Pogradec () is the eleventh most populous city in

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 ...

and the capital of the eponymous municipality. It is located on a narrow plain between two mountain chains along the southwestern banks of the

Lake of Ohrid Lake Ohrid ( mk, Охридско Езеро , al, Liqeni i Ohrit , also referred as ''Liqeni i Pogradecit'';) is a lake which straddles the mountainous border between the southwestern part of North Macedonia and eastern Albania. It is one of Eu ...

. Its climate is profoundly influenced by a seasonal

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...

and

Continental climate Continental climates often have a significant annual variation in temperature (warm summers and cold winters). They tend to occur in the middle latitudes (40 to 55 north), within large landmasses where prevailing winds blow overland bringing som ...

. The total population is 61,530, of which 20,848 in the municipal unit (the pre-2015 municipality) Pogradec (2011 census). Pogradec and its surroundings were listed by

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

as a

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

as part of the natural and cultural heritage of the region of Ohrid. Nevertheless, the Illyrian Royal Tombs in the adjacent unit of

Proptisht Proptisht is a village and a former municipality in the Korçë County, southeastern Albania. At the 2015 local government reform it became a subdivision of the municipality Pogradec. The population at the 2011 census was 4,785.

are on the Albanian tentative list for becoming a

Etymology

The name of the town is

Eastern South Slavic The Eastern South Slavic dialects form the eastern subgroup of the South Slavic languages. They are spoken mostly in Bulgaria and North Macedonia, and adjacent areas in the neighbouring countries. They form the so-called Balkan Slavic lin ...

in origin. Pogradec comes from ''Po(d)'' (under/beneath) and '' Gradec'' (town, city, castle or fortified settlement) and means literally "under the city". This is a reference to the ancient Illyrian settlement, which was situated on a hill above the contemporary region of Pogradec. In the medieval period during the Ottoman occupation, the town was known as İstarova or İstarye during Ottoman rule and was bounded to as

kaza A kaza (, , , plural: , , ; ota, قضا, script=Arab, (; meaning 'borough') * bg, околия (; meaning 'district'); also Кааза * el, υποδιοίκησις () or (, which means 'borough' or 'municipality'); also () * lad, kaza , ...

center in Görice Sanjak of

Manastır Bitola (; mk, Битола ) is a city in the southwestern part of North Macedonia. It is located in the southern part of the Pelagonia valley, surrounded by the Baba, Nidže, and Kajmakčalan mountain ranges, north of the Medžitlija-Níki ...

Vilayet before

Balkan Wars The Balkan Wars refers to a series of two conflicts that took place in the Balkan States in 1912 and 1913. In the First Balkan War, the four Balkan States of Greece, Serbia, Montenegro and Bulgaria declared war upon the Ottoman Empire and defe ...

History

From the 8th until the 14th century, Pogradec area was captured by various medieval states such as the

Bulgarian Bulgarian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Bulgaria * Bulgarians, a South Slavic ethnic group * Bulgarian language, a Slavic language * Bulgarian alphabet * A citizen of Bulgaria, see Demographics of Bulgaria * Bul ...

, Byzantine and Serbian Empires as well as by noble Albanian families such as Gropa. In the middle of 15th century the area became part of

Skanderbeg , reign = 28 November 1443 – 17 January 1468 , predecessor = Gjon Kastrioti , successor = Gjon Kastrioti II , spouse = Donika Arianiti , issue = Gjon Kastrioti II , royal house = Kastrioti , father ...

state and after his death in 1468, it was invaded by the

Ottomans The Ottoman Turks ( tr, Osmanlı Türkleri), were the Turkic founding and sociopolitically the most dominant ethnic group of the Ottoman Empire ( 1299/1302–1922). Reliable information about the early history of Ottoman Turks remains scarce, ...

who kept it until Albania's Independence in 1912. During their occupation Pogradec was the center of the

of Starova and was developed as a small town of craftsmen and fishermen. When the Turkish traveler Evliya Celebi visited the area in 1662 he wrote that "''Pogradec was a sweet city with red roofs, four neighborhoods, four mosques, two elementary schools, six hundred houses and one hundred and fifty shops''". During the second half of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th century, Pogradec area played an important role in the Albanian National Renaissance. In 14 March 1887 the second Albanian language school was started here. Pogradec, Lake Ohrid - Albania

During

WWI World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

Pogradec became a battlefield divided between the enemy fronts. From 1914 until 1920 Austro-Hungarian, Serbian, Greek, Bulgarian and French armies, captured the city replacing each-other from time to time. During

WWII 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 ...

the city was first invaded by the Italian army in 12 April 1939. Italian occupation of Pogradec was interrupted due to

Greco-Italian War The Greco-Italian War (Greek language, Greek: Ελληνοϊταλικός Πόλεμος, ''Ellinoïtalikós Pólemos''), also called the Italo-Greek War, Italian Campaign in Greece, and the War of '40 in Greece, took place between the kingdom ...

and Greek troops

occupied ' (Norwegian: ') is a Norwegian political thriller TV series that premiered on TV2 on 5 October 2015. Based on an original idea by Jo Nesbø, the series is co-created with Karianne Lund and Erik Skjoldbjærg. Season 2 premiered on 10 October 2 ...

the city between 30 November 1940 and 14 April 1941. After Italy's capitulation in 1943 the Italians were replaced by German

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previous ...

units who held the city until 30 August 1944 when it was liberated by the Albanian partisans. After the war the town was a favorite summer escape for many communist government officials and particularly

Enver Hoxha Enver Halil Hoxha ( , ; 16 October 190811 April 1985) was an Albanian communist politician who was the authoritarian ruler of Albania from 1944 until his death in 1985. He was First Secretary of the Party of Labour of Albania from 1941 unt ...

. The summer residences and the area around them were sealed off from the public.

Geography

Pogradec is located at , on the shore of the southwestern corner of the

between two mountain chains located in the north and east. The mountain chain of

Mali i Thatë Mali i Thatë ( mk, Сува Гора, ''Suva Gora''; rup, Malethate, Malethata) is a mountain in southeast Albania; with a part of it being in the southwest of North Macedonia (known with the name Galičica and declared a National Park) with the ...

in the Prespa National Park rises in the east of the city and divides the region from the Lake of Prespa. Defined in an area of , the municipality of Pogradec is encompassed in the county of Korçë within the Southern Region of Albania and consists of the adjacent administrative units of

Buçimas Buçimas is an administrative unit in the municipality of Pogradec, Korçë County, Albania. The village of Buçimas is the seat of the eponymous unit and consist of the adjacent villages of Bahçallëk, Gështënjas, Gurras, Peshkëpi, Remenj, T ...

, Çërravë,

Dardhas Dardhas is an administrative unit in the municipality of Pogradec, Korçë County, Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern E ...

Trebinjë Trebinjë is a village and a former municipality in the Korçë County, southeastern Albania. At the 2015 local government reform it became a subdivision of the municipality Pogradec. The population at the 2011 census was 2,481.

, Udenisht, Velçan and Pogradec as its seat.

Climate

The climate of the Lake Ohrid is classified as a local-continental type because of a microclime that is created in that area influenced by

Mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate (also called a dry summer temperate climate ''Cs'') is a temperate climate sub-type, generally characterized by warm, dry summers and mild, fairly wet winters; these weather conditions are typically experienced in the ...

. The average annual rainfall in the Lake basin amount to approximately 730 mm.

Economy

Pogradec is located about 139 km from

Tirana Tirana ( , ; aln, Tirona) is the capital and largest city of Albania. It is located in the centre of the country, enclosed by mountains and hills with Dajti rising to the east and a slight valley to the northwest overlooking the Adriatic Sea ...

, the capital city of

, 40 km from Korça, and 5 km from

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 ...

. Pogradec is the last railway station:

Durrës Durrës ( , ; sq-definite, Durrësi) is the second most populous city of the Republic of Albania and seat of Durrës County and Durrës Municipality. It is located on a flat plain along the Albanian Adriatic Sea Coast between the mouths of ...

Elbasan Elbasan ( ; sq-definite, Elbasani ) is the fourth most populous city of Albania and seat of Elbasan County and Elbasan Municipality. It lies to the north of the river Shkumbin between the Skanderbeg Mountains and the Myzeqe Plain in central Al ...

Librazhd Librazhd ( sq-definite, Librazhdi) is a town and a municipality in Elbasan County, eastern Albania. The municipality was formed at the 2015 local government reform by the merger of the former municipalities Hotolisht, Librazhd, Lunik, Orenjë, Poli ...

- Pogradec and located along SH3 road that passes through Devoll and continues to Greece. However, the train service now finishes at Elbasan, and parts of the line from there on are derelict. There are some proposals to revive the line and extend it to connect to the Greek railway network. Translake transport started on 15 June 2014 with a tourist ferry between Pogradec and

Ohrid Ohrid ( mk, Охрид ) is a city in North Macedonia and is the seat of the Ohrid Municipality. It is the largest city on Lake Ohrid and the List of cities in North Macedonia, eighth-largest city in the country, with the municipality recording ...

, but the service is sporadic and unreliable.

Culture

Pogradec is well known for its famous writers and poets such as Lasgush Poradeci and

Mitrush Kuteli Dhimitër Pasko ( ro, Dimitrie Pascu; 13 September 1907 – 4 May 1967) was a well-known Albanian writer, literary critic and translator. Along with Ernest Koliqi he is considered as the founder of modern Albanian prose; in Albanian literature his ...

, and lately

Luan Starova Luan Arif Starova ( mk, Луан Ариф Старова; 14 August 1941 – 24 February 2022) was an Albanian writer who lived in North Macedonia. He published his works both in Albanian and in Macedonian. He is translated in over 20 languages ...

. Their works are a crucial part of Albanian literature. The main characters of Luan Starova's cycle of novels, "The Balkan Saga", are the author's own parents and their family, who fled Pogradec for Macedonia during World War II. Separated from their old hometown and their relatives by the Albania-Yugoslavia border during the

's era, they would often look at Pogradec through a binocular from the vantage point of Monastery of Saint Naum on the other side of the lake. Pogradec is also the home of nationally acclaimed painters like Anastas Kostandini(Taso), Gjergji Lako, Gentian Zeka, Vangjo Vasili and Ilir Dhima. All kinds of sports are practiced in town, especially by the youth. Pogradec has a professional

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

team (currently in the Superliga, the best division in Albania) which holds the name ''Pogradeci''. There are several varsity soccer teams mainly composed of high school students. Even

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

are played competitively. During the summer, beach volleyball draws the attention of all the residents. Many professional volleyball teams from

and other Balkanic countries participate in a championship which lasts about two weeks. Pogradeci team has been awarded the first prize several times. Other sports to mention are

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, or other liquid, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Locomotion is achieved through coordinated movement of the limbs and the body to achieve hydrodynamic thrust that r ...

and

boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermined ...

. The boxing team, "Dragoi", is one of the top teams in the nation and has always trained champions. Pogradec also has a rich folklore. Many songs and dances have been created throughout the centuries. Their themes are based on the beauty of the lake and a love for nature. Some of the main recurring cultural events in the city are: "Puppet Theater Festival" - Takes place every June. Participants vary from national to European level. "Lake Day" - Takes place in 21 June. All the towns surrounding lake Ohrid (Pogradec, Ohrid and Struga) gather in a festival where local delicacies, including food and culture are showcased. "Balkan Film Food Festival" - Takes place in September. Balkan movies, documentaries and culinary are showcased throughout the days of the festival. "Wine Fest" - Takes place in December. Pogradec families compete together for the best homemade wine in the city. The days of the festival are accompanied by great food and live music. Drilon, Pogradec (6)

Pogradec area is very rich in cultural and natural monuments among which can be mentioned * Pogradec Castle *19th and 20th century historical center of the city of Pogradec *Castle of Blace village *Castle of Zemçë village *Fortifications in the village of Slabinjë *Prehistoric settlement of Zagradie in the village of

Lin Lin or LIN may refer to: People *Lin (surname) (normally ), a Chinese surname *Lin (surname) (normally 蔺), a Chinese surname * Lin (''The King of Fighters''), Chinese assassin character *Lin Chow Bang, character in Fat Pizza Places *Lin, Iran, ...

*Bridge near the villages Jollë and Llëngë *Bridge near the village of Golik *Bridge near the village of Niçë *Bridge near the village of Çezmë *Bridge in the village of Zgallë *Bridge in the village of Servatinë *Terziu Bridge in the village of

*Fortification in the village of Shpellë in

Mokra Mokra may refer to the following places: * Mokra, Łódź Voivodeship (central Poland) * Mokra, Silesian Voivodeship (south Poland) * Mokra, Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship (south-central Poland) * Mokra, Greater Poland Voivodeship (west-central Poland ...

* St. Marina's Monastery in the village of Llëngë *Paleo-Christian church and mosaics in the village of

*Byzantine church in the village of

*Mosaic in the village of

Tushemisht Tushemisht is a settlement in the Korçë County, in southeastern Albania, located on the shores of Lake Ohrid. It was part of the former Buçimas municipality. At the 2015 local government reform it became part of the municipality Pogradec. The v ...

Drilon Drilon is a given name and a surname. Notable persons with that name include: Persons with the given name * Drilon Cenaj (born 1997), Kosovan footballer * Drilon Hajrizi (born 1991), Kosovan basketball player * Drilon Ibrahimi (born 1988), Kosovan ...

water sources and swans park near Tushemisht * Guri i Kamjes in

*The karstic cave and small lake inside it above the village of Hudenisht

Twin towns – sister cities

Pogradec is twinned with: *

, North Macedonia *

Wismar Wismar (; Low German: ''Wismer''), officially the Hanseatic City of Wismar (''Hansestadt Wismar'') is, with around 43,000 inhabitants, the sixth-largest city of the northeastern German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, and the fourth-largest city ...

, Germany

References

External links

bashkiapogradec.gov.al
– Official Website {{DEFAULTSORT:Pogradec Cities in Albania Administrative units of Pogradec Municipalities in Korçë County Populated coastal places in Albania Illyrian Albania Albanian Ohrid Lake Coast