Cepo is a municipal administrative units, formerly known as

communes An intentional community is a voluntary residential community which is designed to have a high degree of social cohesion and teamwork from the start. The members of an intentional community typically hold a common social, political, religious, ...

in the

Gjirokastër County Gjirokastër County ( sq, Qarku i Gjirokastrës) is one of the 12 counties of Albania. The total population in 2021 was 58,031, in an area of 2884 km². Its capital is the city Gjirokastër. Administrative divisions Until 2000, Gjirokastër ...

, southern

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...

. At the 2015 local government reform it became a subdivision of the municipality

Gjirokastër Gjirokastër (, sq-definite, Gjirokastra) is a city in the Republic of Albania and the seat of Gjirokastër County and Gjirokastër Municipality. It is located in a valley between the Gjerë mountains and the Drino, at 300 metres above sea le ...

. The municipal unit administrative center is Palokastër village and it consists on 10 other villages which are: Fushëbardhë, Zhulat, Taroninë, Mashkullorë, Çepun, Kodër, Plesat,

Kardhiq Kardhiq is a village in the former Cepo commune, Gjirokastër County, Albania. At the 2015 local government reform it became part of the municipality Gjirokastër. The village is inhabited by Muslim Albanians and an Orthodox Albanian population ...

, Prongji and Humelicë.

History

In 1185 the seat of the Orthodox bishopric of

Dryinopolis Dryinopolis or Dryinoupolis ( el, Δρυϊνόπολις or Δρυϊνούπολις) is a historical region in southwestern Albania and northwestern Greece in Epirus. The heartland of this region is the valley of the Drino (Greek: Drinos) river and ...

was moved to Cepo until 1395 when it was transferred to Argyrokastron (modern

). In Medieval times, Zhulat was the home of Papa Zhuli, a Catholic priest who is credited for the ''Kanun'' of Laberia.

Demographics

The population at the 2011 census was 1,727, while in the civil registers of the same year the population had a total of 6,702 inhabitants. In 2018, referring to the same civil registry, the population had a slight decline, counting a total population of 6,224. Historically speaking, Çepo had a mixed Muslim and Christian (Albanian Orthodox) population, with greater numbers of Muslims. Humelica was inhabited by a historically Christian population, Fushë Bardhe and Zhulat were inhabited by historically Muslim populations, and much of the rest of the commune is of mixed historical confession.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 Nikolakopoulos, Ilias, Kouloubis Theodoros A. & Thanos M. Veremis (eds). ''Ο Ελληνισμός της Αλβανίας he Greeks of Albania'. University of Athens. p. 51. In the 2011 census, a plurality (44.72%) the population did not identify with one of Albania's four major denominations, while of the major four, Çepo had 42.79% Muslims, 9.44% Orthodox, 2.2% Bektashi, and 1.85% Catholic.

References

Former municipalities in Gjirokastër County Administrative units of Gjirokastër {{Gjirokastër-geo-stub