Grabovë e Sipërme (also: ''Grabova''; ,Ewa Kocoj
Artifacts of the Past as Traces of Memory. The Aromanian Cultural Heritage in the Balkans
page 167, Res Historica 41, 2016 ) is a

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

inhabited by

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 Bulgari ...

. The village is located in the former municipality of Lenie. At the 2015 local government reform it became part of the municipality Gramsh.

History

Grabova was a medieval town created in the 10th century.

have left Grabova on several occasions, although the village has never been completely deserted. The first wave of depopulation took place in the 17th century, when Grabova shared the fate of Moscopole and during the inter-war period, starting with 1931, many of Grabovars emigrated to

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 centr ...

and

Lushnjë Lushnjë (; locally ''Lushnje'' ; sq-definite, Lushnja) is a city and municipality in west-central Albania. The municipality's population is 63,135 as of the 2023 census, in a total area of . History In January 1920, Lushnje was a provis ...

. In 1933, 15 families from the village emigrated to

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

; they initially settled in

Southern Dobruja Southern Dobruja or South Dobruja ( or simply , ; or , ), also the Quadrilateral (), is an area of north-eastern Bulgaria comprising Dobrich and Silistra provinces, part of the historical region of Dobruja. It has an area of 7,412 square km an ...

and then, in 1940, in the village of Nisipari,

Constanța County Constanța () is a Counties of Romania, county (județ) of Romania on the Bulgaria–Romania border, border with Bulgaria, in the Dobruja region. Its capital city is also named Constanța. Demographics In 2021, it had a population of 655,997 ...

, from where they moved to the larger nearby towns ( Medgidia,

Ovidiu Ovidiu (, historical name: ''Canara'', ) is a town situated a few kilometres north of Constanța in Constanța County, Northern Dobruja, Romania. Ovidiu is quite small, with a population of 13,968 as of 2021, and many wealthy inhabitants of Consta ...

, Constanta). Another important immigration began in 1950, when communist authorities used the craftsmen from Grabova to build the industrial units in Korçë, Pogradec, Gramsh, Elbasan, and Tirana.Nistor Bardu
"Among the Aromanians in Grabova (Greava), Albania. Sociolinguistic Observations"
, ''Among the Aromanians in Grabova (Greava), Albania'', 2007 In the 18th century the Grabovë Church was built in the village. Owing to its past the town has another 18th century church: the church of Saint Paraskeva () built in 1718, and the school of Simon Baba.

Most common names in Grabova

Family names

Bardhi, Buzo, Cyco, Canuti, Nishku, Trushi, Thano, Verushi.

Male names

Theodhor (Dhori), Andoni, Kristo, Dhimo, Jani, Jorgji, Llambi, Dhionis, Pandeli, Piro, Spiro, Sotir (Sotiraqi), Themistokli, Thoma, Vangjeli, etc.

Female names

Dhimitra, Margarita, Maria, Naunka, Parashqevi, Thomaidha, Violeta (Violta)

Notable people originated from Grabova

Andrei Șaguna Andrei Șaguna (; 20 January 1808, Miskolc, Kingdom of Hungary (1526–1867), Hungary – 28 June 1873, Nagyszeben, Kingdom of Hungary (1867–1918), Hungary) was a Metropolitan bishop of the Romanian Orthodox Church in Transylvania, and one of ...

, Metropolitan bishop of the Romanian Orthodox Church * Cyril of Bulgaria, the first Patriarch of the restored Bulgarian Patriarchate * Lika Yanko, Bulgarian painter *Çetiri family of painters, icon painters active in central and southern Albania

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grabove e Siperme Populated places in Gramsh, Elbasan Villages in Elbasan County Aromanian settlements in Albania