Content deleted Content added
dates - consistency |
|||
Line 46:
| population unit = 19,836
| population rank =
| demonym = {{
| postal code = 6001–6003
| area code = 084
Line 67:
'''Gjirokastër''' ({{IPA-sq|ɟiɾoˈkast:əɾ, -ra|lang}}, {{lang-sq-definite|Gjirokastra}}) is a [[List of cities and towns in Albania|city]] in [[Southern Albania|southern]] [[Albania]] and the seat of [[Gjirokastër County]] and Gjirokastër Municipality. It is located in a valley between the [[Gjerë mountain]]s and the [[Drino]], at 300 [[metres above sea level]]. Its old town is a [[UNESCO World Heritage Site]]. The city is overlooked by [[Gjirokastër Fortress]], where the [[Gjirokastër National Folk Festival]] is held every five years. It is the birthplace of former [[Albanians|Albanian]] [[Communism|communist]] leader [[Enver Hoxha]], and author [[Ismail Kadare]].
The city appears in the historical record dating back in 1336 by its medieval Greek name, {{
Taken by the [[Hellenic Army]] during the [[Balkan Wars]] of 1912–1913, Gjirokastër was eventually incorporated into the newly independent state of Albania in 1913. The local Greek population rebelled and established the short-lived [[Autonomous Republic of Northern Epirus]] in 1914 with Gjirokastër as its capital.<ref name="Veremis4445">{{cite book|last=Veremis|first=Thanos|title=A Modern History of the Balkans: Nationalism and Identity in Southeast Europe|year=2017|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing|url=https://www.google.com.au/books/edition/A_Modern_History_of_the_Balkans/r-mKDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Argyrokastro+1914&pg=PA45&printsec=frontcover|isbn=9781786731050|pages=44–45}}</ref><ref name="da.mod.uk"/> During the communist period, Gjirokastër was designated a "museum city" due to its architectural heritage.<ref name="JaKrMaTh2049">{{cite book|last1=Jaeger–Klein|first1=Caroline|last2=Kryeziu|first2=Arnisa|last3=Mamani|first3=Elena|last4=Thaçi|first4=Kaltrina|chapter=Traditional Residential Architecture in Albania and Kosovo – Mason–Carpenter Structures and Their Future Restoration|editor1-last=Aguilar|editor1-first=Rafael|editor2-last=Torrealva|editor2-first=Daniel|editor3-last=Moreira|editor3-first=Susana|editor4-last=Pando|editor4-first=Miguel A.|editor5-last=Ramos|editor5-first=Luis F.|title=Structural Analysis of Historical Constructions: An Interdisciplinary Approach|year=2018|publisher=Springer|isbn=9783319994413|url=https://books.google.com.au/books?id=-ypqDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA2049&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false|page=2049}}</ref><ref name="MeBo260">{{cite book|last1=Merxhani|first1=Kreshnik|last2=Bozgo|first2=Valmira|chapter=Shortsighted Solutions Versus Long Term Planning|editor1-last=Amoruso|editor1-first=Giuseppe|editor2-last=Salerno|editor2-first=Rossella|title=Cultural Landscape in Practice: Conservation vs. Emergencies|year=2019|publisher=Springer|isbn=9783030114220|url=https://books.google.com.au/books?id=chCIDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA260&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false|page=260}}</ref> In more recent years, the city witnessed anti-government protests that led to the [[1997 Albanian civil unrest]].<ref name=Jeffires>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=L7PBtDujYt0C&pg=PA92|title=Eastern Europe at the turn of the twenty-first century: a guide to the economies in transition|first =Ian|last=Jeffries|page=87|publisher=Routledge|year=2002|isbn=978-0-415-23671-3}}</ref> Along with Muslim and Orthodox [[Albanians]], the city is also home to a substantial Greek minority,<ref name=Kallivretakis>Kallivretakis, Leonidas (1995). "[https://helios-eie.ekt.gr/EIE/handle/10442/8696 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] {{Cite book |url=https://helios-eie.ekt.gr/EIE/handle/10442/8696 |title=Η ελληνική κοινότητα της Αλβανίας υπό το πρίσμα της ιστορικής γεωγραφίας και δημογραφίας |year=1995 |page=25 |isbn=9789600800548 |access-date=2016-08-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150321053542/https://helios-eie.ekt.gr/EIE/handle/10442/8696 |archive-date=2015-03-21 |url-status=bot: unknown |last1=Βερέμης |first1=Θάνος |publisher=I. Siderēs }}." In Nikolakopoulos, Ilias, Kouloubis Theodoros A. & Thanos M. Veremis (eds). ''Ο Ελληνισμός της Αλβανίας [The Greeks of Albania]''. University of Athens. p. 34. "Στα πλαίσια της επιτόπιας έρευνας που πραγματοποιήσαμε στην Αλβανία (Νοέμβριος-Δεκέμβριος 1992), μελετήσαμε το ζήτημα των εθνοπολιτισμικών ομάδων, όπως αυτές συνειδητοποιούνται σήμερα επί τόπου. [As part of the fieldwork we held in Albania (November–December 1992), we studied the issue of ethnocultural groups, as they are realized today on the spot.]"; p. 42. "Στο Νομό του Αργυροκάστρου: Έλληνες 40%, Βλάχοι 12%, Αλβανοί Χριστιανοί 21%, Αλβανοί Μουσουλμάνοι 28%, επί συνόλου 66.000 κατοίκων, 63% Χριστιανοί, 49% Αλβανοί." p. 43. "4) 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." "[4) Even where the countryside is Greek or Greekish, cities have an Albanian majority. This is clear where the prefectures of Gjirokastër and Delvinë were passed into the hands of the minority, but not the municipalities of the respective cities.]"; p. 51. "Ε Έλληνες, ΑΧ Αλβανοί Ορθόδοξοι Χριστιανοί, AM Αλβανοί Μουσουλμάνοι, Μ Μικτός πληθυσμός...." p.55. "GJIROKASTRA ΑΡΓΥΡΟΚΑΣΤΡΟ 24216 Μ (ΑΜ + ΑΧ + Ε)."; p.57.</ref><ref>''Albania: from anarchy to a Balkan identity'', Miranda Vickers, James Pettifer Edition, 2. illustrated reprint, Publisher C. Hurst & Co. Publishers, 1997 {{ISBN|1-85065-290-2}}, {{ISBN|978-1-85065-290-8}} p. 187</ref> and some [[Aromanians]],<ref name="deRapper8"/> [[Romani people|Romani]] and [[Egyptians (Balkans)|Balkan Egyptians]].<ref name="DeGoGeSi31"/> The city is a centre for the Greek minority in Albania.<ref name=autogenerated1>{{cite web
Line 83:
== {{anchor|Names and etymology}}Names and etymology ==
{{See also|Names of Gjirokastër in different languages}}
The city appeared for the first time in historical records under its medieval name of ''Argyrókastron'' ({{
| url = https://www.gjirokastra.org/albanian/al_sublinks/per_gjirokastren/mbi_gjirokastren_historia.html
| title = History of Gjirokaster
Line 90:
| language = sq
| access-date = 1 September 2010
}}</ref> The name comes from ''argyrón'' ({{
| last1 = Τόμος 170 του Νεοελληνική Γραμματεία
| title = Ηπειρώτικαι αναμνήσεις
Line 147:
[[File:Gjirokaster 2016 Albania typical street.jpg|thumb|right|200px|[[Ottoman architecture]] characterizes the historical city center.]]
Gjirokastër first developed on the hill where the castle of the city is located in the Middle Ages. The first fortification dates to the 5th-6th centuries CE during the period of [[Slavic migrations to the Balkans]]. It was expanded in the 9th-10th centuries, while the first signs of actual settlement medieval urban development in the castle area date to the 13th-14th centuries.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Komata |first1=Damian |title=Gjurmë të antikitetit ilir dhe të mesjetës në kalanë e Gjirokastrës / Vestiges de l'Antiquité illyrienne et du Moyen Age dans la forteresse de Gjirokastra |journal=Iliria |date=1988 |volume=18 |issue=2 |pages=165–176 |doi=10.3406/iliri.1988.1503 |url=https://www.persee.fr/doc/iliri_1727-2548_1988_num_18_2_1503}}</ref>{{sfn|Osswald|2011|p=449}} During this period, Gjirokastër developed into a center known in medieval sources as ''Argyropolis'' ({{
The Albanian [[Zenevisi family|Zenebishi]] clan, which held Gjirokastër by the end of the century, is first mentioned in 1304 as land holders in the [[Kingdom of Albania (medieval)|Angevin holdings]] in Albania, possibly in the southern coastal area. [[Laonikos Chalkokondyles]] mentions that in the era before 1336, Albanian clans from the area of [[Durrës]] marched southwards and took control of most areas in Gjirokastër.<ref name="Giakoumissss">Giakoumis, Konstantinos (2003), [https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Kosta_Giakoumis/publication/233673710_Fourteenth-century_Albanian_migration_and_the_relative_autochthony_of_the_Albanians_in_Epeiros._The_case_of_Gjirokaster/links/0deec52ab0987b856e000000.pdf Fourteenth-century Albanian migration and the ‘relative autochthony’ of the Albanians in Epeiros. The case of Gjirokastër.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924135025/https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Kosta_Giakoumis/publication/233673710_Fourteenth-century_Albanian_migration_and_the_relative_autochthony_of_the_Albanians_in_Epeiros._The_case_of_Gjirokaster/links/0deec52ab0987b856e000000.pdf |date=2015-09-24 }}" ''Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies''. '''27'''. (1). p. 179: "The Albanians originating... According to the sources, there were two migrant groups, the one which travelled via Ohrid and ended in Thessaly while the other, moving through Kelcyre, reached Gjirokaster and the despotate. The purpose of their occupation was to search for new pasture lands. The combination of fertile plains and mountains rich in grasslands in the region of Gjirokaster was ideal for the poor nomadic Albanians who did not hesitate to ravage cities when they lacked provisions.."; p. 182. "Furthermore, I presented evidence that the in the fourteenth century immigrant Albanians taking advantage of the decimation of the local Epirote population by to the Black death also migrated into the regions of Gjirokastër."</ref> In this era, the city was contested between the Italian and Serbian rulers which claimed the [[Despotate of Epirus]] with occasional Ottoman support and the Zenebishi clan under [[John Zenevisi|Gjon Zenebishi]]. In 1399, the Italian ruler of Ioannina, [[Esau de' Buondelmonti]] who was allied to the Ottomans, gathered an army made up of troops from Ioannina, Zagori, Dryinoupolis and Gjirokastër and the Mazaraki and Malakasi clans and marched against Gjon Zenebishi. He was ambushed, defeated and captured along with other lords from Ioannina by Zenebishi near [[Dhivër]].{{sfn|Osswald|2011|p=226}} The victory secured the city of Gjirokastër for Gjon Zenebishi and it became his capital.{{sfn|Osswald|2011|p=227|ps=:Les conséquences de cette bataille furent importantes pour le nord de l’Épire. En effet, elle marqua le début de l’apogée du clan Zenevesi, qui durerait jusqu’en 1418. Gjin accrut ainsi son territoire, annexant notamment Saiata, Dryïnoupolis et surtout Argyrokastron, où il plaça immédiatement sa capitale}} In 1417 Gjon Zenebishi died and was succeeded by his son [[Simon Zenevisi|Simon]] as lord of Gjirokastër in early 1418.<ref>{{cite book |last=Elsie |first= Robert |title=Early Albania A Reader of Historical Texts, 11th-17th Centuries |date=2003 |publisher=Harrassowitz |isbn=978-3-4470-4783-8 |page=53 |quote=...Lord John Sarbissa (Zenevisi) was lord of the town of Gjirokastra and the region of Vagenetia and Paracalo (Parakalamo). This then passed to the son of Lord John, called Lord Amos Sarbissa (Zenevisi)...}}</ref> Immediately, the Ottomans besieged the city. Simon left the city during the siege to seek refuge in Ioannina and returned back when the Ottoman siege failed, but nevertheless he eventually surrendered Gjirokastër to the Ottomans. With the acquisition of Gjirokastër, the area became known as ''Zenebish-ili'' (land of Zenebishi) and by 1419 became the seat of the [[Sanjak of Albania]].<ref>{{cite web| url = https://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0009/000929/092980eo.pdf| title = Ethnographic and open-air museums| last1 = Riza| first1 = Emin| year = 1992| publisher = UNESCO, Paris| access-date = 18 March 2011}}</ref>
Line 708:
[[File:Gjirokastër Mosque - Mosques in Albania.jpg|thumb|200px|The city's only remaining mosque, the [[Gjirokastër Mosque]], built in 1757]]
The region was part of the Eastern Orthodox diocese of [[Dryinoupolis]], part of the metropolitan bishopric of Ioannina. It was first mentioned in a [[Notitiae Episcopatuum|notitia]] of the 10th–11th century. With the destruction of nearby [[Dropull|Adrianupolis]] its see was transferred to Gjirokastër and assumed the name ''Doecese of Dryinopoulis and Argyrokastron'' ({{
| url = https://www.orthodoxalbania.org/Shqip/Zyra%20eSherbimit%20Teknike/Technical_Office.htm
| title = Building and Restorations
Line 802:
The novel ''[[Chronicle in Stone]]'' by Albanian writer [[Ismail Kadare]] tells the history of this city during the Italian and Greek occupation in World War I and II. It expounds on the customs of the people of Gjirokastër.<ref name="David Bellos">{{cite book|last=Kadare|first=Ismail|title=Chronicle in Stone|publisher=Canongate Books LTD|year=2007|isbn=978-1-84195-908-5|location=14 High St, Edinburgh|pages=xi - xiii}}</ref>
At the age of twenty-four, Albanian writer [[Musine Kokalari]] wrote an 80-page collection of ten youthful prose tales in her native Gjirokastrian dialect: ''As my old mother tells me'' ({{
| last = Wilson
| first = Katharina M.
Line 815:
}}</ref>
Gjirokastër, home to both Albanian and Greek [[Polyphony|polyphonic]] singing, is also home to the [[Gjirokastër National Folklore Festival|National Folklore Festival]] ({{
| last1 = Ahmedaja
| first1 = Ardian
| |||