Tuminec ( sq, Tuminec, formally ''Bezmisht'' and ''Kallamas'';
Macedonian Туминец is a village just north of the
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 ...
n portion of
Lake Prespa
The Lake Prespa is located on the tripoint of North Macedonia, Albania, and Greece. It is a system of two lakes separated by an isthmus: the Great Prespa Lake, divided between the three countries, and the Little Prespa Lake, mostly within Gree ...
in the
Pustec Municipality
Pustec Municipality ( sq, Bashkia Pustec; mk, Општина Пустец, ''Opshtina Pustets''), previously known as Liqenas Commune ( sq, Komuna Liqenas) from 1973 to 2013, is a municipality in the Korçë County of Albania. The population at th ...
of the
Korçë County
Korçë County ( sq, Qarku Korçë, italic=unset), officially the County of Korçë ( sq, Qarku i Korçës, italic=unset), is a county in the Southern Region of the Republic of Albania. It is the largest by area and the seventh most populous of ...
.
The villages of
Konjsko and
Stenje
Stenje ( mk, Стење) is a village in the Resen Municipality of North Macedonia. It is located on the shore of Lake Prespa, near the Macedonian-Albanian border and Galičica National Park. Today, the village has 438 inhabitants.
Demographics
...
are opposite the Albania-
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 Yugoslavia. It ...
border from Tuminec.
History
According to archaeological evidence found in 2011, the Tuminec area was inhabited during
Neolithic
The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several p ...
times.
The nearby Church of the Holy Mother of God, a rock church, was built in the 14th century.
The village was mentioned in the Slepche Beadroll from the end of XVI century.
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 Tumanets (Туманецъ) was inhabited by about 360 Bulgarian Christians. Following the
Ilinden Uprising Ilinden ( Bulgarian/Macedonian Cyrillic: Илинден) or Ilindan (Serbian Cyrillic: Илиндан), meaning "Saint Elijah
Elijah ( ; he, אֵלִיָּהוּ, ʾĒlīyyāhū, meaning "My God is Yahweh/YHWH"; Greek form: Elias, ''Elías'' ...
of 1903, Tuminec came under the
Bulgarian Exarchate. According to a Bulgarian survey two years later, the village's population consisted of 520 Christian Bulgarians.
Until 1970, the official Albanian name for the village was ''Bezmisht''; it then became ''Kallamas''. In 2013, the official name was changed back to ''Tuminec''.
Demographics
According to Yugoslav sources from 1981, the village was populated exclusively by
Macedonians.
A 2007 Bulgarian estimate made by a researcher from Albania put the village population around 950 to 1,000 residents and describes the inhabitants of the whole region of Mala Prespa as
Bulgarians
Bulgarians ( bg, българи, Bǎlgari, ) are a nation and South Slavic ethnic group native to Bulgaria and the rest of Southeast Europe.
Etymology
Bulgarians derive their ethnonym from the Bulgars. Their name is not completely unders ...
.
Бело, Раки. Селищни имена в Мала Преспа - Албания, в: Македонски преглед, ХХХ, №3, стр. 130, 135
Culture
Tuminec is the nearest village to the Orthodox Church of the Holy Mother of God, situated on a rocky ridge about 10 meters from the Macedonian border. Some of the older paintings in the church date from the 18th century.
References
{{Pustec div
Populated places in Pustec Municipality
Villages in Korçë County