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The [[Ottoman Empire]] overran the rest of northern [[Epirus (region)|Epirus]] from the late 14th century, but Himara was the only region that did not submit to Ottoman Turkish rule. It became a symbol of resistance to the Turks but suffered an almost continuous state of warfare.
The [[Ottoman Empire]] overran the rest of northern [[Epirus (region)|Epirus]] from the late 14th century, but Himara was the only region that did not submit to Ottoman Turkish rule. It became a symbol of resistance to the Turks but suffered an almost continuous state of warfare.

In 1481, one year after the Ottomans had landed in [[Otranto]] in southern [[Italy]], the Himariotes rose against them under the leadership of Gjon Kastrioti, the son of [[Skanderbeg]], who attempted to regain the lands lost after the death of his father. The attempt failed, but the Himariotes rose again in 1488, and between 1494-1509, destabilising Turkish control but failing to liberate their territory. Following the rising of 1482 several Himariote families fled the town for [[Sicily]] where they were granted land near [[Palermo]] which became the town of [[Piana degli Albanesi]], descendents of these families still constitute the majority of the population of the aforementioned town as well as the village of [[Santa Cristina Gela]] which was founded later by farmers from [[Piana degli Albanesi]]. The local dialect of [[Albanian language|Albanian]] called [[Arbëresh language|Arberesh]] is still spoken in these communities of [[Sicily]] .


The Ottoman Sultan [[Suleyman the Magnificent]] personally led a large army in 1537 in a particularly bloody confrontation in Himarë. Following the indecisive result, he set forth a number of laws to regulate the relationship with the Empire. These included such rights as the exemption of the Himariotes from taxes, the right to sail under their own flag into any Ottoman port, and the right to carry guns while travelling in Ottoman territory.
The Ottoman Sultan [[Suleyman the Magnificent]] personally led a large army in 1537 in a particularly bloody confrontation in Himarë. Following the indecisive result, he set forth a number of laws to regulate the relationship with the Empire. These included such rights as the exemption of the Himariotes from taxes, the right to sail under their own flag into any Ottoman port, and the right to carry guns while travelling in Ottoman territory.

Revision as of 23:23, 18 July 2009

Himarë
Country Albania
CountyVlorë County
DistrictVlorë District
Government
 • MayorVasil Bollano
Elevation
0 m (0 ft)
Population
 • Total3,000
Time zoneUTC+1 (Central European Time)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+2 (CEST)
Area code393
Car PlatesVL

Himara (also Albanian: Himarë, from Greek: Χειμάρρα, Himarra) is a town and a region in southern Albania, part of the District of Vlorë. The region of Himara, constitutes of 7 other villages: Dhërmi, Palase, Vuno, Pilur, Qeparo, Kudhës and Iliasi. It is part of a larger region known in Albania as Labëria.

Himara is home to a significant Greek community, whose presence may date to antiquity.[1]

Geography

Orthodox church in Himara

The Himara region is characterized by high mountains, called Llogara (known in antiquity as the Ceraunian mountains, meaning "Lightning" in Greek [2]) falling steeply to the sea. There are long white sandy beaches and the few hills close to the sea are terraced and planted with olive and citrus trees.

History

Ancient history

In antiquity the region was inhabited by the Greek tribe of the Chaonians[3]. The Chaonians were one of the three principal Greek-speaking tribes of Epirus, along with the Thesprotians and the Molossians.[4][5] The town of Himara is believed to have been founded as Χίμαιρα, (Chimaira[6], hence the name Himara) by the Chaonians as a trading outpost on the Chaonian shore. However, another theory according to the name suggest that comes from Greek χείμαρρος (cheimarros), "torrent"[7].

Following the breakup of Alexander the Great's empire, Himara became part of Epirus under the rule of King Pyrrhus of Epirus, a famous Molossian of that time known for his Pyrrhic victories against the emerging power of Rome in Southern Italy. When the region was conquered by the Roman Republic in the 2nd century BC, its settlements were badly damaged and some were destroyed by the Roman General Aemilius Paulus.

Local tradition identifies the area around the Via Egnatia as the site of Julius Caesar's landing in Epirus in pursuit of Pompey the Great during the Roman civil war. He is said to have assembled his army near Himara before marching on to take the town of Oricon (modern archaeological park of Oricum) to the north of the Ceraunian mountains, on the bay of Avlona (modern Vlorë).

Middle Ages and early modern times

Himara and the rest of northern Epirus passed into the hands of the Byzantine Empire following the fall of Rome, but like the rest of the region it became the frequent target of various attackers including the Goths, Avars, Slavs, Bulgars, Saracens and Normans. The use of the name "Chaonia" in reference to the region apparently died out during the 12th century, the last time it is recorded (in a Byzantine tax collection document).

The Ottoman Empire overran the rest of northern Epirus from the late 14th century, but Himara was the only region that did not submit to Ottoman Turkish rule. It became a symbol of resistance to the Turks but suffered an almost continuous state of warfare.

In 1481, one year after the Ottomans had landed in Otranto in southern Italy, the Himariotes rose against them under the leadership of Gjon Kastrioti, the son of Skanderbeg, who attempted to regain the lands lost after the death of his father. The attempt failed, but the Himariotes rose again in 1488, and between 1494-1509, destabilising Turkish control but failing to liberate their territory. Following the rising of 1482 several Himariote families fled the town for Sicily where they were granted land near Palermo which became the town of Piana degli Albanesi, descendents of these families still constitute the majority of the population of the aforementioned town as well as the village of Santa Cristina Gela which was founded later by farmers from Piana degli Albanesi. The local dialect of Albanian called Arberesh is still spoken in these communities of Sicily .

The Ottoman Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent personally led a large army in 1537 in a particularly bloody confrontation in Himarë. Following the indecisive result, he set forth a number of laws to regulate the relationship with the Empire. These included such rights as the exemption of the Himariotes from taxes, the right to sail under their own flag into any Ottoman port, and the right to carry guns while travelling in Ottoman territory.

Despite this agreement, the Ottomans subsequently made several unsuccessful attempts to conquer Himara, first in 1571, then again in 1595, 1690 and 1713. In total three different Ottoman sultans personally led military campaigns against Himara, each failing in turn. During these years, the people of Himara established close links to the Italian city states, especially Naples and the powerful Republic of Venice, and later with Austro-Hungary, which controlled Corfu and the other Ionian Islands. During this time and thereafter, many Himariotes emigrated to the outside world and brought valuable skills back home with them. In 1848 even a small village like Dhermi could boast two doctors graduated in Athens and Vienna.

From 1799 to present times

Ethnographic map of the Epirus region from 1878, with the Himara region highlighted.

In 1799, Himara came under the rule of Ali Pasha who tried to create good relations with the Himariotes after declaring their enclave part of his emerging semi-independent state, by financing various public works and churches. One church he built still stands today as a major tourist attraction near Himare opposite of the Porto Palermo (Panormos) Castle and is the largest and most magnificent in the region. Ali Pasha's rule over Himara lasted about 20 years until it was abruptly terminated by his murder at the hands of the Ottoman agents. Himara subsequently reverted to its status quo ante of an enclave surrounded by Ottoman territory.

To emphasize the region's special status, the terms that the Himariotes had reached with Sultan Suleiman were inscribed on bronze tablets at the request of their leaders, who wanted to record the agreement on a durable medium so as to stress its importance. These tablets were inscribed in Turkish and are still preserved to this day in the Topkapi palace museum in Constantinople (modern Istanbul, Turkey). In 1854, during the Crimean War, a major local rebellion broke out, with Himara being one of the first towns that joined it. Although, the newly found Greek state, tried tacitly to support it, after a few months period of uprising the rebellion was suppressed by the Ottoman forces[8][9].

At 1914, some months after the withdrawal of the Ottoman forces, the "Protocol of Corfu" was signed and granted to the region autonomy, though the region remained part of the newly formed Albanian state. Himara, during the First World War,was occupied by Italy when the Italians used Austro-Hungarian war prisoners to build a road running through Himara, which greatly reduced the region's isolation.

Later, Himara was again occupied by the Italians as the rest of the Italian Invasion in Albania. The Italian Fascist Army was evicted by the Greek Army during the Greek-Italian war of 1940-41 and Himara was briefly annexed to Greece until the German invasion, April 6, 1941.

Demographics

The population of the Himara region is estimated at around 3,000 inhabitants. The ethnic composition of both the town and region is predominantly Greek [10][1][11]. This appears to be backed by the high popularity levels of the Greek minority's Unity for Human Rights Party in the region, while the possibility of victory by the party in the municipal elections in the past triggered nationalist rhetoric, both at the local and even national level and heightened tension in the town[12][13].

Language

The vast majority of people in Himarë are bilingual in both Albanian and Greek. Due to high rates of emigration, many people are also fluent in English, French and Italian. In the spring of 2006, a private Greek-language school was opened in the Himara municipality.[14]

Notable Himariotes

References

  1. ^ a b [1]
  2. ^ Book VII, Chapter 7.5
  3. ^ Hammond, NGL (1994). Philip of Macedon. London, UK: Duckworth. "Epirus was a land of milk and animal products...The social unit was a small tribe, consisting of several nomadic or semi-nomadic groups, and these tribes, of which more than seventy names are known, coalesced into large tribal coalitions, three in number: Thesprotians, Molossians and Chaonians...We know from the discovery of inscriptions that these tribes were speaking the Greek language (in a West-Greek dialect)"
  4. ^ Hecataeus of Miletus, Fr.103
  5. ^ Plutarch, Pyrrhus at The Internet Classics Archive[2]
  6. ^ Chimaira, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, at Perseus
  7. ^ Cheimarros, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, at Perseus
  8. ^ M. V. Sakellariou. Epirus, 4000 years of Greek history and civilization. Ekdotike Athenon, 1997. ISBN 9789602133712, p. 288
  9. ^ Reid, James J. (2000). Crisis of the Ottoman Empire: prelude to collapse 1839-1878. Franz Steiner Verlag. ISBN 9783515076876.
  10. ^ [http://www.imir-bg.org/imir/books/Urgent_anthropology_3.pdf Urgent anthropology Vol. 3.] Problems of Multiethnicity in the Western Balkans. International Center for Minority Studies and Intercultural Relations. Sofia 2004. Page 39
  11. ^ http://books.google.com/books?id=xeFNV40_EUAC&pg=RA1-PA178&dq=greek+minority+albania&lr=&as_drrb_is=q&as_minm_is=0&as_miny_is=&as_maxm_is=0&as_maxy The politics of national minority participation in post-communist Europe, Jonathan Stein, EastWest Institute, p. 187] "...who came from the predominantly ethnic Greek town of Himara."
  12. ^ http://www.setimes.com/cocoon/setimes/xhtml/en_GB/features/setimes/newsbriefs/2007/01/22/nb-01
  13. ^ [3]Nationalist rhetoric during the campaign, both at the local and national level, had heightened tension in the town over a possible victory by the local ethnic Greek Human Rights Union Party.
  14. ^ Gregorič 2008: 68
  15. ^ Marko, Petro. Intervistë me vetveten (Retë dhe gurët) (memories). OMSCA, 2000. 99927-40-33-7
  16. ^ http://www.hri.org/news/greek/mpa/1997/97-07-25.mpa.html#15 Macedonian Press Agency

More Tourist, Historical and Ethnological Information on Himara

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