Leusë ( sq-definite, Leusa) is a village in

Përmet Përmet (; sq-definite, Permeti) is a city and municipality in Gjirokastër County, southern Albania. The municipality of Përmet consists of the administrative units of Çarçovë, Frashër, Petran, Qendër Piskovë and Përmet. The total popul ...

municipality,

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 ...

Name

Leusë takes its name from the

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

word "Eleusa", which means "merciful". "Virgin Eleusa" is also one of the names of the

Virgin Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother o ...

Eastern Orthodox Eastern Orthodoxy, also known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity, is one of the three main branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholicism and Protestantism. Like the Pentarchy of the first millennium, the mainstream (or "canonical") ...

tradition.

History

The settlement of Leusë is first mentioned in Ottoman fiscal records as far back as 1431. The location of the village perhaps derived from its vicinity to an easy route toward

Ioannina Ioannina ( el, Ιωάννινα ' ), often called Yannena ( ' ) within Greece, is the capital and largest city of the Ioannina regional unit and of Epirus, an administrative region in north-western Greece. According to the 2011 census, the c ...

that thus ensured a swift communication with Greece. As of 1880,

Aromanians The Aromanians ( rup, Armãnji, Rrãmãnji) are an Ethnic groups in Europe, ethnic group native to the southern Balkans who speak Aromanian language, Aromanian, an Eastern Romance language. They traditionally live in central and southern Alba ...

of the Farsharot subgroup inhabited the village. A school was opened in 1920. The village suffered great damage during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. With the advent of the Albanian communist regime, most of the original inhabitants of the village emigrated and were replaced by peasant families from surrounding villages that worked in the new collectivised structures.

Geography

Leusë is located on the slopes of Dhëmbel mountain, from

Population

Nearly all the inhabitants of Leusë are Eastern Orthodox Christians. As of 2019, the village was left with around 120 residents, mostly elderly.

Major festivities

The Feast of the Dormition of Mary is celebrated in Leusë according to a ritual which takes place throughout villages in southern Albania. People gather around the church on the night of 14 August and concludes with a mass in honour of the Virgin Mary on the following morning. Leusë's church falls within the general category of post-Byzantine churches in Albania. A street festival also takes place in the narrow streets of Leusë at 14 August with live music performed by local folk groups.

Economy

Transhumance Transhumance is a type of pastoralism or nomadism, a seasonal movement of livestock between fixed summer and winter pastures. In montane regions (''vertical transhumance''), it implies movement between higher pastures in summer and lower vall ...

is still practiced in Leusë. The inhabitants of Leusë face a critical situation regarding the supply of both water and electricity. The village does not have a sewage network.

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * Aromanian settlements in Albania Populated places in Përmet Villages in Gjirokastër County {{Gjirokastër-geo-stub