Koći ( cyrl, Коћи; ) is a village in the
municipality
A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate.
The term ''municipality' ...
of
Tuzi
Tuzi (, ; or ''Tuzi'') is a small town in the central region of Montenegro, and the seat of Tuzi Municipality. It is located along a main road between the city of Podgorica and the Albanian border crossing, just a few kilometers north of Lake S ...
,
Montenegro
, image_flag = Flag of Montenegro.svg
, image_coat = Coat of arms of Montenegro.svg
, coa_size = 80
, national_motto =
, national_anthem = ()
, image_map = Europe-Mont ...
, near the
border
Borders are generally defined as geography, geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by polity, political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other administrative divisio ...
with
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 ...
. The village is inhabited by ethnic
Albanians
The Albanians are an ethnic group native to the Balkan Peninsula who share a common Albanian ancestry, Albanian culture, culture, Albanian history, history and Albanian language, language. They are the main ethnic group of Albania and Kosovo, ...
of the Roman Catholic faith.
Geography
Koći lies east of the capital Podgorica, north of
Ubli. Koći is a village in
Koja e Kuçit
Koja e Kuçit (Koja of Kuçi) is a historical Albanian tribe and region in Malësia. Koja is a Catholic region located between Triepshi and Kuči. The people of Koja are referred to as ''Kojanë'' or ''Koqas''.
History
Koja is the smallest ...
, eastern Montenegro, bordering Albania.
Along with Albanian-inhabited
Hoti and
Gruda, Koći is, from Albanian point of view, part of the wider
Malësia-region (''Malesija'').
History
At the beginning of the
Montenegrin–Ottoman War, the
Kuči rose up against the Ottomans, who started dispatching soldiers at the frontier, including at Koći.
According to
Spiridon Gopčević, the area of Koći included 10 km
2 and 550 inhabitants, out of which 480 were Catholics, 40 Orthodox, and 25 Muslims (1877).
20th century
Traveler Arso Milatović (who wrote a
travel book
Travel is the movement of people between distant geographical locations. Travel can be done by foot, bicycle, automobile, train, boat, bus, airplane, ship or other means, with or without luggage, and can be one way or round trip. Travel ca ...
on his experiences 1935–45) stayed at Koći and described it as "a village neighbouring Malesia, misplaced and rugged, which a horse can't reach, thus donkeys and mules walk the rocks as squirrels on branches".
The inhabitants were Catholics, and the village had a church and priest, ''fra'' Marko.
[ A church was built by the ethnic Albanian ]migrant workers
A migrant worker is a person who Human migration, migrates within a home country or outside it to pursue work. Migrant workers usually do not have an intention to stay permanently in the country or region in which they work.
Migrant workers ...
who left the village for Europe in the period of 1964–74.[
]
Culture
Some Albanian Catholics have the custom of family and tribe celebration of saints (called ''festa'' in Peja), as is found in the Serbian Orthodox
The Serbian Orthodox Church ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Српска православна црква, Srpska pravoslavna crkva) is one of the autocephalous (ecclesiastically independent) Eastern Orthodox Christian churches.
The majority of the populat ...
tradition of '' krsna slava''.
Notable people
* Pretash Zekaj Ulaj (1882-1962), commander in the Battle of Deçiq against the Ottoman Empire.
References
Sources
*
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Koci
Populated places in Tuzi Municipality
Albanian communities in Montenegro