Korçë

File:270px-Korca.jpg View of Korçë from the Heroes' Cemetery overlooking the town

File:Church in Korçë.jpg Church in Korçë (Photo by Marc Morell)

Korçë (Albanian: Korçë or Korça, Greek: Κορυτσά, Korytsá) is a major city in south-eastern Albania, located at 40°37′N 20°46′E near the border with Greece. It has a population of around 60,000 people (2003 estimate), making it the fifth largest city in Albania. It stands on a plateau some 850 m (2,800 feet) above sea level, surrounded by the Morava Mountains.

History

The city and the surrounding area are home to a small Greek and a large Aromanian community. (It also has a small population of Macedonian Slavs.) In 1805, the French traveller François Pouqueville noted that the city had a population of some 1,300 familes, two thirds of whom were Greek Orthodox, however in that era any member of the Orthodox Church in the southern Balkans was sen as Greek and so even Albanian of Orthodox heritage and Vlachs were placed in this count. Tom J. Winnifrith, in the book Badlands - Borderlands: A History of Southern Albania/Northern Epirus, did not note a significant population of Greeks within Korce. The local Greek population achieved a degree of autonomy in 1862. It had a notably progressive outlook; the first school teaching in the Albanian language was established there in 1887, followed by Albania's first school for girls in 1891.

In 1805, the French traveller François Pouqueville noted that the city had a population of some 1,300 familes, two thirds of whom were Orthodox. It had a notably progressive outlook; the first school teaching in the Albanian language was established there in 1887, followed by Albania's first school for girls in 1891. However the Albanian Orthodox Church was not established and recognized until the 20's century. Before then any Albanian or Vlach or Orthodox ethnicity was registered as a Greek according to the Ottoman millet system.

Ottoman rule over Korçë persisted until 1912 but the city's proximity to Greece, who claimed the entire Albanian Orthodox population as Greek, led to its being fiercely contested in the Balkan Wars of 1912-1913. The city was occupied by Greek forces in 6 December 1912. Its incorporation into Albania in 1913 was controversial, as Greece claimed it as part of a region that they called "Northern Epirus". However, in accordance with the Corfu Protocol signed between Greece and Albania in 1914 and the ethnographic survey that preceded it, the city was included in the newly formed Autonomous Northern Epirus zone.

Greek forces returned to occupy the city from 10 July 1914 during the early part of the First World War. It was then taken by the Austro-Hungarians, then by the Greeks again and finally by France, which occupied Korçë between 1916-1920. It was ultimately awarded to Albania by the International Boundary Commission which determined the country's post-war borders.

During the inter-war period, the city became a hotbed of Communist agitation. Albania's future dictator, Enver Hoxha, lived there and was both a pupil and a teacher at the town's French school. Korçë's underground Communist movement became the nucleus of Hoxha's Albanian Party of Labour.

Korçë was again occupied by Greece between November 1940 - April 1941, following Fascist Italy's annexation of the rest of Albania. It was bitterly contested by the two sides and suffered heavy damage before falling to Italy, which used the town as a base for military operations into Greece. Nazi Germany took over the occupation after Italy's withdrawal from the war.

During the occupation, the city became a major centre of Communist-inspired resistence to the Axis occupation of Albania. The establishment of the Albanian Party of Labour – the Communist Party – was formally preclaimed in Korçë in 1943. Albanian rule was restored in 1944 following the withdrawal of German forces.

After the war, the area remained a bastion of support for the Hoxha régime, which rewarded it with major investments in the local economy such as the building of a major power station and engineering industries. Much of the surrounding region, which had been marshy, was drained to make it a major agricultural production area. Its demographic profile changed significantly during this period, with the city growing in size. It is still ethnically mixed, with a vast majority Albanian population intermingled with Vlachs, Greeks, Macedonian-Slavs and Roma.

Culture

Korçë has been an important religious centre for Orthodox Christians and Muslims for centuries. It is the seat of an Orthodox metropolitan bishop and also possesses a large 15th century mosque. During the Ottoman period it became one of the centres of the growing Albanian identity, housing the first Albanian school.

Economy

During the 20th century, Korçë gained a substantial industrial capacity in addition to its historic role as a commercial and agricultural centre. The plateau on which the city stands is highly fertile and is one of Albania's main wheat-growing areas. Local industries include the manufacture of knitwear, rugs, textiles, flour-milling, brewing, and sugar-refining. Deposits of lignite coal are mined in the mountains nearby.

References

• James Pettifer, Albania & Kosovo, A & C Black, London (2001, ISBN 0713650168)
• 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)
• T.J. Winnifrith Badlands-Borderlands A History of Northern Epirus/Southern Albania (2003)

See also

• List of cities in Albania

External links

• ALBoZONE: Cities of Albania