Oktisi ( mk, Октиси, sq, Oktis) is a

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...

in the

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

Struga Struga ( mk, Струга , sq, Strugë) is a town and popular tourist destination situated in the south-western region of North Macedonia, lying on the shore of Lake Ohrid. The town of Struga is the seat of Struga Municipality. Name The nam ...

North Macedonia North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Socialist Feder ...

History

In 1900,

Vasil Kanchov Vasil Kanchov ( bg, Васил Кънчов, Vasil Kanchov) (26 July 1862 – 6 February 1902) was a Bulgarian geographer, ethnographer and politician. Biography Vasil Kanchov was born in Vratsa. Upon graduating from High school in Lom, ...

gathered and compiled statistics on demographics in the area and reported that the village of Oktisi was inhabited by about 840 Bulgarian Christians and 550 Bulgarian Muslims. The "La Macédoine et sa Population Chrétienne" survey by Dimitar Mishev (D. Brankov) concluded that the Christian part of the local population in 1905 was composed of 1016

Bulgarian Exarchists Bulgarian Millet ( tr, Bulgar Milleti) was an ethno-religious and linguistic community within the Ottoman Empire from the mid-19th to early 20th century. The semi-official term ''Bulgarian millet'', was used by the Sultan for the first time in ...

. There was a Bulgarian school in the beginning of 20th century

Oktis Basilica

The Oktis Basilica was a paleochristian basilica in the northern part of the village of Oktis, but the church of the village (St. Nicholas) was built on the foundations of this basilica in 1927. In 1954, the Archaeological Museum of Macedonia undertook excavations of the basilica, which continued until 1994 under Dimçe Koço. The basilica has dimensions of 27.20 x 24.10 m., and consists of a narthex, exonarthex, side annexes and an intersection. It was constructed in a single phase. The floors of the central ship, the narthex, the crossroads, and the northern annex are filled with mosaics, decorated with geometric elements and fauna as well as a few preserved parts of the animal world. The Oktis Basilica is believed to originate in the 5th century as a sacred temple for the inhabitants of that early Christian period, which are hypothesised to be part of the wider ancestral population of the

Albanians The Albanians (; sq, Shqiptarët ) are an ethnic group and nation native to the Balkan Peninsula who share a common Albanian ancestry, culture, history and language. They primarily live in Albania, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Se ...

. The archaeological materials found in the excavations of the site are preserved in the People's Museum of

. It is possible that the mosaic in the narthex of the basilica represents the awareness of Christian unity among the early Albanian Byzantine Christian communities.

Demographics

Oktisi has traditionally been inhabited by Orthodox Macedonians and a

Torbeš The Macedonian Muslims ( mk, Македонци-муслимани, Makedonci-muslimani), also known as Muslim Macedonians or ''Torbeši'' ( mk, Торбеши), and in some sources grouped together with Pomaks, are a minority religious group w ...

population. p. 333. "Исламизираните Македонци во струшките села Јабланица, Боро(в)ец, Октиси, Подгорци и Лабуништа живеат заедно со православното население.". As of the 2021 census, Oktisi had 1,925 residents with the following ethnic composition:Total resident population of the Republic of North Macedonia by ethnic affiliation, by settlement, Census 2021
/ref> *Turks 762 *Macedonians 409 *Others (including

) 342 *Albanians 241 *Persons for whom data are taken from administrative sources 171 According to the 2002 census, the village had a total of 2,479 inhabitants. Ethnic groups in the village include:Macedonian Census (2002)
''Book 5 - Total population according to the Ethnic Affiliation, Mother Tongue and Religion''
The State Statistical Office, Skopje, 2002, p. 181. *

Turks Turk or Turks may refer to: Communities and ethnic groups * Turkic peoples, a collection of ethnic groups who speak Turkic languages * Turkish people, or the Turks, a Turkic ethnic group and nation * Turkish citizen, a citizen of the Republic o ...

1,071 * Macedonians 955 *

346 *

Romani Romani may refer to: Ethnicities * Romani people, an ethnic group of Northern Indian origin, living dispersed in Europe, the Americas and Asia ** Romani genocide, under Nazi rule * Romani language, any of several Indo-Aryan languages of the Roma ...

1 *

Serbs The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are the most numerous South Slavic ethnic group native to the Balkans in Southeastern Europe, who share a common Serbian ancestry, culture, history and language. The majority of Serbs live in their na ...

1 *

Bosniaks The Bosniaks ( bs, Bošnjaci, Cyrillic: Бошњаци, ; , ) are a South Slavic ethnic group native to the Southeast European historical region of Bosnia, which is today part of Bosnia and Herzegovina, who share a common Bosnian ancestry ...

15 *Others 91

References

External links

Villages in Struga Municipality Torbeši settlements Albanian communities in North Macedonia {{Struga-geo-stub