Kišava

Kišava, (, ) is a village in the municipality of Bitola, North Macedonia. It used to be part of the former municipality of Bistrica.

Geography

Kišava is a mountainous village, close to the border with Greece. The Kišava river flows through the middle of the village. Kišava has three water springs, twelve water wells and some minor water sources surrounding the village. There are seven neighbourhoods: Xhamis, Barakalar, Grabovska, Merkan, Vilajetli, Luma and Çeshma..

History

In Ottoman documents, Kišava between the 17th and 18th centuries is listed as a Christian village. Traditions among some neighbouring villages such as Dragoš referred to that population being of Slavic Christian origin. The village population dispersed to neighbouring settlements, leaving only the church.

In the early 19th century Kišava was repopulated by Muslim Albanian Tosks who originated from southern Albania and named the village after the early church, as "kisha" in Albanian means church. During the Ottoman period, Albanian villagers had extensive pastures on the Pelister mountain range and were herdsmen who owned many goats, while some also owned fields in the nearby valley of Bitola. A few owned chifliks (hereditary estates) in nearby villages such as Graešnica, Žabeni and others. Some people migrated from the village to Turkey in 1912, others left in the early 1950s and went to the provinces of Edirne, Izmir and others.

From 1963 onward, Albanians from Kišava migrated to Dandenong, a south-eastern Melbourne suburb in Victoria, Australia. Dandenong is home to a large diaspora from Kišava and various landmarks are named after the village like Dandenong's Albanian mosque, Keshava Reserve, a park honouring Albanian immigration to the area and Keshava Grove, a residential street.

Demographics

Kišava is populated by Albanians. "Чисто албански села сега се: Арматуш, Кишава, Острец, Злокуќани, Снегово, Старо Змирново, Саждево, Јакреново, Борино, Норово, Древеник. При ослободувањето од турското владеење во 1912 г. оваа област имала повеќе чисто албански села."

As of the 2021 census, Kišava had 185 residents with the following ethnic composition:Total resident population of the Republic of North Macedonia by ethnic affiliation, by settlement, Census 2021
/ref>
*Albanians 169
*Persons for whom data are taken from administrative sources 16

According to the 2002 census, the village had a total of 308 inhabitants. Ethnic groups in the village include:Macedonian Census (2002)
''Book 5 - Total population according to the Ethnic Affiliation, Mother Tongue and Religion''
The State Statistical Office, Skopje, 2002, p. 69.
*Albanians 307
* Macedonians 1

Culture

As Albanian Tosks, the speech and customs of Kišava villagers differs from nearby villages Ostrec and Zlokuḱani who are Ghegs (northern Albanians). Kišava villagers had close ties with the Albanians of Nižepole, due to cultural similarities.

Religious monuments are the Teqe of Sadik Baba, a mosque built in the 19th century and a Muslim graveyard.. The village has a primary school.

In 2019, some members of the Kišava diaspora from Dandenong organised an ongoing annual festival ''Takimet e Keshavës'' (Kišava gathering) in Kišava, and is attended by the diaspora during their summer holidays in the village.

Gallery

File:Fshati Këshavë 3.jpg, Kišava village
File:Fshati Këshavë 8.jpg, Traditional architecture of Kišava
File:Fshati Këshavë 7.jpg, Road in Kišava
File:Fshati Këshavë 5.jpg, Primary school in Kišava
File:Fshati Këshavë 9.jpg, Houses in Kišava
File:Xhamia e Këshavës 4.jpg, Mosque of Kišava
File:Fshati Këshavë 22.jpg, Fields of Kišava toward the Baba mountain range
File:Fshati Këshavë 15.jpg, Fields of Kišava
File:Fshati Këshavë 17.jpg, Horses grazing on Kišava mountain slope
File:Fshati Këshavë 16.jpg, Horse grazing in Kišava field
File:Fshati Këshavë 24.jpg, Kišava village

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kisava
Villages in Bitola Municipality
Albanian communities in North Macedonia