Gjirokastër

Early history

The Phrygian period of the region spanned from around 1150 BCE to around 850 BCE. Hammond argues that the region was checkered with a mosaic of small Phrygian principalities, with the principality of Gjirokastër and the surrounding region having its center at Vodhinë. In the later part of the period, it appears there was a change of dynasty at Vodhine.[1]

Archaeological evidence demonstrates that during the Bronze Age, the region was inhabited by populations who likely spoke a northwestern Greek dialect.[2][improper synthesis?][dubious – discuss] Archaeologists have found pottery artifacts dating to the early Iron Age, crafted in a style that first appeared in the late Bronze Age in Pazhok, Elbasan County, and is found throughout Albania.[3] The earliest recorded inhabitants of the area around Gjirokastër were the ancient Greek tribe of the Chaonians, which belonged to the Epirote group. In antiquity the local urban centre was located in Antigonia, c. 5 kilometres (3 mi) from modern Gjirokastër on the opposite bank of river Drino.[4][5]

Medieval period

The Ottoman architecture characterize 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.[6][7] During this period, Gjirokastër developed into a center known in medieval sources as Argyropolis (Medieval Greek: Ἀργυρόπολις, meaning "Silver City") or Argyrokastron (Medieval Greek: Ἀργυρόκαστρον, meaning "Silver Castle").[8] The city was part of the Despotate of Epirus and was first mentioned by the name Argyrokastro by John VI Kantakouzenos in 1336.[9] That year Argyrokastro was among the cities that remained loyal to the Byzantine Emperor during a local Epirote rebellion in favour to Nikephoros II Orsini.[10]

The Zenebishi clan, which held Gjirokastër by the end of the century, is first mentioned in 1304 as land holders in the 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.[11] 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 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.[12] The victory secured the city of Gjirokastër for Gjon Zenebishi and it became his capital.[13] In 1417 Gjon Zenebishi died and was succeeded by his son Simon as lord of Gjirokastër in early 1418. 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.[14]

During the Albanian Revolt of 1432–36 it was besieged by forces under Depë Zenebishi, but the rebels were defeated by Ottoman troops led by Turahan Bey.[15] In 1570s local nobles Manthos Papagiannis and Panos Kestolikos, discussed as Greek representative of enslaved Greece and Albania with the head of the Holy League, John of Austria and various other European rulers, the possibility of an anti-Ottoman armed struggle, but this initiative was fruitless.[16][17][18]

226

Ottoman period (up to 1800)

According to Ottoman traveller Evliya Çelebi, who visited the city in 1670, at that time there were 200 houses within the castle, 200 in the Christian eastern neighborhood of Kyçyk Varosh (meaning small neighborhood outside the castle), 150 houses in the Byjyk Varosh (meaning big neighborhood outside the castle), and six additional neighborhoods: Palorto, Vutosh, Dunavat, Manalat, Haxhi Bey, and Memi Bey, extending on eight hills around the castle.[19] According to the traveller, the city had at that time around 2000 houses, eight mosques, three churches, 280 shops, five fountains, and five inns.[19] From the 16th century until the early 19th century Gjirokastër went from being a predominantly Christian city to one with a Muslim majority due to much of the urban population converting to Islam alongside an influx of Muslim converts from the surrounding countryside.[20][21]

Modern

View of the fortress and aqueduct of Gjirokastër depicted by Edward Lear, 4 November 1848[22]

In 1811, Gjirokastër became part of the Pashalik of Yanina, then led by the Albanian-born Ali Pasha of Ioannina and was transformed into a semi-autonomous fiefdom in the southwestern Balkans until his death in 1822. In 1833 Albanian rebels took over the town causing the Ottoman government to comply with rebel terms.[23] After the fall of the pashalik in 1868, the city was the capital of the sanjak of Ergiri. On 23 July 1880, southern Albanian committees of the League of Prizren held a congress in the city, in which was decided that if Albanian-populated areas of the Ottoman Empire were ceded to neighbouring countries, they would revolt.[24] During the Albanian National Awakening (1831–1912), the city was a major centre of the movement, and some groups in the city were reported to carry portraits of Skanderbeg, the national hero of the Albanians during this period.[25] Gjirokastër from the middle of the nineteenth century also prominently contributed to the wider Ottoman Empire through individuals that served as Kadıs (civil servants) and was an important centre of Islamic culture.[26] In early March 1908, the binbashi of Gjirokastër was assassinated by Çerçiz Topulli and his followers.[27] The pro-Albanianists of the city during 1909–1912 were split between two groups: the urban liberals who wanted to cooperate with the Greeks and Albanian nationalists who formed guerilla bands operating in the countryside.[21] During the 19th and early 20th century, Albanian speaking Muslims were the majority population of Gjirokastër, while a small number of Greek-speaking families lived there.[21]

The official declaration of the Autonomous Republic of Northern Epirus March 1, 1914. The River Drino seen in the background.

Given its Greek minority, the city was claimed and taken by Greece during the First Balkan War of 1912–1913, following the retreat of the Ottomans from the region.[28] However, it was awarded to Albania under the terms of the Treaty of London of 1913 and the Protocol of Florence of 17 December 1913.[29]

This turn of events proved highly unpopular with the local Greek population, and their representatives under Georgios Christakis-Zografos formed the Panepirotic Assembly in Gjirokastër in protest.[30] The Assembly, short of incorporation with Greece, demanded either local autonomy or an international occupation by forces of the Great Powers for the districts of Gjirokastër, Sarandë, and Korçë.[31]

In April 1939, Gjirokastër was occupied by Italy following the Italian invasion of Albania. On December 8, 1940, during the Greco-Italian War, the Hellenic Army entered the city and stayed for a five-month period before capitulating to Nazi Germany in April 1941 and returning the city to Italian command. After the capitulation of Italy in the Armistice of Cassibile in September 1943, the city was taken by German forces and eventually returned to Albanian control in 1944.

House of the post-war leader Enver Hoxha, where he grew up

Konak (house) of writer Ismail Kadare in Gjirokastër

The postwar communist regime developed the city as an industrial and commercial centre. It was elevated to the status of a museum town,[32] as it was the birthplace of the leader of the People's Socialist Republic of Albania, Enver Hoxha, who had been born there in 1908. His house was converted into a museum.[33]

The demolition of the monumental statue of the authoritarian leader Enver Hoxha in Gjirokastër by members of the local Greek community in August 1991 marked the end of the one-party state[34] It was the last statue in Albania to be demolished during the Fall of Communism in Albania, which happened in 28 July 1991, 5 months after the rest of the statues that were demolished since February and marked the end of the one-party state.[35]

Gjirokastër suffered severe economic problems following the end of communist rule in 1991. In the spring of 1993, the region of Gjirokastër became a center of open conflict between Greek minority members and the Albanian police.[36] The city was particularly affected by the 1997 collapse of a massive pyramid scheme which destabilised the entire Albanian economy.[37] The city became the focus of a rebellion against the government of Sali Berisha; violent anti-government protests took place which eventually forced Berisha's resignation. On 16 December 1997, Hoxha's house was damaged by unknown attackers, but subsequently restored.[38]

^ Hammond, N. G. L. (2006). "The Illyrians". In Boardman, John; Edwards, I. E. S.; Hammond, N. G. L.; Sollberger, E. (eds.). The Prehistory of the Balkans; the Middle East and the Aegean World, Tenth to Eighth Centuries B.C. (6 ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 654. ISBN 0-521-22496-9. In what we may call the early part of the Phrygian period, c.1150—950 B.C., Phrygian power or Phrygian influence seems to have been exercised through more or less independent principalities, occupying the cantons which are natural features of this area, each principality being indicated by its royal cemetery of tumuli... Vodhine in that of Gjirokaster... There were some losses in the latter half of the period: the foothold east of the Vardar, north-west Albania including Epidamnus, and perhaps parts of north Epirus, as there were changes of dynasty at Bajkaj and Vodhine. In the second part of the Phrygian period, c. 950—800 B.C. ^ Hammond, Nicholas Geoffrey Lemprière (1976). Migrations and Invasions in Greece and Adjacent Areas. Noyes Press. p. 153. ISBN 978-0-8155-5047-1. The connections of the tumulus-burials at Barc in the southern part of the lakeland were not with the Kukes or Mati tumuli but with those of Vajze and southern Albania; for example, in the long bronze pins, roll-top pins, twin-vessels. handles divided by a cross-bar, and small spectacle-fibulae of an early type. Moreover, the pottery of the 'northwestern geometric style' which was typical of Barc,' was current not in north but in central and south Albania and also in the plain of Ioannina at this time. It is probable that the peoples to the south of the Shkumbi valley and lake Ochrid spoke northwest Greek, being the residue left behind when the migrations carried many of their kindred into the Greek peninsula. ^ Boardman, John (1982-08-05). The Prehistory of the Balkans and the Middle East and the Aegean World, Tenth to Eighth centuries B.C. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 223. ISBN 978-0-521-22496-3. Retrieved 1 October 2010. ^ Cabanes, P. (1997). "The Growth of the Cities". Epirus: 4000 Years of Greek History and Culture. Ekdotike Athenon: 92–94. ISBN 9789602133712. ^ Mancini, Lorenzo; Gamberini, Anna; Aleotti, Nadia (2020). "Sacred Places, Territorial Economy and Cultural Identity in Northern Epirus (Chaonia)". Archaeology and Economy in the Ancient World: 45. doi:10.11588/propylaeum.553. ISBN 9783947450794. Retrieved 2 November 2021. If the belonging of the Chaonians to Greek culture and ethnicity could hardly be denied by present scholarship, the literary sources of Classical times regarded them as barbarians. This 'peripheral' connotation... ^ Komata, Damian (1988). "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". Iliria. 18 (2): 165–176. doi:10.3406/iliri.1988.1503. ^ Osswald 2011, p. 449. ^ Dvornik, Francis (1958). The Idea of Apostolicity in Byzantium and the Legend of the Apostle Andrew. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. p. 219. OCLC 1196640. ^ Kiel, Machiel (1990). Ottoman Architecture in Albania, 1385–1912. Beşiktaş, Istanbul: Research Centre for Islamic History, Art and Culture. p. 138. ISBN 978-92-9063-330-3. Retrieved 2 October 2010. ^ Nicol, Donald M. (2010). The Despotate of Epiros 1267-1479: A Contribution to the History of Greece in the Middle Ages. Cambridge University Press. pp. 114–115. ISBN 9780521130899. ^ Giakoumis, Konstantinos (2003), Fourteenth-century Albanian migration and the ‘relative autochthony’ of the Albanians in Epeiros. The case of Gjirokastër. Archived 2015-09-24 at the Wayback Machine" 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." ^ Osswald 2011, p. 226. ^ Osswald 2011, p. 227: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 ^ Riza, Emin (1992). "Ethnographic and open-air museums" (PDF). UNESCO, Paris. Retrieved March 18, 2011. ^ Imber, Colin (2006). The Crusade of Varna, 1443–45. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. p. 27. ISBN 978-0-7546-0144-9. Retrieved 31 July 2012. ^ Vakalopoulos, Apostolos Euangelou (1973). History of Macedonia, 1354–1833. Institute for Balkan Studies. p. 195. The endeavours of two Epirote Greeks, Matthew (or Manthos) Papayiannis and Panos Kestolnikos, are worthy of mention at this point. As "Greek representatives of enslaved Greece and Albania", they came to an understanding with Don John of Austria.. ^ Chasiotis, 1965, p. 241: "embajadores griegos de la baja Grecia y Alvania" ^ Cini, Giorgio (1974). Il Mediterraneo Nella Seconda Metà Del '500 Alla Luce Di Lepanto (in Italian). Leo S. Olschki. p. 238. Delusi rimasero pure i ribelli dell'Epiro del Nord, dove si erano sollevati i notabili greci di Argirocastron Manthos Papagiannis e Panos Kestolicos. Questi notabili si erano accordati con l'arcivescovo di Ochrida Ioachim ed anche con alcuni metropolis della Macedonia occidentale e dell'Epiro, si erano assicurati promesse di Don Juan per un sostegno armato... [Disappointed were also the rebels of Northern Epirus, where they had raised the Greek notables of Argirocastron Manthos Papagiannis and Panos Kestolicos. These chiefs had agreed with the Archbishop of Ochrida Ioachim and also with some metropolitans of western Macedonia and Epirus, and had secured promises of Don Juan for armed support...] ^ a b Elsie, Robert (March 2007). "GJIROKASTRA nga udhëpërshkrimi i Evlija Çelebiut" (PDF). Albanica Ekskluzive (66): 73–76. ^ Giakoumis, Konstantinos (2010). "The Orthodox Church in Albania Under the Ottoman Rule 15th–19th Century". In Schmitt, Oliver Jens & Andreas Rathberger (eds). Religion und Kultur im albanischsprachigen Südosteuropa [Religion and culture in Albanian-speaking southeastern Europe]]. Peter Lang. pp. 86–87. ^ a b c Kokolakis, Mihalis (2003). Το ύστερο Γιαννιώτικο Πασαλίκι: χώρος, διοίκηση και πληθυσμός στην τουρκοκρατούμενη Ηπειρο (1820–1913) [The late Pashalik of Ioannina: Space, administration and population in Ottoman ruled Epirus (1820–1913) "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original on 2015-04-18. Retrieved 2016-08-10.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link). EIE-ΚΝΕ. p.52. "β. Ο διεσπαρμένος ελληνόφωνος πληθυσμός περιλάμβανε... και μικρό αριθμό οικογενειών στα αστικά κέντρα του Αργυροκάστρου και της Αυλώνας. [b. The scattered Greek-speaking population included ... and a small number of families in the cities of Gjirokastra and Vlora.]"; p. 54. "Η μουσουλμανική κοινότητα της Ηπείρου, με εξαίρεση τους μικρούς αστικούς πληθυσμούς των νότιων ελληνόφωνων περιοχών, τους οποίους προαναφέραμε, και τις δύο με τρεις χιλιάδες διεσπαρμένους "Τουρκόγυφτους", απαρτιζόταν ολοκληρωτικά από αλβανόφωνους, και στα τέλη της Τουρκοκρατίας κάλυπτε τα 3/4 περίπου του πληθυσμού των αλβανόφωνων περιοχών και περισσότερο από το 40% του συνόλου. [The Muslim community in Epirus, with the exception of small urban populations of the southern Greek-speaking areas, which we mentioned, and 2-3000 dispersed "Muslim Romani", consisted entirely of Albanian speakers, and in the late Ottoman period covered approximately 3/4 of population ethnic Albanian speaking areas and more than 40% of the total area."; pp.55–56. "Σ' αυτά τα μέρη οι μουσουλμανικές κοινότητες, όταν υπήρχαν, περιορίζονταν στο συμπαγή πληθυσμό ορισμένων πόλεων και κωμοπόλεων (Αργυρόκαστρο, Λιμπόχοβο, Λεσκοβίκι, Δέλβινο, Παραμυθιά). [In these parts of the Muslim communities, where present, were limited to compact population of certain towns and cities (Gjirokastra, Libohovë, Leskovik, Delvino, Paramythia)." p. 91. Στο Αργυρόκαστρο οι Αλβανιστές διασπάστηκαν ανάμεσα στους φιλελεύθερους της πόλης, που ζητούσαν τη συνεργασία με τους Έλληνες, και στα ακραία εθνικιστικά στοιχεία, που σχημάτισαν στην ύπαιθρο ανταρτικές ομάδες. [The Albanians of Gjirokastër were split between the liberals of the city, calling for cooperation with the Greeks, and the extreme nationalist elements, which formed in the countryside as guerrilla groups.]"; pp. 370, 374. ^ Elsie, Robert (ed.). "Albania in the Painting of Edward Lear (1848)". albanianart.net. ^ Pollo, Stefanaq (1984). Historia e Shqipërisë: Vitet 30 të shek. XIX-1912 (in Albanian). Akademia e Shkencave e RPS të Shqipërisë, Instituti i Historisë. OCLC 165705732. ^ Gawrych, George Walter (2006). The Crescent and the Eagle: Ottoman Rule, Islam and the Albanians, 1874–1913. London: I.B. Tauris. pp. 23–64. ISBN 978-1-84511-287-5. Retrieved 30 September 2010. ^ Gawrych, George Walter (2006). The Crescent and the Eagle: Ottoman Rule, Islam and the Albanians, 1874–1913. London: I.B. Tauris. p. 148. ISBN 978-1-84511-287-5. Retrieved 30 September 2010. ^ Ali, Çaksu (2006). Proceedings of the Second International Symposium on Islamic Civilisation in the Balkans, Tirana, Albania, 4–7 December 2003. Research Center for Islamic History, Art and Culture. p. 115. "At least since the middle of the nineteenth century; families or individuals from Gjirokastër (the Ottoman Ergiri or Ergiri Kasrı) in Southern Albania, and from Libohova, a small town located twenty kilometers from Gjirokastër, gave a huge number of Kadıs, who were in charge in the whole Ottoman Empire, making of these two localities important centres of Islamic culture." ^ Haid, Gerlinde (2008). European voices: Multipart Singing in the Balkans and the Mediterranean, Volume 1. Böhlau Verlag Wien. ISBN 9783205780908. ^ James Pettifer. "The Greek Minority in Albania in the Aftermath of Communism" (PDF). Camberley, Surrey: Conflict Studies Research Centre, Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. p. 4. Retrieved 17 September 2023. ^ Pentzopoulos, Dimitri (2002). The Balkan Exchange of Minorities and Its Impact on Greece. London: C. Hurst & Co. p. 28. ISBN 1-85065-674-6. ^ Heuberger, Valeria; Suppan, Arnold; Vyslonzil, Elisabeth (1996). Brennpunkt Osteuropa: Minderheiten im Kreuzfeuer des Nationalismus (in German). Vienna: Oldenbourg Wissenschaftsverlag. p. 68. ISBN 978-3-486-56182-1. ^ Ference, Gregory Curtis (1994). Chronology of 20th-Century Eastern European History. Gale Research. p. 9. ISBN 978-0-8103-8879-6. ^ Cite error: The named reference Petersen was invoked but never defined (see the help page). ^ Murati, Violeta. "Tourism with the Dictator". Standard (in Albanian). Retrieved 19 August 2010.[dead link] ^ Pettifer, James; Poulton, Hugh (1994). " The Southern Balkans. London: Minority Rights Group International. p. 29. ISBN 978-1-897693-75-9. Under communism the Greek minority was subject to serious human rights abuses, particularly in terms of religious freedom, education in the Greek language and freedom of publication. It played a leading part in the struggle to end the one party state, with the demolition of the monumental statue of Enver Hoxha in Gjirokastra in August 1991 an important landmark ^ "Pse monumenti i diktatorit Enver Hoxha u hoq në Gjirokastër në korrik '91 dhe jo në shkurt si gjithë të tjerët?!". jugunews.net. Retrieved 2023-03-01. ^ Petiffer, James (2001). The Greek Minority in Albania – In the Aftermath of Communism (PDF). Surrey, UK: Conflict Studies Research Centre. p. 13. ISBN 1-903584-35-3. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-06. ^ Cite error: The named reference Jeffires was invoked but never defined (see the help page). ^ Lajmi (22 March 2010). "Tourism with the Communist Symbols". Gazeta Lajmi (in Albanian). Archived from the original on 11 July 2011. Retrieved 19 August 2010.