Vithkuq

Vithkuq
Administrative unit
Vithkuq
Coordinates: 40°31′N 20°35′E / 40.517°N 20.583°E / 40.517; 20.583Coordinates: 40°31′N 20°35′E / 40.517°N 20.583°E / 40.517; 20.583
Country  Albania
County Korçë
Municipality Korçë
Population (2011)
 • Administrative unit 1,519
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
 • Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
Vehicle registration KO

Vithkuq is a village and a former municipality in the Korçë County, southeastern Albania. At the 2015 local government reform it became a subdivision of the municipality Korçë.[1] The population at the 2011 census was 1,519.[2] The municipal unit consists of the villages Vithkuq, Leshnje, Gjanc, Lubonjë, Rehovë, Roshanj, Trebickë, Grabockë, Treskë, Stratobërdh, Panarit, Shtyllë and Cemericë.[3]

History

The town's history started in the post-Byzantine period. During the 17th-18th centuries Vithkuq became a local center of culture and trade, being on a strategic location on the Berat-Korçë road. In 1792, Vithkuq was composed of the following neighborhoods: Borisha, Tataçi, Llas, Qyrsa, Syrbashi, Krekasi, Palasi, Kolaqerkasi, Kovaçasi, Saraçi, Rusasi and Dukasi.[4][5] In 1724 the residents of Vithkuq sponsored the foundation of the first Greek school in Korçë.[6][7]

From the end of 18th century, various factors turned Vithkuq into a small mountain village. Vithkuq hosts several churches and monasteries that were built during its period of prosperity.[8][9]

Panorama of Interior of the Church of Saint Michael

World War II

On August 15, 1943, during World War II, the first storm brigade of the Albanian National Liberation Army was formed near Vithkuq under the command of Mehmet Shehu. Around 800 partisans took part in the following parade, which was attended by important members of the Albanian Communist party like Enver Hoxha and Mehmet Shehu.[10]

Notable people

References

  1. ↑ Law nr. 115/2014
  2. ↑ 2011 census results
  3. ↑ Greece – Albania Neighbourhood Programme
  4. ↑ Petraq Pepo (ed.): Materiale dokumentare për Shqipërinë juglindore. Tiranë, 1981.
  5. ↑
  6. ↑ Καγιά, Έβις (2006). Το Ζήτημα της Εκπαίδευσης στην Ελληνική Μειονότητα και οι Δίγλωσσοι Μετανάστες Μαθητές στα Ελληνικά Ιδιωτκά Σχολεία στην Αλβανία (in Greek). University of Thessaloniki. pp. 118–121. Retrieved 6 February 2013.
  7. ↑ Basil Kondis. The Greeks of Northern Epirus and Greek-Albanian relations. Hestia, 1995, p. 9: ""The first school of the Hellenic type in Korytsa opened in 1724"
  8. ↑ Kirchhainer, Karin (2003). "Das Ossuarium des Petrus- und Paulus- Kloster in Vithkuq (Nordepirus) und seine Freskendekoration (1750)" (PDF). Makedonika (in German) 34 (04): 149–208. Retrieved 2010-07-04.
  9. ↑ Rousseva R. Iconographic characteristics of the churches in Moschopolis and Vithkuqi (Albania), Makedonika, 2006, v. 35, pp. 163-191. In English and Greek, with photographs of icons and inscriptions.
  10. ↑ Pearson, Owen (2006). Albania in Occupation and War: From Fascism to Communism 1940-1945. I.B.Tauris. pp. 266–7. ISBN 1-84511-104-4.

Further reading

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