Pogoniani ( el, Πωγωνιανή, pronounced , before 1928: Βοστίνα, ''Vostina''; sq, Voshtinë) is a village and a former community in the Ioannina regional unit,

Epirus sq, Epiri rup, Epiru , native_name_lang = , settlement_type = Historical region , image_map = Epirus antiquus tabula.jpg , map_alt = , map_caption = Map of ancient Epirus by Heinri ...

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 ...

. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality

Pogoni Pogoni ( el, Πωγώνι, rup, Pugon) is a municipality in the Ioannina regional unit, Epirus, Greece. The seat of the municipality is the village Kalpaki. The municipality has an area of 701.059 km2. Its population was 8,960 at the 2011 c ...

, of which it is a municipal unit. The municipal unit has an area of 56.693 km², the community 18.830 km². The municipal unit consists of 4 villages: Pogoniani, Dolo, Drymades, Stavroskiadi.

History

In antiquity the area of Pogoniani was inhabited by

Molossians The Molossians () were a group of ancient Greek tribes which inhabited the region of Epirus in classical antiquity. Together with the Chaonians and the Thesprotians, they formed the main tribal groupings of the northwestern Greek group. On t ...

, one of the three main Ancient Greek tribes of the northwestern Greek group. The establishment of the bishopric of Pogoniani is associated with the reign of Byzantine Emperor Constantine Pogonatos () due to the latter's nickname, but it first appears in the ''

Notitiae Episcopatuum The ''Notitiae Episcopatuum'' (singular: ''Notitia Episcopatuum'') are official documents that furnish Eastern countries the list and hierarchical rank of the metropolitan and suffragan bishoprics of a church. In the Roman Church (the -mostly Lat ...

'' during the reign of Andronikos III Palaiologos (). The seat of the archbishop was most likely in Depalitsa (modern Molyvdoskepastos). Pogoniani fell to 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) ...

in 1447. During the 16th century a successful entrepreneur of Pogoniani's diaspora, Ioannis Giormas, built a commercial complex in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...

, which included a church and an inn. This entire complex was to become a hub of the Greek commercial activity there and was nicknamed "Greeks' Inn." The three-aisled Orthodox

basilica In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica is a large public building with multiple functions, typically built alongside the town's Forum (Roman), forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek East. The building ...

of Pogoniani was erected in 1873, with donations by the local Zosimas brothers benefactors. In the late Ottoman period and until 1923, the village of Pogoniani (known as Vostina) was inhabited by Muslim Albanians and Romani alongside Orthodox Greek inhabitants, Apart from this village there was no Muslim community in the entire administrative unit (kaza). Until 1924, the Muslims from the village of Pogoniani used to have close relations and exchanges with people from the town of

Libohovë Libohovë ( sq-definite, Libohova) is a town and a municipality in southern Albania. It is overlooked by Libohovë Castle and has a main street with views across the Drino valley. Libohovë is at the foot of the Bureto Mountain. The region forms ...

in Albania.Gilles de Rapper & Pierre Sintès (2008).
Faire et Defaire les Frontieres du Mariage - Échanges matrimoniaux entre la Grèce et l’Albanie -le cas de la région de Gjirokastër
. p. 4. "Dans ce modèle, la frontière internationale n’est pas un obstacle, tant qu’elle est ouverte au passage, parce qu’elle ne correspond pas aux lignes de partage locales : Grecs et Albanais, chrétiens et musulmans, peuvent se marier de part et d’autre de la frontière, à l’intérieur de leur groupe. C’est le cas entre les deux parties du Pogon jusqu’à la fermeture de la frontière en 1944 ; entre les musulmans de Libohovë et ceux de Voshtinë/Pogonniani jusqu’à l’expulsion de ces derniers en 1924 ; entre les Grecs du Haut Dropull et ceux de la Mourgana jusqu’en 1944 (Dino 2007, 18), entre ceux de Konispol et ceux de Filiates. Lorsque la frontière devient infranchissabl e et lorsque l’autre côté est considéré comme « ennemi », comme ce fut le cas à partir de 1944, les échanges matrimoniaux transfrontaliers disparaissent et laissent la place à d’autres alliances, qui semblaient jusqu’alors impossibles ou qui ne semblaient apporter aucun « avantage » : mariages entre minoritaires grecs et Albanais majoritaires, entre musulmans et chrétiens, entre gens des villages et gens des villes." During the period prior to the

First World War 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 British member of the International Commission that was responsible of the delineation of the Greek-Albanian border noticed that the villages that were ceded to Albania, which consist of the northern portion of Pogoniani are entirely Greek-speaking. From 1991 to 2012 a vocational training center was operating in the village attended by members of the

Greek minority in Albania The Greeks of Albania are ethnic Greeks who live in or originate from areas within modern Albania. After ethnic Albanians, they form the second largest ethnic group in the country. They are mostly concentrated in the south of the country, in the ...

, with a total of 2,280 graduates. It was founded by the "Institution for the Rehabilitation of Greek co-ethnics from Albania" - supported by the

Latsis Foundation The Latsis Foundation (French: ''Fondation Latsis internationale'') is a charitable foundation, founded in 1975 by the Greek shipping magnate John Latsis. Amongst other prizes and symposia, it funds the University Latsis Prizes (awarded by the ...

- among various initiatives it offered scholarships for students from Albania and supported various financial initiatives in Albania in particular in the operation of various hospitals and medical centers there. Due to its location very close to Albania, employment opportunities and local networks, Pogoniani received large immigration inflow. In the 2001 census, c. 44% of the population of the community of Pogoniani was composed of migrants, mostly Albanians Part of the foreign population (2001) in particular among those attending the local school and the rehabilitation vocational training center came from the ethnic Greek community of Albania.

References

External links

{{Pogoni div Populated places in Ioannina (regional unit) Albanian communities in Greece