Lin, Korçë

Lin Лин
Village
Lin
Coordinates: 41°3′58″N 20°38′19″E / 41.06611°N 20.63861°ECoordinates: 41°3′58″N 20°38′19″E / 41.06611°N 20.63861°E
Country	Albania
County	Korçë
Municipality	Pogradec
Administrative unit	Udënisht
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
• Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)

Lin (definite Albanian form: Lini, Macedonian: Лин) is a village in the former Udënisht Municipality in Korçë County, Albania.^[1] At the 2015 local government reform it became part of the municipality Pogradec.^[2]

Geography

Late Antique mosaics found in Lin

Lin is situated on a small peninsula on Lake Ohrid, just south of the Qafë Thanë mountain pass, which is a border-crossing point between Albania and Macedonia.^[3] Pogradec is roughly 22 km to the south of the village, while Struga is about 10 km north, along the lake shore. Radožda is the nearest settlement on the opposite side of the border.

History

The Lin area has been inhabited since at least the Iron Age. Archaeological findings from the hilltop above the present-day village include foundation walls and mosaics of an early Christian Byzantine church, dating from the 6th century.^[4] The church is a Cultural Monument of Albania^[5] and is included within the possible UNESCO site of the Natural and Cultural Heritage of the Ohrid Region (Albania).^[6][7]

In 1873, the village was recorded as having 65 households with 90 male Bulgarian Orthodox Christians and 62 male Muslims.^[8]

Language

The Albanian Tosk dialect is spoken in the area. Lin is the only place in Albania where the Vevčani-Radožda dialect of Macedonian is spoken by Macedonians.^[9] The other three villages in which this dialect is spoken are in the Republic of Macedonia.

References

1. "Location of Lin". Retrieved 18 October 2010.
2. Law nr. 115/2014
3. Location of Qafa e Thanës
4. "Le patrimoine culturel dans le Sud-Est européen: Albanie. Rapport de mission 26 avril – 7 mai 2004" (PDF) (in French). UNESCO. Retrieved 2013-12-01. – S. 93 f.; PDF-Datei, 3,50 MB
5. "Religious buildings with the "Culture Monument" status". Republic of Albania National Committee for Cult. Retrieved October 28, 2010.
6. "Natural and Cultural Heritage of the Ohrid Region". UNESCO. Retrieved 6 July 2013. Date of Submission: 05/09/2011. Submitted by: Permanent Delegation of Albania to UNESCO.
7. "Natural and Cultural Heritage of the Ohrid Region". Retrieved 8 July 2013. The existence in this region of the ruins of the paleochristian church of Lin together with its exceptionally beautiful floor mosaics reveals the presence of Christianity as well as the importance of this area in the period.
8. „Македония и Одринско. Статистика на населението от 1873 г.“ Македонски научен институт, София, 1995. стр. 104-105.
9. Hendricks, P. "The Radozda-Vevcani Dialect of Macedonian". Peter De Ridder Press, 1976, p. 3.