Delvinë

Delvinë
Photo of the town
Delvinë
Coordinates: 39°57′N 20°6′E / 39.95°N 20.1°E / 39.95; 20.1Coordinates: 39°57′N 20°6′E / 39.95°N 20.1°E / 39.95; 20.1
Country	Albania
County	Vlorë County
District	Delvinë District
Population (2001)
– Total	6,475
Time zone	Central European Time (UTC+1)
– Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
Postal code	9704
Area code(s)	0815
Car Plates	DL

Delvinë (Albanian: Delvinë or Delvina, Greek: Δελβινιον, Delvinion) is a small town in Vlorë County in southern Albania, 16 km northeast of Saranda. Delvinë is the seat of the Delvinë District. Delvinë has lost over a third of its citizens since 1990, having a population of 4,200 (2004 estimate).

The city is built on a mountain slope. It has a mosque, a Catholic church, a Protestant church, and an Orthodox church. Nearby are the remainders of a medieval castle. To the south west of the city is the site of ancient Phoenice, which was declared an Archaeological Park in 2005.^[1]

There is little local employment apart from that provided by the State, and Delvinë benefits little from the tourist boom in Saranda.

The town has a mixed population of Albanians and Greeks. The latter, according to the Human Rights Watch, constituted 50% in 1989 and 25% in 1999 of the town's population.^[2]

History

In antiquity the region was inhabited by the Greek tribe of the Chaonians. In the Middle Ages, Delvinë was part of the Despotate of Epirus. In the middle of the 14th century the aristocratic Delvina family ruled Delvinë. In 1354, Mehmet Ali Pasha Delvina was testified as the owner of the castle and the city.^{[citation needed]}

Delvinë under Ottoman Turkish control

Orthodox church in Delvinë

The Turkish traveler Evliya Çelebi visited Delvinë around 1670 and gave some information about the city in his travel book. He reported that in the Middle Ages Delvinë was in the hands of the Spanish and later the Venetians. In his own time, Ajaz Mehmet Pasha - a native Albanian - governed the Sanjak-bey of Delvinë. The sanjak covered 24 zeamets and 155 timars. There was a Turkish garrison, whose command on the castle was from Delvinë. According to the description of Çelebis, the small fortress had a good cisterne, an ammunition depot and a small mosque. In the city there were about 100 brick-built houses. These stood relatively far apart and nearly every house had a tower. He noted that a town wall was missing. There was several mosques, three Medreses and about 80 stores as well as an open market place.

In 1878 a Greek rebellion broke out, with the revolutionaries, mostly Epirotes, taking control of Sarandë and Delvinë. However, it was suppressed by the Ottoman troops, who burned 20 villages of the region.^[3] In the early 20th century a çetë(armed band) consisting of 200 activists of the Albanian National Awakening was formed in Delvinë.^[4] During the Balkan Wars and the subsequent Ottoman defeat, the Greek Army entered the city at March 3, 1913.^[5] In June 1914 the town hosted the constituent assembly of the representatives of Northern Epirus that discussed and finally approved the Protocol of Corfu, on July 26, 1914.^[6] Delvino then became part of the short-lived Autonomous Republic of Northern Epirus.

Jewish community

Until the Second World War, a small Jewish community existed in Delvinë. It consisted of Jews from Spain who had come to Delvinë when under Ottoman rule and had close connections to the large Jewish community in Ioannina. After the war, nearly all the Jews emigrated to Israel.

Education

The first school in Delvina, a Greek language school, was founded at 1537, when the town was still under Venetian control, and was maintained by bequests from wealthy local families.^[7] Moreover, at 1875 a Greek female school was founded.^[8]

Notable people

• Sulejman Delvina, fifth Prime Minister of Albania
• Avni bej Delvina, bej of the city, was one of the signatories of the Albanian Declaration of Independence.
• Limoz Dizdari, composer
• Ecumenical Patriarch Serapheim II of Constantinople, cleric and Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople
• Sabri Godo, writer and politician

References

1. ^ Finiq - Albanian Tourism - Official Website
2. ^ Nußberger Angelika, Wolfgang Stoppel (2001) (in German), Minderheitenschutz im östlichen Europa (Albanien), Universität Köln, http://www.uni-koeln.de/jur-fak/ostrecht/minderheitenschutz/Vortraege/Albanien/Albanien_Stoppel.pdf 
3. ^ M. V. Sakellariou. Epirus, 4000 years of Greek history and civilization. Ekdotike Athenon. ISBN 9789602133712, p. 292.
4. ^ Skendi, Stavro (1967). The Albanian national awakening, 1878-1912. Princeton University Press. p. 421. http://books.google.com/books?id=qmm4AAAAIAAJ&q=kurvelesh#search_anchor. Retrieved 24 April 2011. 
5. ^ Veremis, John S. Koliopoulos & Thanos M. (2010). Modern Greece : a history since 1821 (1. publ. ed.). Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell. pp. 73. ISBN 9781405186810. http://books.google.com/books?hl=el&id=qumwwKbI0TQC&q=delvino#v=snippet&q=delvino&f=false. 
6. ^ Kondis Basil. Greece and Albania, 1908-1914. Institute for Balkan Studies, 1976, p. 132: "Throughout the period of the constituent assembly which convoked at Delvino to discuss the Corfu agreement... the constituent assembly approved the agreement on July 26, 1914."
7. ^ M. V. Sakellariou. Epirus, 4000 years of Greek history and civilization. Ekdotike Athenon, 1997. ISBN 9602133716. p 308: "Another important school was that at Delvino...very high standard".
8. ^ M. V. Sakellariou. Epirus, 4000 years of Greek history and civilization. Ekdotike Athenon, 1997. ISBN 9789602133712, p. 308

See also

• Finiq