Kranë ( sq-definite, Krana; el, Κρανιά;
romanized ''Kraniá'') is a village in
Vlorë County
Vlorë County (; sq, Qarku i Vlorës) is one of the 12 counties of the Republic of Albania with the capital in Vlorë. The county spans and has a total population of 187,675 people as of 2021. It borders the counties of Fier and Gjirokastë ...
, 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 part of the municipality of
Finiq
Finiq ( sq, Finiq or Finiqi, el, Φοινίκη, Foiniki) is a settlement, considered town or village, and municipality in Vlorë County, in southern Albania located 8 km from the Ionian Sea and 20 km north of the Greek border. It was f ...
. It is inhabited solely by
Greeks
The Greeks or Hellenes (; el, Έλληνες, ''Éllines'' ) are an ethnic group and nation indigenous to the Eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea regions, namely Greece, Cyprus, Albania, Italy, Turkey, Egypt, and, to a lesser extent, oth ...
.
History
In antiquity it was an
Epirot town, known as "Elikranon" (Greek: Ελίκρανον). The ancient ruins can be seen even today. The name "Krania" is firstly mentioned in the ''
Chronicle of the Tocco'' in 1412. In 1856, the Greek scholar
Panagiotis Aravantinos
Panagiotis Aravantinos ( el, Παναγιώτης Αραβαντινός, 1809 or 1811 – 1870) was a Greek scholar and educator who was born in Parga. He worked primarily in Epirus, which was then under the rule of the Ottoman Empire. As with man ...
writes about the village: «''... a village with 15 houses, of Greek origin, the spoken language is Greek and belongs to the diocese of
Delvino.''»
Thimios Lolis (1880-1961) was born in the village, a Greek chieftain who fought in the
Macedonian Struggle
The Macedonian Struggle ( bg, Македонска борба; el, Μακεδονικός Αγώνας; mk, Борба за Македонија; sr, Борба за Македонију; tr, Makedonya Mücadelesi) was a series of social, po ...
in the group of
Pavlos Melas
Pavlos Melas ( el, Παύλος Μελάς, ''Pávlos Melás''; March 29, 1870 – October 13, 1904) was a Greek revolutionary and artillery officer of the Hellenic Army. He participated in the Greco-Turkish War of 1897 and was amongst the first ...
, the
Autonomous Republic of Northern Epirus
The Autonomous Republic of Northern Epirus ( el, Αὐτόνομος Δημοκρατία τῆς Βορείου Ἠπείρου, translit=Aftónomos Dimokratía tis Voreíou Ipeírou) was a short-lived, self-governing entity founded in the aft ...
, the
Balkan Wars and in the Greco-Italian War.
[Θύμιος Λώλης: Ποιος ήταν ο θρυλικός οπλαρχηγός της Ηπείρου και γιατί ενοχλεί τους Αλβανούς]
himios Lolis: Who was the legendary chieftain of Epirus and why Albanians are bothered of him 4 December 2018, iellada A monument to honour him exists in the village. Between 2018-19, the Thimios Lolis monument has been vandalized twice by
Albanian nationalists.
Demographics
In the Defter of the Sanjak of Delvinë from 1431-1432, 4 villages in the area of
Vurgu are recorded:
Finiki (Finiqi),
Vurgo,
Jeromi and Krajna, each with very few inhabitants. Among these villages, in the Ottoman register mentioned above typical Albanian names are attested, such as: ''Gjin'', ''Reçi'', ''Leka'', ''Gjon'', ''Dorza'', ''Meksh'' ''Nika'' and ''Deda''.
According to a research of 1993, the village had a permanent population of 854, of which all were ethnically
Greeks
The Greeks or Hellenes (; el, Έλληνες, ''Éllines'' ) are an ethnic group and nation indigenous to the Eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea regions, namely Greece, Cyprus, Albania, Italy, Turkey, Egypt, and, to a lesser extent, oth ...
.
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References
External links
Video showing the village
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kranë
Villages in Vlorë County
Greek communities in Albania