Poliçan
Πολύτσανη
Village
Poliçan is located in Albania
Poliçan
Poliçan
Coordinates: 40°7′53″N 20°21′2″E / 40.13139°N 20.35056°E / 40.13139; 20.35056
Country Albania
CountyGjirokastër
MunicipalityDropull
Municipal unitPogon
Time zoneUTC+1 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+2 (CEST)
Postal Code
6007[1]

Poliçan (Greek: Πολύτσανη, romanized: Polytsani) is a village in Gjirokastër County, southern Albania.[2] At the 2015 local government reform it became part of the municipality Dropull.[3] It is within the wider Pogoni region that stretches in both Greece and Albania.[4] Poliçan was the municipal center of the former Pogon commune in Albania. It is nicknamed "the Bride of the Pogoni region" and is inhabited by ethnic Greeks.[5]

History

Antiquity and Byzantine period

In classical antiquity the region was inhabited by the Chaonians,[6] one of the three major Greek tribes that inhabited ancient Epirus.[7] Polican was identified with the Chaonian settlement Politeiani (Greek: Πολιτειανή) also known as Polyani (Greek: Πολυανή). The name appears to be borrowed from the nearby mountain Polyainos.[6] Ancient coins depicting Alexander the Great have been unearthed in Poliçan.[8]

The ancient name has changed to the present form (Polyts(i)ani) during the Slavic invasion (7th-8th century).[6] In the late Byzantine period (11th-15th century) two Christian Orthodox monasteries were erected next to Polican.[6] After the Fall of Constantinople in the Fourth Crusade (1204), Polican became part of the Greek Despotate of Epirus and refuge for various Byzantine noble families.[9]

Ottoman period

At the period of Ottoman occupation, that started in mid-15th century, Polican enjoyed a privileged semi-autonomous status which led to economic and cultural flourishing.[9] The settlement was included in the Koinon of Zagori, although geographically it was not part of the Zagori region, but belonged to the Pogoni villages.[4]

Religious festival next to the church of Saint Nicholas in Polican, 1931

In the early 16th century two significant church buildings were erected in the town: Saint Athanasius (1513) and Saint Demetrius (1526). Both of them display unique features of early post-Byzantine art.[10] A Greek school was founded in 1672 by the local Orthodox missionary Sophianos next to the church of Saint Athanasius.[11] The school attracted also students from the nearby regions next to Gjirokastër (Zagori and Riza).[12]

A second school started operating in 1750, sponsored by a local businessman and benefactor.[11] Greek education was expanded with the foundation of two secondary level schools in 1866, in addition to a boys' and a girls' school in 1866 and 1874 respectively.[13] The local educational institutions became renowned to such a degree that their graduates were eligible for admission to any Greek college in the Ottoman capital Constantinople (Istanbul) without qualifying examinations.[14] The schools of Polican were financed by the local community and especially by local businessmen and benefactors as well as by the town's diaspora.[15]

20th century

Polican and the rest of the settlements in the Pogon municipality became part of Albania in the 1920s.[16] In 1940, when Axis Italy launched a failed invasion against Greece from Albanian territory during World War II, the town came under the control of the II Army Corps of the Greek forces.[17]

The Greek communities that reside in Pogon have a recognized minority status by the Albanian state.[18] A Greek elementary school is currently operating in Polican.[19]

Demographics

In 1913 the population of Polican was 1,650 (Greek census).[20] During the interwar period it reached ca. 2,500 inhabitants that spoke Greek.[21] but it decreased to 559 in 1989.[22] According to a 2014 report by the Albanian government, there were 729 ethnic Greeks in the village.[23]

Geography and culture

Polican is located on the slopes of Mount Nemërçkë, 13 km (8 mi) from the Greek-Albanian border.[5][24] It is the northernmost Greek speaking village within the Pogoni region, which is divided between Greece (40 villages) and Albania (7 villages).[4][18][24]

In Polican, along with the rest of the Pogoni region, polyphonic singing is part of the local musical tradition.[18]

Notable people

  • Sophianos (-1711), Greek-Orthodox bishop and scholar.

References

  1. ↑ "Kodi Postar, Qarku Gjirokastër" [Postal Code, Gjirokastër County] (PDF). Posta Shqiptare. 2017.
  2. ↑ "Location of Derviçan". Retrieved 2010-09-03.
  3. ↑ "Law nr. 115/2014" (PDF) (in Albanian). p. 6371. Retrieved 2022-02-25.
  4. 1 2 3 Giakoumis 2009, p. 15.
  5. 1 2 Καλανταρίδου, Σοφία. "Αποστολή αλληλεγγύης στην Πολύτσανη Πωγωνίου". enet.gr (in Greek). Eleftherotypia. Retrieved 2015-02-03.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Giakoumis 2009, p. 12.
  7. ↑ Boardman, John; Hammond, Nicholas Geoffrey Lemprière (1982). The Cambridge Ancient History - The Expansion of the Greek World, Eighth to Sixth Centuries B.C., Part 3: Volume 3 (2nd ed.). Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press. pp. 430, 434. ISBN 0-521-23447-6.
  8. ↑ Hammond 1967, p. 722.
  9. 1 2 Giakoumis 2009, p. 141.
  10. ↑ Giakoumis 2009, p. 139.
  11. 1 2 Koltsida 2008, p. 131.
  12. ↑ Koltsida 2008, p. 197.
  13. ↑ Koltsida 2008, p. 229.
  14. ↑ Koltsida 2008, p. 235.
  15. ↑ Koltsida 2008, pp. 281–285.
  16. ↑ Andreas Hemming; Gentiana Kera; Enriketa Pandelejmoni, eds. (2010). Albania: family, society and culture in the 20th century. Münster [u.a.]: LIT. p. 103. ISBN 9783643501448.
  17. ↑ Carr, John C. (2013). The defence and fall of Greece 1940-1941. Pen and Sword. pp. 82–83. ISBN 9781781591819.
  18. 1 2 3 Tziovas 2003, p. 196.
  19. ↑ "Second Report Submitted by Albania Pursuant to Article 25, Paragraph 2 of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities" (PDF). Council of Europe. p. 62. Retrieved 2015-02-07.
  20. ↑ Koltsida 2008, p. 100.
  21. ↑ Hammond 1967, pp. 29, 213.
  22. ↑ Kallivretakis, Leonidas (1995). 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] (in Greek). Εκδόσεις Σιδέρης. p. 57. ISBN 9789600800548. Retrieved 2015-02-02.
  23. ↑ "Fourth Report submitted by Albania pursuant to Article 25, paragraph 2 of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities". Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Republic of Albania. p. 98. Retrieved 2018-12-28.
  24. 1 2 Hammond 1967, p. 213 "With a population of 2,500 Poliçan is the largest village in the long-rift within the double range of Nemerçkë. The villages to the north-west are Albanian-speaking, while those to the south speak Greek as their mother tongue. Poliçan therefore regards itself as the most northerly village of the area Pogoni."

Sources

Traditional songs

Website

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