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Gjirokastër Ethnographic Museum
Gjirokastër (, sq-definite, Gjirokastra) is a List of cities and towns in Albania, city in Southern Albania, southern Albania and the seat of Gjirokastër County and Gjirokastër Municipality. It is located in a valley between the Gjerë mountains and the Drino, at 300 metres above sea level. Its old town is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The city is overlooked by Gjirokastër Fortress, where the Gjirokastër National Folk Festival is held every five years. It is the birthplace of former Albanians, Albanian Communism, communist leader Enver Hoxha, and author Ismail Kadare. The city appears in the historical record dating back in 1336 by its medieval Greek name, , as part of the Byzantine Empire. It first developed in the hill where the Gjirokastër Fortress is located. In this period, Gjirokastër was contested between the Despotate of Epirus and the Albanian clan of Zenevisi family, Zenebishi under John Zenevisi, Gjon Zenebishi who made it his capital in 1417. It was taken by ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ismail Kadare
Ismail Kadare (; 28 January 1936 – 1 July 2024) was an Albanian novelist, poet, essayist, screenwriter and playwright. He was a leading international literary figure and intellectual, focusing on poetry until the publication of his first novel, '' The General of the Dead Army'', which made him famous internationally. Kadare is regarded by some as one of the greatest writers and intellectuals of the 20th and 21st centuries, and as a universal voice against totalitarianism. Living in Albania during a time of strict censorship, he devised stratagems to outwit Communist censors who had banned three of his books, using devices such as parable, myth, fable, folk-tale, allegory, and legend, sprinkled with double-entendre, allusion, insinuation, satire, and coded messages. In 1990, to escape the Communist regime and its ''Sigurimi'' secret police, he defected to Paris. From the 1990s he was asked by both major political parties in Albania to become a consensual President of the countr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Egyptians (Balkans)
Egyptians (, ; , ; ) are an ethnic group native to the Nile Valley in Egypt. Egyptian identity is closely tied to geography. The population is concentrated in the Nile Valley, a small strip of cultivable land stretching from the First Cataract to the Mediterranean and enclosed by desert both to the east and to the west. This unique geography has been the basis of the development of Egyptian society since antiquity. The daily language of the Egyptians is a continuum of the local varieties of Arabic; the most famous dialect is known as Egyptian Arabic or ''Masri''. Additionally, a sizable minority of Egyptians living in Upper Egypt speak Sa'idi Arabic. Egyptians are predominantly adherents of Sunni Islam with a small Shia minority and a significant proportion who follow native Sufi orders.Hoffman, Valerie J. ''Sufism, Mystics, and Saints in Modern Egypt''. University of South Carolina Press, 1995 A considerable percentage of Egyptians are Coptic Christians who belong to the C ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Romani People
{{Infobox ethnic group , group = Romani people , image = , image_caption = , flag = Roma flag.svg , flag_caption = Romani flag created in 1933 and accepted at the 1971 World Romani Congress , pop = 2–12 million , region2 = United States , pop2 = 1 million estimated with Romani ancestry{{efn, 5,400 per 2000 United States census, 2000 census. , ref2 = {{cite news , first=Kayla , last=Webley , url=http://content.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2025316,00.html , title=Hounded in Europe, Roma in the U.S. Keep a Low Profile , agency=Time , date=13 October 2010 , access-date=3 October 2015 , quote=Today, estimates put the number of Roma in the U.S. at about one million. , region3 = Brazil , pop3 = 800,000 (0.4%) , ref3 = , region4 = Spain , pop4 = 750,000–1.5 million (1.5–3.7%) , ref4 = {{cite web , url ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aromanians
The Aromanians () are an Ethnic groups in Europe, ethnic group native to the southern Balkans who speak Aromanian language, Aromanian, an Eastern Romance language. They traditionally live in central and southern Albania, south-western Bulgaria, northern and central Greece, and North Macedonia, and can currently be found in central and southern Albania, south-western Bulgaria, south-western and eastern North Macedonia, northern and central Greece, southern Serbia, and south-eastern Romania (Northern Dobruja). An Aromanian diaspora living outside these places also exists. The Aromanians are known by several other names, such as "Vlachs" or "Macedo-Romanians" (sometimes used to also refer to the Megleno-Romanians). The term "Vlachs" is used in Greece and in other countries to refer to the Aromanians, with this term having been more widespread in the past to refer to all Romance-speaking peoples of the Balkan Peninsula and Carpathian Mountains region (Southeast Europe). Their ver ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1997 Albanian Civil Unrest
In 1997, Albania experienced widespread civil unrest due to economic problems caused by the collapse of pyramid schemes. The large sums of money siphoned from the government to fund these schemes led to the collapse of the Democratic Party's government in January 1997. The conflict, which lasted until August 1997, resulted in the deaths of more than 2,000 people and the establishment of a new government as revolutionaries surrounded Tirana. Various sources also describe the ensuing violence as a rebellion or even a civil war. By January 1997, Albanian citizens, who had lost a total of $1.2 billion, took their protest to the streets. Beginning in February, thousands of people launched daily protests demanding reimbursement from the government, which they believed had profited from the schemes. On 1 March, Prime Minister Aleksandër Meksi resigned, and on 2 March, President Sali Berisha declared a state of emergency. On 11 March, the Socialist Party of Albania achieved a majo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Autonomous Republic Of Northern Epirus
The Autonomous Republic of Northern Epirus () was a short-lived, self-governing entity founded in the aftermath of the Balkan Wars on 28 February 1914, by the local Greek population in southern Albania ( Northern Epirotes). The area, known as Northern Epirus to Greeks and with a substantial Greek population, was taken by the Greek Army from the Ottoman Empire during the First Balkan War (1912–1913). The Protocol of Florence, however, had assigned it to the newly established Albanian state. This decision was rejected by the local Greeks, and as the Greek Army withdrew to the new border, an autonomous government was set up at Argyrokastron (modern Gjirokastër), under the leadership of Georgios Christakis-Zografos, a distinguished local Greek politician and former Minister of Foreign Affairs, and with tacit support from Greece. In May, the autonomy was confirmed by the Great Powers with the Protocol of Corfu. The agreement ensured that the region would have its own adminis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Balkan Wars
The Balkan Wars were two conflicts that took place in the Balkans, Balkan states in 1912 and 1913. In the First Balkan War, the four Balkan states of Kingdom of Greece (Glücksburg), Greece, Kingdom of Serbia, Serbia, Kingdom of Montenegro, Montenegro and Kingdom of Bulgaria, Bulgaria declared war upon the Ottoman Empire and defeated it, in the process stripping the Ottomans of their European provinces, leaving only East Thrace, Eastern Thrace under Ottoman control. In the Second Balkan War, Bulgaria fought against the other four combatants of the first war. It also faced an attack from Kingdom of Romania, Romania from the north. The Ottoman Empire lost the bulk of its territory in Europe. Although not involved as a combatant, Austria-Hungary became relatively weaker as a much enlarged Serbia pushed for union of the South Slavs, Slavic peoples. The war set the stage for the July Crisis, July crisis of 1914 and as a prelude to the First World War. By the early 20th century, Bul ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hellenic Army
The Hellenic Army (, sometimes abbreviated as ΕΣ), formed in 1828, is the army, land force of Greece. The term Names of the Greeks, '' Hellenic'' is the endogenous synonym for ''Greek''. The Hellenic Army is the largest of the three branches of the Hellenic Armed Forces, also constituted by the Hellenic Air Force (HAF) and the Hellenic Navy (HN). The army is commanded by the chief of the Hellenic Army General Staff (HAGS), which in turn is under the command of Hellenic National Defence General Staff (HNDGS). The motto of the Hellenic Army is () , from Thucydides's ''History of the Peloponnesian War, History of the Peloponnesian War (2.43.4)'', a remembrance of the ancient warriors that defended Greek lands in old times. The Hellenic Army Emblem is the two-headed eagle with a Cross, Greek Cross escutcheon in the centre. The Hellenic Army is also the main contributor to, and lead nation of, the Balkan Battle Group, a combined-arms rapid-response force under the EU Battlegroup ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bektashi Order
Bektashism (, ) is a Sufi order of Islam that evolved in 13th-century western Anatolia and became widespread in the Ottoman Empire. It is named after the ''walī'' "saint" Haji Bektash Veli, with adherents called Bektashis. The Bektashi community is currently led by Baba Mondi, the eighth ''Dedebaba'', whose seat is at the order’s headquarters in Tirana, Albania. The Bektashis were originally one of many Sufi orders within Sunni Islam. By the 16th century, the order had adopted some tenets of Twelver Shi'ism—including veneration of Ali, the cousin and son-in-law of the Prophet Muhammad, and the Twelve Imams—as well as a variety of syncretic beliefs. The Bektashis acquired political importance in the 15th century when the order dominated the Janissary Corps. After the foundation of Turkey, the country's leader, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, banned religious institutions that were not part of the Directorate of Religious Affairs, and the community's headquarters reloca ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sanjak Of Albania
The Sanjak of Albania (, or ; or ) was a second-level administrative unit of the Ottoman Empire between 1415 and 1444. Its mandate included territories of modern central and southern Albania between Krujë to the Kalamas River in northwestern Greece. Background During the 14th century, Ottoman rule began to extend over the Eastern Mediterranean and the Balkans. The divided nature of the Albania consisting of small, quarreling fiefdoms ruled by independent feudal lords and tribal chiefs meant that an Ottoman invasion was difficult to defend against. In 1385, the ruler of Durrës, Karl Thopia, appealed to the sultan for support against his rivals, the Balšić family. An Ottoman force quickly marched into Albania along the Via Egnatia and routed Balša II in the Battle of Savra. The principal Albanian clans soon swore fealty to the Ottoman Empire. The Ottomans allowed conquered Albanian clan chiefs to maintain their positions and property, but they had to pay tribute, send ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Zenevisi
John Zenevisi or Gjon Zenebishi ( or ''Gjin Zenebishi''; died 1418) was an Albanian magnate that held the estates in Epirus, such as Gjirokastër and Vagenetia. Name Zenevisi can be found with different spellings in historical documents. His name in modern English is usually ''John Zenevisi'' Elsie 2003, p. 53: "Lord John Sarbissa (Zenevisi) was lord of the town of Gjirokastra and the region of Vagenetia and Paracalo (Parakalamo)." or ''John Sarbissa''. In Italian, his name was spelled as ''Giovanni Sarbissa''. In Albanian, his name is mostly spelled as ''Gjin Zenebishi'' (less commonly as ''Zenebishti''), his given name scarcely spelled ''Gjon'', as well. Life John was born into the Zenebishi family which was a wealthy and noble Albanian family from the Zagoria region, between Përmet and Gjirokastër. He was one of the most notable members of this family. After the Ottomans captured the region of Epirus, some members of the family fled to Morea, while other members held ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
