Libohovë

Libohovë (definite form: Libohova) is a town and a municipality in southern Albania. It is overlooked by Libohovë Castle and has a main street with views across the Drino valley. Libohovë is at the foot of the Bureto Mountain. The region forms part of the Zagori Regional Nature Park[1] located in Zagori region.

Libohovë
Municipality
Main street of Libohovë
Main street of Libohovë
Official logo of Libohovë
Emblem
Libohovë is located in Albania
Libohovë
Libohovë
Coordinates: 40°2′N 20°16′E
Country Albania
CountyGjirokastër
Government
 • MayorLeonard Hide (PS)
Area
 • Municipality248.42 km2 (95.92 sq mi)
Elevation
408 m (1,339 ft)
Population
 (2011)
 • Municipality
3,667
 • Municipality density15/km2 (38/sq mi)
 • Municipal unit
1,992
Time zoneUTC+1 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+2 (CEST)
Postal Code
6003
Area Code(0)881
WebsiteOfficial Website

The municipality was formed at the 2015 local government reform by the merger of the former municipalities Libohovë, Qendër Libohovë and Zagori, that became municipal units. The seat of the municipality is the town Libohovë.[2] The total population is 3,667 (2011 census),[3] in a total area of 248.42 km2.[4] The population of the former municipality at the 2011 census was 1,992.[3]

History

The archaeological evidence indicates a very ancient settlement which reached its zenith in the seventeenth century. It may be the exact site of present Dropull's former Catholic Diocese of Hadrianopolis in Epiro.[5] In the late seventeenth century, the Ottoman traveler Evliya Çelebi passed through Libohovë noting it was inhabited by Muslim Albanians and had 200 houses, a mosque, prayer house, inn and small bathhouse.[6] Between 1796 and 1798 the Libohovë Castle was built in the city. In the early nineteenth century during the rule of Ali Pasha, British diplomat William Martin Leake during his journey from Vlorë to Gjirokastra and later to present-day Greece, in his diary describes his arrival on December 26, 1804, in the region of Derópoli, or Dropull as it was known from the local Albanians. According to him, Libohovë, then part of the same region, numbered about 1000 Muslim families and 100 Christian families.[7]

It is the home of a well-known Albanian noble family, which shares its name with the town. Prior to the communist era they held considerable sway over the country's politics. The castle is a substantial fortress with four polygonal corner towers and a curtain wall surrounding a wide courtyard. The sister of Ali Pasha of Tepelenë, Shanica, married one of the most important members of the Libohovë family and the castle was the dowry that Ali Pasha presented to her. In the town centre was an old plane tree around which a bar-restaurant has been built. Also in the centre is the house of Myfit (Bey) Libohovë (1876–1927), a renowned politician, the first minister of internal affairs and foreign affairs serving in the Albanian Government of 1912.

During the interwar period (twentieth century) Libohovë was a well-watered, large and wealthy settlement located among extensive groves containing 500 houses, its inhabitants spoke Albanian and were mostly Muslim.[8] Libohovë was a centre for the Muslim Sufi Bektashi order with several tekkes located in Dropull.[8] Muslims formed most of Libohovë's population in the late twentieth century.[9] Members of the Greek minority also live in the town as indicated in the census of 1989.[10]

Places of interest

Notable locals

References
  1. "Parku natyror i Zagorisë, me një plan menaxhimi të avancuar | Agjencia Telegrafike Shqiptare". Archived from the original on December 8, 2015. Retrieved December 3, 2015.
  2. "Law nr. 115/2014" (PDF) (in Albanian). p. 6371. Retrieved 25 February 2022.
  3. "Population and housing census - Gjirokastër 2011" (PDF). INSTAT. Retrieved 2019-09-25.
  4. "Correspondence table LAU – NUTS 2016, EU-28 and EFTA / available Candidate Countries" (XLS). Eurostat. Retrieved 2019-09-25.
  5. "Titular See of Hadrianopolis in Epiro, Albania".
  6. Dankoff, Robert; Elsie, Robert (2000). Evliya Çelebi in Albania and Adjacent Regions: Kossovo, Montenegro, Ohrid. Brill. p. 91. ISBN 9789004116245. "We continued westwards from Delvinaki for 6 hours and arrived at the village of Libohova. It is on the border of the kadi-district of Gjirokastër at the foot of a mountain with flowing water, like the fabled garden of Irem. It consists of 200 houses with slate roofs and is inhabited by Albanians, who are, however, Muslims. It has a congregational mosque, a prayer house, a han and a small bathhouse."
  7. Martin Leake, William (December 1835). Travels in Northern Greece. Vol. 1. New Bond Street, London: Rodwell & Martin. p. 25. ISBN 9781108020114.
  8. Hammond, Nicholas Geoffrey Lemprière (1967). Epirus: the Geography, the Ancient Remains, the History and Topography of Epirus and Adjacent Areas. Oxford: Clarendon Press. p. 29. ISBN 9780198142539. "Libohovë, with some 500 houses, is also a religious centre of the progressive Bektashi sect of Muslims and there were several heroa (teke) with Dervishes in Dhropul during the years between the two World Wars."; p.207 "On the Albanian side the largest and richest village is Libohovë (500 houses), which is situated among the extensive groves and is well watered in contrast to Agyrokastro. The population is almost entirely Mohammedan." p. 209. "Whereas Libohovë and the village north of it are Albanian in speech,"
  9. de Rapper, Gilles; Sintès, Pierre (February 2008). Faire et défaire les frontières du mariage. Échanges matrimoniaux entre la Grèce et l'Albanie: le cas de la région de Gjirokastër. Vivre et tracer les frontières dans les mondes contemporains. Tangier: Centre Jacques Berque. p. 5. Retrieved 7 February 2022. "à la ville de Libohovë, peuplée majoritairement de musulmans"
  10. Österreichisches Ost-und Südosteuropa-Institut (2003). Jordan, Peter; Lukan, Walter (eds.). Albanien: Geographie - historische Anthropologie - Geschichte - Kultur - postkommunistische Transformation (in German). Lang. p. 37. ISBN 978-3-631-39416-8. Die Gruppe der Griechen, die nace der Volkszahlung 1989... Die dort am dichtesten mit Griechen bewohnten ländlichen Gebiete sind die von Dropull, Rëza e zezë und Pogon im Kreis von Gjirokastër, sowie Vurgu im Kreis von Delvinë - Sarandë. Ein Teil der griechischen Minderheit im Suden des landes lebt heute aber in Städten wie Gjirokastër , Libohovë , Delvinë und Sarandë . ... Korce.
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