Vernik (, bg, Връбник, mk, Врбник, ''Vrbnik'') is a village in the former Qendër Bilisht Municipality 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 ...

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 ...

, on the border with

Krystallopigi Krystallopigi ( el, Κρυσταλλοπηγή) is a former community in Florina regional unit, West Macedonia, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Prespes, of which it is a municipal unit. The municipal ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...

. At the 2015 local government reform it became part of the municipality Devoll. It is situated south of the

Small Prespa Lake Small Prespa Lake ( el, Λίμνη Μικρή Πρέσπα, ''Limni Mikri Prespa''; sq, Prespa e Vogël; mk, Мало Преспанско Езеро, ''Malo Prespansko Ezero'') is a lake shared between Greece (138 km² drainage area; 42.5 ...

History

Vrabnik Petition for a Bulgarian School 1925

In 1873, then under the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

, the village was listed twice in a demographic survey, once as a ''Verlink'', containing 86 households and 220 male

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 ...

, and again as ''Vrbnik'', containing 70 households and 205 male

Muslims Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

. According to another late 19th century estimate by Vasil Kanchov, the village had 600 Bulgarian

Christians Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words '' Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρ ...

. In 1903, during 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'' ...

, all 80 of the village's houses were burnt down. The population of the village was under the supremacy of the Bulgarian Exarchate since 1904. At the outbreak of the

First Balkan War The First Balkan War ( sr, Први балкански рат, ''Prvi balkanski rat''; bg, Балканска война; el, Αʹ Βαλκανικός πόλεμος; tr, Birinci Balkan Savaşı) lasted from October 1912 to May 1913 and invo ...

, Vernik sent six volunteers to join the

Macedonian-Adrianopolitan Volunteer Corps The Macedonian-Adrianopolitan Volunteer Corps ( bg, Македоно-одринско опълчение, ''Makedono-odrinsko opalchenie'') was a volunteer corps of the Bulgarian Army during the Balkan Wars. It was formed on 23 September 1912 ...

. During

World War I 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 ...

, the village was part of Greece. In the 1913 and 1920 censuses, it had 489 and 366 residents, respectively. In 1925, the village elders sent a petition to the Prefecture of Korça asking for the opening of a Bulgarian school in the village. In 1939, on behalf of 70 Bulgarian houses in Vrbnik the revolutionary Nikola Pandovski signed a request by the local Bulgarians to the Bulgarian

tsaritsa Tsarina or tsaritsa (also spelled ''csarina'' or ''csaricsa'', ''tzarina'' or ''tzaritza'', or ''czarina'' or ''czaricza''; bg, царица, tsaritsa; sr, / ; russian: царица, tsaritsa) is the title of a female autocratic ruler (mon ...

Giovanna Giovanna is an Italian feminine first name. It is the feminine counterpart of the masculine Giovanni, which in turn is the Italian form of John; it is thus the Italian equivalent of Jane, Joanna, Jeanne, etc. In Brazil, the feminine name Giovann ...

requesting her intervention for the protection of the Bulgarian people in Albania - at that time an Italian protectorate. Demographics The

Kostur dialect The Kostur dialect ( mk, Костурски дијалект, ''Kosturski dijalekt''), is a member of the Southwestern subgroup of the Southeastern group of dialects of the Macedonian language. This dialect is mainly spoken in and around the ...

of the Macedonian (or Bulgarian) language is spoken in the village. Due to religion having an influence on identity Macedonians of Vërnik view Orthodox Albanians as ''nash'' (ours) while Macedonian-speaking Muslims are not viewed as ''nash''. "Moreover, religion can have an influence on attitudes toward identity. Thus for example Macedonian-speaking Christians in Vrbnik (Vërnik) refer to Orthodox Albanian-speakers as nash 'ours' but do not consider Macedonian-speaking Muslims as nash, nor do those Muslims tend to identify as ethnic Macedonians.

People from Vernik

* Nikolaos Dailakis, Greek revolutionary * Nako Grozdanov (1886 - 1969), member of the

Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization The Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO; bg, Вътрешна Македонска Революционна Организация (ВМРО), translit=Vatrešna Makedonska Revoljucionna Organizacija (VMRO); mk, Внатр� ...

* Boncho Nestorov (1906 - 1987), Bulgarian writer and journalist * Nikola Pandovski, Bulgarian revolutionary, member of the

Ognjanov, Mihail. Македония - преживяна съдба, ИК Гутенберг, София, 2002, стр.142, 143, 146, 151, 155. * Kristo Temelko, communist politician

References

{{Devoll div Populated places in Devoll (municipality) Albania–Greece border crossings Villages in Korçë County