian forces occupied Korçë in 1939, along with the rest of the country. During theGreco-Italian War it became the main forward base of the Italian air force. Nevertheless, the citycame under the control of the advancing Greek forces, on 22 November 1940, during the first phase of the Greek counter-offensive.[77] Korçë remained under Greek control until theGerman invasion of Greece in April 1941. AfterItaly's withdrawal from the war in 1943, the Germans occupied the town until 24 October 1944.
During the occupation, the city became a major centre of Communist-led resistance to theAxis occupation of Albania. The establishment of theAlbanian Party of Labour—theCommunist Party—was formally proclaimed in Korçë in 1941. Albanian rule was restored in 1944 following the withdrawal of German forces.[citation needed]
Right after World War II many people fled toBoston, United States joining a community of theAlbanian-Americans, who had previously emigrated there.[78]
After 1990 Korçë was one of the six cities where theNew Democratic Party won all the constituencies. Popular revolts in February 1991 ended with the tearing down of Hoxha's statue.
After the fall of communism, the city fell into disregard in many aspects. However following the 2000s, the city experienced a makeover as main streets and alleys started to be reconstructed, locals began to renovate their historic villas, a calendar of events was introduced, building façades painted, and city parks reinvigorated. TheEuropean Union is financing the renovation of the Korça Old Bazaar while the city centre was redesigned, and a watch tower constructed.
As of theKöppen climate classification, Korçë falls under the periphery of thewarm-summer Mediterranean climate (Csb, bordering onDsb) zone with an average annual temperature of 10.4 °C (50.7 °F).[81] The warmest month of Korçë is August with an average temperature of 21.3 °C (70.3 °F).[81] By contrast, the coldest month is January with an average temperature of −0.8 °C (30.6 °F).[81] Korçë receives around 766.7 mm (30.19 in) annual precipitation with summer minimum and winter maximum.[81] Temperatures generally remain cooler than western Albania, due to the middle altitude of theplain in which it is situated, but it receives about 2800 hours of solar radiation per year.[81]
Korçë is amunicipality governed by amayor–council government system with the mayor of Korçë and the members of the Korçë Municipal Council authorized for the administration of Korçë Municipality.[83] Korçë is home to two foreign consulates; Greek and Romanian.[84]
During theStalinist rule ofEnver Hoxha, Korçë gained a substantial industrial capacity in addition to its historic role as a commercial and agricultural centre. Local industries include the manufacture of knitwear, rugs, textiles, flour-milling, brewing, and sugar-refining. The city is home to the nationally famousBirra Korça.
According to official reports the city enjoys one of the lowest unemployment rates in the country. The majority of foreign investment comes from Greek, as well as joint Albanian-Greek enterprises.[25][86]
The city is home toFan Noli University, founded in 1971, which offers several degrees in the humanities, sciences and business. The university includes a school in Agriculture, Teaching, Business, Nursing, and Tourism.
With the prohibition of Greek education in the city, at c. 1922, there was a constant demand for the reopening a Greek school.[87] After the collapse of the Socialist Republic, part of the local communities expressed a growing need to revive their cultural past, in particular with the reopening of Greek language institutions.[25] In April 2005 the first bilingual Greek-Albanian school opened in Korçë after 60 years of prohibition of Greek education.[88] In addition, a total of 17 Greek language tutoring centres function in the city.[25] Students of the local Greek minority attend either private Greek institutions or Albanian public schools.[89]
Korçë is the 7th populous city inAlbania and the largest city in theKorçë County. In 2007, the population of the city was about 86,176 inhabitants. According to theInstitute of Statistics (INSTAT), the city of Korçë include 51,683 (25,478 male; 26,205 female) people as of the 2011 Census.[92] The city of Korçë was one of the major centres of the Greek minority in southern Albania, the other being Gjirokastër.[93] A Greek minority is still found in Korçë.[94]
Aromanians of Korçë live mainly in one neighborhood[which?] of the city where they speak Aromanian, have Aromanian cultural associations that are divided between pro-Romanian and pro-Greek factions, receive church liturgy in Aromanian and maintain cultural and economic connections to Romania and Greece.[95]
Romani also inhabit the city, in particular theKulla e Hirit neighborhood and their presence in the city mainly dates to the early 20th century when they migrated fromTurkey toFlorina and ultimately Korçë.[96]
For centuries Korçë has been an important religious centre for bothOrthodox Christians andMuslims,[97] hosting a significant Orthodox community as well as significantSunni andBektashi communities in and around the city. The main centre of the Bektashis of the area is the TuranTakya. In modern days, there are also smaller numbers of Catholics[98] and Protestants in the city, as well theirreligious. The secondAlbanian Protestant church was opened in Korçë.[99] In 1940, Korçë's Evangelical Church was closed down by the Italian fascist forces.[100]
Even before the foundation of the modern town, the Korçë district was initially part of theMetropolis of Kastoria (15th century), but in the early 17th century became the seat of an Orthodox bishop and in 1670 was elevated tometropolitan bishopric.[101][102] The city remained entirely Christian until the first half of the 16th century.[103] The Orthodox Cathedral of Saint George, a significant landmark in the city, was demolished by the authorities of the People's Republic of Albania during the atheistic campaign.[104] TheSt. Sotir Church serves the Aromanian community of Korçë. It was built from 1995 to 2005. The church had already existed in the early 20th century, having been completed in 1925, but it was demolished by the Albanian communist authorities in 1959.[105]
Islam entered the city in the 15th century throughIljaz Hoxha, anAlbanianjanissary, who actively participated in theFall of Constantinople.[106] One of the oldest mosques in Albania was built by Iljaz Hoxha in 1484, theIliaz Mirahori Mosque.[107] The Romani population of Korçë consists of Muslims, who in the 1920s maintained their own mosques in the city, while there are also Orthodox Christian Roma in the city's Varosh neighbourhood.[96]
A shaggy carpet with hook designs from Korçë, 1970[108]
Korçë is known as southern Albania's intellectual capital[109] and is also regarded as the Albanian cultural metropolis.[110] The city and its surrounding area are culturally distinct of all the regions in the Albanian ethnographic regions and maintain a rich variety of traditional and urban music.[111]
Korçë being one of the important cultural and economic centers in the country is known for its low houses and villas, paved with cobblestone.[112] It is the home of the largest carnival in Albania that takes place before Orthodox Easter, a tradition dating back 40 years.[113] Musically, the city is known for the local songs, called serenata. Organised by the Korçë municipality, the annual summer Lakror Festival (Albanian:Festa e Lakrorit) celebratingLakror, the regional Albanian pie is held in Korçë or sometimes in a village of the wider area which is attended by locals and tourists.[114][115]
One of Korçë's most popular sports is football. Its most popular soccer club isSkënderbeu Korçë and was formed on 15 April 1909 under the name Vllazëria by politician and poetHilë Mosi.[119] They were Albanian Champions in1933 and recently, in2011,2012,2013,2014,2015 and2016 and2018. In 2015 the club became the first Albanian side to reach the play-off round of theUEFA Champions League but they lost toDinamo Zagreb and dropped into theUEFA Europa League, and became the first Albanian club to qualify for the group stage of European competition.
^The name Korça derives from the Slavic Gorica. Linda White, Peter Dawson, Andrea Dawson, Albania: A Guide and Illustrated Journal, Bradt guides. Bradt Publications, 1995, p. 62,ISBN1898323100.
^Law, Gwilim (2010).Administrative Subdivisions of Countries. Page 22
^Anscom E. Frederick.Albanians and "Mountain Bandits". Princeton papers: interdisciplinary journal of Middle Eastern studies Markus Wiener Publishers, 2002. ISSN 1084-5666, p. "Voskopoje, southeast Albania, commonly known as Moschopolis" p. 100: "The town was sacked three times during the Ottoman wars with Russia and Austria, in 1769, 1772, and 1789, but not by foreign raiders. The last attack, by Ali Pasha's men, practically destroyed the town. Some of its commerce shifted to Gorice (Korçe, Albania) and Arnavud Belgrad, but those towns could not make good the losses suffered by İskopol."
^abcdefghijkPalairet, Michael (2016).Macedonia: A Voyage through History (Volume 2, From the Fifteenth Century to the Present). Cambridge: Cambridge Scholars Publishing. pp. 114–115.ISBN9781443888493.Of these, 14,000 were "Greek", the rest Albanian. "Greek" means that they adhered to the Orthodox Church, but they were probably predominantly Vlach, and enjoyed strong links with Romania...Progress was "spurred on by a climate of ethnic rivalry with lethal characteristics". A pioneering effort by one Vekilcharje in about 1850 produced an Albanian alphabet, in which a few small books were printed. It flourished briefly at Korçë, but its creator is believed to have been poisoned by the Greek Patriarch. Subsequent impetus for Albanian language education came from the American and British Protestant missions. In the late 1870s, a Latin-based Albanian alphabet was devised by a Committee of Albanian Patriots based on Constantinople, and was adopted by the British and Foreign Bible Study. In the early 1880s, a rich Vlach emigre named Anastasios Avramidis-Liaktis announced his intention of making over his fortune for the benefit of people of Korçë, and Albanians (presumably the Committee) approached him for funds to open an Albanian school there. The project caused inter-communal tension which led to the donor proposing instead a Greek school with Albanian teaching twice a week. Even this diluted scheme was dropped, as Avramidis-Liaktis learned to act "according to a purely Greek consciousness". Despite this, in 1884 the Albanian Committee set up a boys school. Greek sources represent Albanian efforts to compete in establishing schools as failing because of weaker demand for education and smaller funding, but once more, Greek interference undermined the school: it "struggled in the face of Greek anathemas". It is, however, the first Albanian school to be founded, and the building in Korçë (or a facsimile thereof) is preserved as a museum. It survived until 1902, under teachers Naum and Leonidas Natcha, but they were incarcerated as traitors (to the Ottoman state) at the behest of the Greek clergy, and their school was wrecked and vandalized. An American inspired Protestant school was founded, also at Korçë in 1889, but it struggled in the face of similar pressures.
^abcKoukoudis, Asterios (2003).The Vlachs: Metropolis and Diaspora. Thessaloniki: Zitros Publications.ISBN9789607760869. pp. 297-298. "Regarding the origins of the urban Vlachs of Korçë, Liakos notes that, according to a written source dating to 1867, apart from the Moschopolitans, there were also Vlachs from the village of Shalës in Kolonjë, which he describes as a former Arvanitovlach settlement. Aravandinos reports that the people from Shalës and many from Moschopolis probably settled in Korçë in an organised way, when the area was fairly calm after 1834. These settlers established the market district in Korçë known as Varossi. If we bear in mind that the Arvanitovlachs who arrived in the Korçë area in the early nineteenth century played a considerable part in establishing the Christian urban class in Korçë, then we may, rather cautiously perhaps, suppose that one of the places from which they came was Shalës."; p. 361. "Indeed, according to Psalidas's Geography, in around 1830, after the Greek War of Independence and a period of renewed insecurity,... And in the same period, 100 Vlach families were living in the Varossi district of Korçë."
^Muin Çami.Shqiptarët dhe francezët në Korçë (1916 – 1920). Dituria: Tirana 1999. Page 132: "....ushtarakët francezë që qëndruan në Korçë dhe që mundën kështu të njiheshin me karakterin etnik shqiptar të popullsisë dhe me aspiratat e vërteta kombëtare të shumicës dërrmuese të kësaj popullsie. Lajmi i largimit të trupave franceze dhe i zëvendësimit të tyre me ato greke e vuri qeverinë shqiptare dhe veçanërisht rrethet patriotike në trevën e Korçës, përpara një sprove të rëndë."
^Frashëri, Kristo.Rilindja Kombetare Shqiptare. Page 41: "1885, at Korça there was formed a secret committee headed by Jovan Cico Kosturi with co-members Thimi Marko and Orhan Pojani, which assumed the mission to organize in the interior of Albania an Albanian Cultural Society. But due to the Ottoman reaction and phanariot church persecutions, the said society could not be founded. Nevertheless, the Secret Committee of Korça continued its activity for a long time in a clandestine and illegal way".
^Frashëri, Kristo.Rilindja Kombetare Shqiptare. Page 43: "the Secret Committee of Korça, with the help of Naim Frashëri and Sami Frashëri, set up in the city of Korça, on 7th of March 1887, the first Albanian National School. The first teachers of this sçhool were Pandeli Sotiri (during the first year) and later Petro N. Luarasi and Nuchi Nachi."
^abBarjaba, Kosta; King, Russel (2005)."Introducing and theorising Albanian migration". In King, Russell; Mai, Nicola; Schwandner-Sievers, Stephanie (eds.).The New Albanian Migration. Brighton-Portland: Sussex Academic. p. 8.ISBN9781903900789. "Albanian emigration to the US started in the late nineteenth century, as noted above. Most migrants came from Korçë and other parts of rural southern Albania (figure 1.1). They were predominantly Orthodox young men who intended to return home after they had made some money (Lucas 2002: 14; Nagi 1988: 32—33).... the migration to Australia during 1925—6 of Albanians who had returned from the United States but who could not go back to the US because of that country's quota laws set in place in 1922—4.... Chain migration was a fundamental driving force behind this migration; once again the Korçë area was the dominant district of origin. Korçë migrants settled above all in Shepperton (Victoria) and Moora (Western Australia), specialising in various farming and agriculture-related jobs."
^Ismyrliadou, Adela; Karathanasis, Athanasios (1999)."Koritsa: Education-Benefactors-Economy 1850–1908".Balkan Studies.1 (40):224–228.Among them benefactors Ioanis Bangas (1814–1895) and Anastasios Avramidis Liaktsis have a definite place...", "General Rules for Public Institutions in the town of Koritsa were drawn up and changed for the better the functioning of the educational estamblishments.
^Zhelyazkova, Antonina (1999). "Albanian identities". International centre for minority study and intercultural relations: Sofia, Bulgaria 1999. Page 23-24: "The question of educating Albanians in their mother tongue was raised frequently in the reports of American religious missionaries in the Balkans. In June 1896 Reverend Lewis Bond reported that lessons at the Korça (Korcë) school were conducted in modern Greek, while the local people loved their own tongue, only spoken at home. "The question of the education of the Albanians in their own language was a problem posed many times in the reports of American religious missionaries in the Balkans. In June 1896 Reverend Lewis Bond reported that lessons at the Korça (Korcë) school were conducted in modern Greek, while the local people loved their own tongue which they spoke only at their homes. "Can we do anything for them", asked Reverend Bond. His question obviously remained rhetorical, because three years later he sent another, much more extensive, statement on the issues of the language and education of the Albanians in Korça. He wrote that only at the girls' school, set up by the Protestant community, the training was in Albanian and once more claimed there was no American who would not sympathise with the Albanians and their desire to use their own language."
^abcdZavalani, Tajar (2015). Elsie, Robert; Destani, Bejtullah (eds.).History of Albania. Centre for Albanian Studies. pp. 160–161.ISBN978-1507595671.
^Stickney, Edith Pierpont (1924).Southern Albania, 1912–1923. Stanford University Press. pp. 69–70.ISBN978-0-8047-6171-0.several months later, Greek schools were reopened as a result of Greek influence{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
^Pearson, Owen (2004).Albania and King Zog: independence, republic and monarchy 1908–1939. Albania in the twentieth century. Vol. 1.I.B. Tauris. p. 35.ISBN9781845110130.
^Kondis Basil.Greece and Albania, 1908–1914. Institute for Balkan Studies, 1976, p. 130: "The Dutch, having proof that Metropolitan Germanos was chuef instigator of the rising, arrested him and other members of the town council and sent them to Elbasan."
^The Ottoman Empire and Its Successors, 1801–1927. William Miller, 1966.ISBN0-7146-1974-4
^Psomas, Lambros (2008).The Religious and Ethnic Synthesis of Southern Albania (Northern Epirus). Page 253: "The Greeks supported their claims Southern Albania or Northern Epirus, as they call it, based some statistics that they produced. They followed the same policy in the Conference of the Ambassadors in London 1913 (Table 2.2) and the Peace Conference of Paris 1919 as well... The Greeks argued that Southern Albania should be yielded to them for specific historical and geographical They also argued that the inhabitants of the south were Greeks by sentiment. This argument of the sentiment was based the common religion between the Greeks and the Orthodox population of the south. As a result, the Greeks considered a11 Orthodox Albanian, Vlach and Slav-speaking people of the South as ethnically Greeks... Explicitly, the terms Orthodox Christian and Muslim were changed into Greek and Albanian respectively."
^abcdefghiGuy, Nicola C. (2008) Ethnic nationalism, the Great powers and the question of Albanian independence, 1912-1921. Doctoral thesis, Durham University. Pages 196-199:
Surprisingly, the first significant developments took place in the French occupied zone. On 10 December 1916, fourteen Albanian representatives (seven Christians and seven Muslims) created an administrative council and proclaimed Koritza an autonomous republic. This regime was highly significant for the Albanian nationalist movement, and it was indicative of the resurgence of Albanian nationalism in one of the areas where it had been strongest before the war. According to Jan Karl Tanenbaum, this regime `acted as if it were an independent state, for it minted its own coinage, printed its own stamps, and introduced its own flag'. 438 Stickney considered that the republic gave the Albanians the opportunity for self-government under the French, which she described as the `tutelage of those well disposed toward and more experienced than themselves'. Overall, it was a successful experiment in which Muslims and Christians worked together in the administration, and, in particular, without all the complications of great power rivalry and intrigue that had so beset Wilhelm's regime.
The great powers appeared far from uninterested. It has been suggested that the French became a new force in Albania, and showed new interest in it becoming an independent state. In reality, as H. James Burgwyn in particular has shown, French activity was only at a local level, and for strategic as opposed to moral or national reasons. Colonel Henri Descoins, the French commander in Koritza, signed a proclamation stating that the regime was to be under French military protection. It was suspected that Descoins was even the author of the document. For the week prior to the proclamation, General Maurice Sarrail, Commander of the Eastern Army, and Descoins were in repeated communication about this project. On 8 December 1916, Sarrail had cabled that the Albanian nationalists should be supported. Tanenbaum contends that Sarrail instigated this action to protect Koritza from Venizelist forces, which had prompted guerrilla warfare by some Albanians. By expelling the Greeks and converting the Albanian nationalists to the Allied cause, Sarrail hoped to protect the left flank. A peaceful and stable Koritza under French control would reduce the number of French troops needed, discourage the Austrians from moving into southern Albania and enable the Eastern Army's left flank to join up with Italian troops in Valona...
(p198)... Irrespective of its cause, this move generated much tension with the Italians. Briand repeatedly assured Sonnino that the French had no designs on either Albania or Koritza. It appears that, even by March 1917 (when he resigned as Premier), Briand had not yet received full information. Sarrail's reports still insisted that the Albanians had proclaimed the republic, then asked for it to be put under French protection, and that Descoins had merely complied with the wishes of the local population. Sarrail wrote that he had `always let the population do what it wanted; ... it does not behove me to meddle in the Greek and Balkan internal political question. Koritza wanted to be independent: now it is, 'However, the ramifications of the Koritza declaration would continue to reverberate well into 1917 and beyond. On 16 February 1918, Sarrail's successor eventually abrogated the proclamation. The Quai d'Orsay was far from keen to have the Albanian nationalist movement develop too far under French influence, in case it jeopardised their more important goals regarding Greece. Changes were only nominal: Greek schools re-opened and Essad was prevented from transferring his government to the town, as sops to the Italians and Greeks, following the latter's eventual entry into the war. But, Koritza retained essentially the same government, and the republic's flag continued to fly over the town. Inter-religious co-operation was maintained, and both faiths were thankful to the French for the opportunity of self-government without much interference. The Albanians were also assured that this action did not threaten their independence.
^Augris, Etienne (1 December 2000)."Korçë dans la Grande Guerre".Balkanologie. Revue d'études pluridisciplinaires (in French).4 (2): 24.doi:10.4000/balkanologie.315.ISSN1279-7952.La sévérité de cette décision semble indiquer que la France a choisi d'écouter ses alliés venizélistes, entrés en guerre au côté des Alliés le 12 juin 1917, et qui appréciaient peu l'homme fort de Korytza. Néanmoins, tout laisse penser que, sur place, les Français jouent leur propre jeu.
^abAustin, Robert Clegg (2012).Founding a Balkan State: Albania's Experiment with Democracy, 1920-1925. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. p. 93.ISBN9781442644359. "One commissioner from the delegation Sederholm noted the population of Korçë being "entirely Albanian" with "the number of Greeks there" being "quite insignificant".... "Joseph Emerson Haven, a U.S. diplomat based in Italy on special detail in Albania during the spring of 1919, had already come to a similar conclusion. In his detailed report on the political situation in the country, Haven suggested that the disputed province of Korçë had roughly 60,000 inhabitants, roughly 18 per cent of whom were in favour of Greek sovereignty. Of those 18 per cent, he argued, half were seeking that end out of fear or had been promised material gain in the form of Moslem land and property.... Haven found that the ‘most intense hatred and loathing exists in Southern Albania for Greece, this hatred being shown by both Orthodox Christians and Musselmen. The cry is "We are Albanians first and religionists second." With the exception of comparatively few residents in the province of Coritsa [Korçë] and a few towns in the region of Chimara [Himarë], the country is absolutely Albanian in sentiment."
^Psomas, Lampros (3 July 2015). "A Spy in Albania: Southern Albanian Oil and Morton Frederic Eden".International Journal of Intelligence and CounterIntelligence.28 (3): 16, 19,590–609.doi:10.1080/08850607.2015.992762.ISSN0885-0607.S2CID155690783.Based on the information he gathered on the spot, possibly from election cataloges, he was able to point out that the Orthodox Christian inhabitants of Korc¸e¨ had almost entirely abstained from voting (about 97 percent). Sederholm also criticized the Albanian government for the way it had formed the electoral districts in an effort to eliminate Christian representation in the newly-formed Parliament, concluding that the Christians wereat the mercy of Mohammedan majorities.
^Winnifrith, Tom (2002).Badlands, Borderlands: A History of Northern Epirus/Southern Albania. Duckworth. p. 135.ISBN9780715632017.The Albanians in general and Fan Noli in particular at the time of the Paris Peace Conference had promised to recognize the peculiar status of the Greek minority. This pledge was not honoured. Greek schools were allowed, but only in certain areas. Korce and Permet were excluded.
^Psomas, Lampros (3 July 2015). "A Spy in Albania: Southern Albanian Oil and Morton Frederic Eden".International Journal of Intelligence and CounterIntelligence.28 (3): 10, 19,590–609.doi:10.1080/08850607.2015.992762.ISSN0885-0607.S2CID155690783....the Albanian authorities, acting fast and without any warning,... Though the reports by locals that reached the League of Nations refuted their assertions
^"Albanische Hefte. Parlamentswahlen 2005 in Albanien"(PDF) (in German). Deutsch-Albanischen Freundschaftsgesellschaft e.V. 2005. p. 7. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on 18 July 2011.Οι μαθητές που προέρχονται από την ελληνική μειονότητα φοιτούν σε αλβανικά σχολεία ή σε ελληνόφωνα δημόσια μειονοτικά σχολεία ( εντός των μειονοτικών ζωνών) ή σε ιδιωτικά σχολεία ( Αρσάκειο Τιράνων, «Όμηρος» Κορυτσάς)
^Jazexhi, Olsi (2012)."Albania". In Nielsen, Jørgen; Akgönül, Samim; Alibašić, Ahmet; Racius, Egdunas (eds.).Yearbook of Muslims in Europe: Volume 4. Leiden: Brill. p. 6.ISBN9789004225213.
^John Paxton (1 January 2000).The Penguin encyclopedia of places. Penguin. p. 489.ISBN978-0-14-051275-5.Cap. of the Korce region and district in the SE. Pop. (1991) 67,100. Market town in a cereal-growing area. Industries inc. knitwear, flour-milling, brewing and sugar-refining. It was an important Orthodox and Muslim religious centre. The fifth .
^Christopoulos, George A. (2000).The splendour of Orthodoxy. Athens: Ekdotike Athenon. p. 492.ISBN9789602133989.Even before the town itself was built, in 1490, the district of Korytsa belonged the metropolis of Kastoria, which had itself subordinate to the archbishopric of Ohrid. The metropolis of Korytsa was established early in the seventeenth century, incorporating the sees of Kolonia, Debolis, and Selasphoro (Sevdas). The first well- known bishop of Korytsa (1624 and 1628) was Neophytos. In the year 1670 Parthenios, archbishop of Ohrid, a native of Korytsa, elevated his mother town to a metropolitan seat, its occupant bearing the title of bishop of Korytsa, Selapsphoro and Moshopolis
^Egro 2010, p. 37: "In the first half of the 16th century the cities of ...and Korca were still completely Christian"
^Leustean, Lucian; Leustean, Senior Lecturer in Politics and International Relations Lucian (21 January 2010).Eastern Christianity and the Cold War, 1945-91. Routledge. p. 151.ISBN9781135233822.Some landmark churches such as the Saint George Orthodox Cathedral in Korce were razed.
Nach einer unansehnlichen ersten Halbzeit ging die Mannschaft aus der albanischen Kulturmetropole Korça nach 51 Minuten mit ihrem ersten Torschuss in Führung.
Caka, Eduart (2017). "Të dhëna mbi disa vakëfe kryesore të qytetit të Korçës gjatë periudhës osmane (shek. XVI-XIX)" [Data on some main waqfs of the town of Korça during Ottoman period (16th -19th cent.)].Studime Historike (in Albanian).1–2. Tirana:Instituti i Historisë i Qendrës së Studimeve Albanologjike:83–99.
De Rapper, Gilles (2012)."TheVakëf: Sharing religious space in Albania". In Albera, Dionigi; Couroucli, Maria (eds.).Sharing Sacred Spaces in the Mediterranean: Christians, Muslims, and Jews at Shrines and Sanctuaries. Indiana University Press. pp. 29–50.ISBN9780253016904.
Guy, Nicola C. (2005). "Fixing the Frontiers? Ethnography, Power Politics and the Delimitation of Albania, 1912 to 1914".Studies in Ethnicity and Nationalism.5 (1):27–49.doi:10.1111/j.1754-9469.2005.tb00126.x.ISSN1754-9469.
Rembeci, Andi; Cunga, Sokol (2019). "Vithkuq of Moschopolis: the cradle of the early inhabitants of Kozani, according to oral tradition". In Hariton Karanasios; Vasiliki Diafa-Kampouridou (eds.).Η Κοζάνη και η περιοχή της από τους Βυζαντινούς στους Νεότερους Χρόνους [Kozani and its area from the Byzantines to the Modern Times]. Kozani: Εταιρεία Δυτικομακεδονικών Μελετών [Society for Western Macedonian Studies]. pp. 103–132.
Wilkinson, H. R. (1951).Maps and Politics: A review of the Ethnographic Cartography of Macedonia. The University Press of Liverpool.
N. G. L. Hammond, "Alexander's Campaign in Illyria",The Journal of Hellenic Studies, pp. 4–25. 1974
James Pettifer,Albania & Kosovo, A & C Black, London (2001,ISBN0-7136-5016-8)
François Pouqueville,Voyage en Morée, à Constantinople, an Albanie, et dans plusieurs autres parties de l'Empire othoman, pendant les années 1798, 1799, 1800 et 1801. (1805)
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