160-524: Qeparo ( Albanian definite form : Qeparoi ; Greek : Κηπαρό , Kiparo ) is a seaside village in the municipality of Himara in Vlorë County , Albania . The village is part of the Albanian Riviera and is divided into two parts – Upper or Old Qeparo on higher ground, and Lower or New Qeparo on the coast. Qeparo is an Albanian -speaking village. The first identified form of the name of
320-432: A Greek population inhabited Qeparo Sipërme/Άνω Κηπαρό, Ano Kiparo (upper neighbourhood). A figure also accepted by Nitsiakos presenting the local demography in 2010. Today Qeparo is an Albanian-speaking village. Modern Qeparo is divided in two parts: the old part (or upper part) is located on a hill c. 300–400 metres above the sea level, while the new part (lower part) extends along the coastal road and slowly descends to
480-678: A Latinis, Grecis et Sclauis ita quod in nullo se intelligunt cum aliis nationibus. (Namely, the above-mentioned Albanians have a language that is different from the languages of Latins, Greeks and Slavs, so that they do not understand each other at all.) The oldest attested document written in Albanian dates to 1462, while the first audio recording in the language was made by Norbert Jokl on 4 April 1914 in Vienna . However, as Fortson notes, Albanian written works existed before this point; they have simply been lost. The existence of written Albanian
640-544: A Muslim Albanian brigand who rose to become the provincial governor of Ioannina in 1788. At the height of his power, he controlled all of Epirus, and much of the Peloponnese , central Greece, and parts of western Macedonia Ali Pasha's campaign to subjugate the confederation of the settlements of Souli met with fierce resistance by the Souliot warriors of the mountainous area. After numerous failed attempts to defeat
800-568: A battleground in the rebellions of the Ostrogoths after 479. In 517, a raid of the Getae or Antae reached Greece, including Epirus Vetus . The claim of Procopius of Caesarea in his Secret History , that under Justinian I (r. 527–565) the entirety of the Balkan provinces was raided by barbarians every year, is considered rhetorical hyperbole by modern scholars; only a single Slavic raid to
960-905: A common branch in the current phylogenetic classification of the Indo-European language family. The first written mention of Albanian was in 1284 in a witness testimony from the Republic of Ragusa , while a letter written by Dominican Friar Gulielmus Adea in 1332 mentions the Albanians using the Latin alphabet in their writings. The oldest surviving attestation of modern Albanian is from 1462. The two main Albanian dialect groups (or varieties ), Gheg and Tosk , are primarily distinguished by phonological differences and are mutually intelligible in their standard varieties, with Gheg spoken to
1120-573: A common period of prehistoric coexistence of several Indo-European dialects in the Balkans prior to 2000 BC. To this group would belong Albanian, Ancient Greek , Armenian , Phrygian , fragmentary attested languages such as Macedonian , Thracian , or Illyrian , and the relatively well-attested Messapic in Southern Italy. The common features of this group appear at the phonological, morphological, and lexical levels, presumably resulting from
1280-584: A divine status in Epirus and in the local dialect he was called Aspetos" (meaning unspeakable , unspeakably great , in Homeric Greek ). Beginning in 370 BC, the Molossian Aeacidae dynasty built a centralized state in Epirus and began expanding their power at the expense of rival tribes. The Aeacids allied themselves with the increasingly powerful kingdom of Macedon , in part against
1440-568: A haven for Greek refugees from the Latin Empire of Constantinople for the next half century. The Despotate of Epirus ruled over Epirus and western Greece as far south as Naupaktos and the Gulf of Corinth, much of Albania (including Dyrrhachium), Thessaly, and the western portion of Macedonia , extending its rule briefly over central Macedonia and most of Thrace following the aggressive expansionism of Theodore Komnenos Doukas , who established
1600-472: A large amount (or the majority) of their sea environment lexicon. A similar phenomenon could be observed with agricultural terms. While the words for 'arable land', 'wheat', 'cereals', 'vineyard', 'yoke', 'harvesting', 'cattle breeding', etc. are native, the words for 'ploughing', 'farm' and 'farmer', agricultural practices, and some harvesting tools are foreign. This, again, points to intense contact with other languages and people, rather than providing evidence of
1760-523: A major center of the modern Greek Enlightenment . Numerous schools were founded, such as the Balaneios, Maroutsaia , Kaplaneios , and Zosimaia , teaching subjects such as literature, philosophy, mathematics and physical sciences. In the 18th century, as the power of the Ottoman Empire declined, Epirus became a de facto independent region under the despotic rule of Ali Pasha of Tepelena ,
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#17327870956171920-475: A number of isoglosses with Albanian. Other linguists linked the Albanian language with Latin , Greek and Armenian , while placing Germanic and Balto-Slavic in another branch of Indo-European. In current scholarship there is evidence that Albanian is closely related to Greek and Armenian, while the fact that it is a satem language is less significant. Armenian Greek Phrygian (extinct) Messapic (extinct) Gheg Tosk Messapic
2080-547: A possible linguistic homeland (also known as a Urheimat ). The centre of Albanian settlement remained the Mat River. In 1079, the Albanians were recorded farther south in the valley of the Shkumbin River. The Shkumbin, a 181 km long river that lies near the old Via Egnatia , is approximately the boundary of the primary dialect division for Albanian, Tosk and Gheg . The characteristics of Tosk and Gheg in
2240-535: A second time in 1374–1375. A truce was signed when Pjetër's son Gjin was betrothed to Thomas's daughter Irina, but she would soon die in the 1375 plague and hostilities would recommence. Preljubović attempted to pacify the Albanians of Epirus; however, under Gjin Bua Shpata , the Albanians defeated him. The reign of Esau de' Buondelmonti (1385–1411) in Ioannina followed, and with an army that consisted of
2400-457: A single central authority. Ioannina became a center of Greek resistance to the Albanian clans. The Greeks of Ioannina offered power to three foreign rulers during this time, beginning with Thomas II Preljubović (1367–1384), whose rule was marked by hostilities in the region, as Ioannina came under constant siege by the Mazaraki and Malakasi clans under Losha. These tribes would besiege Ioannina
2560-933: A strong sense of identity and are unique in that they speak an archaic dialect of Tosk Albanian called Arbëresh . In the United States and Canada, there are approximately 250,000 Albanian speakers. It is primarily spoken on the East Coast of the United States, in cities like New York City, Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Detroit, as well as in parts of the states of New Jersey, Ohio, and Connecticut. In Argentina, there are nearly 40,000 Albanian speakers , mostly in Buenos Aires. Approximately 1.3 million people of Albanian ancestry live in Turkey , with more than 500,000 recognizing their ancestry, language and culture . There are other estimates, however, that place
2720-651: Is Mediterranean along the coast and Alpine in the interior. Epirus is heavily forested, mainly by coniferous species. The fauna in Epirus is especially rich and features species such as bears , wolves , foxes , deer , and lynxes . In the Neolithic period Epirus was populated by seafarers along the coast and by shepherds and hunters from the southwestern Balkans who brought with them the Greek language. These people buried their leaders in large mounds containing shaft graves. Similar burial chambers were subsequently used by
2880-732: Is a geographical and historical region in southeastern Europe , now shared between Greece and Albania . It lies between the Pindus Mountains and the Ionian Sea , stretching from the Bay of Vlorë and the Acroceraunian Mountains in the north to the Ambracian Gulf and the ruined Roman city of Nicopolis in the south. It is currently divided between the region of Epirus in northwestern Greece and
3040-636: Is a predominantly rugged and mountainous region. It is largely made up of the Pindus Mountains , a series of parallel limestone ridges that are a continuation of the Dinaric Alps . The Pindus mountains form the spine of mainland Greece and separate Epirus from Macedonia and Thessaly to the east. The ridges of the Pindus are parallel to the sea and generally so steep that the valleys between them are mostly suitable for pasture rather than large-scale agriculture. Altitude increases as one moves east, away from
3200-754: Is a scenic upland plateau surrounded by mountain on all sides. The main river flowing through Epirus is the Vjosë , which flows in a northwesterly direction from the Pindus mountains in Greece to its mouth north of the Bay of Vlorë in Albania. Other important rivers include the Acheron river , famous for its religious significance in ancient Greece and site of the Necromanteion , the Arachthos river , crossed by
3360-614: Is also spoken by 450,000 Albanian immigrants in Greece, making it one of the commonly spoken languages in the country after Greek. Albanian is the third most common mother tongue among foreign residents in Italy . This is due to a substantial Albanian immigration to Italy. Italy has a historical Albanian minority of about 500,000, scattered across southern Italy, known as Arbëreshë . Approximately 1 million Albanians from Kosovo are dispersed throughout Germany , Switzerland and Austria . These are mainly immigrants from Kosovo who migrated during
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#17327870956173520-709: Is also spoken in Greece and by the Albanian diaspora , which is generally concentrated in the Americas , Europe and Oceania . Albanian is estimated to have as many as 7.5 million native speakers. Albanian and other Paleo-Balkan languages had their formative core in the Balkans after the Indo-European migrations in the region. Albanian in antiquity is often thought to have been an Illyrian language for obvious geographic and historical reasons, or otherwise an unmentioned Balkan Indo-European language that
3680-561: Is alternatively given as the Vjosa river. Epirus's eastern boundary is defined by the Pindus Mountains , that form the spine of mainland Greece and separate Epirus from Macedonia and Thessaly . To the west, Epirus faces the Ionian Sea . The island of Corfu is situated off the Epirote coast but is not regarded as part of Epirus. The definition of Epirus has changed over time, such that modern administrative boundaries do not correspond to
3840-601: Is an Indo-European language and the only surviving representative of the Albanoid branch , which belongs to the Paleo-Balkan group . It is the native language of the Albanian people . Standard Albanian is the official language of Albania and Kosovo , and a co-official language in North Macedonia and Montenegro , as well as a recognized minority language of Italy , Croatia , Romania and Serbia . It
4000-608: Is considered the closest language to Albanian, grouped in a common branch titled Illyric in Hyllested & Joseph (2022). Hyllested & Joseph (2022) in agreement with recent bibliography identify Greco-Phrygian as the IE branch closest to the Albanian-Messapic one. These two branches form an areal grouping – which is often called "Balkan IE" – with Armenian. The hypothesis of the " Balkan Indo-European " continuum posits
4160-517: Is evidenced from the fact that the territories that were under Bulgarian rule formed part of the autocephalous Archbishopric of Ohrid after the Byzantine conquest of Bulgaria by Emperor Basil II in 1018: thus in Epirus the sees of Chimara , Hadrianopolis, Bela, Buthrotum, Ioannina, Kozyle, and Rogoi passed under the jurisdiction of Ohrid, while the Metropolitan of Naupaktos retained only
4320-687: Is explicitly mentioned in a letter attested from 1332, and the first preserved books, including both those in Gheg and in Tosk, share orthographic features that indicate that some form of common literary language had developed. By the Late Middle Ages , during the period of Humanism and the European Renaissance , the term lingua epirotica ' Epirotan language ' was preferred in the intellectual, literary, and clerical circles of
4480-615: Is first mentioned in the late 11th century, while Jewish communities are attested throughout the medieval period in Arta and Ioannina. When Constantinople fell to the Fourth Crusade in 1204, the partitio Romaniae assigned Epirus to Venice , but the Venetians were largely unable to effectively establish their authority, except over Dyrrhachium (the " Duchy of Durazzo "). The Greek noble Michael Komnenos Doukas , who had married
4640-442: Is from a Venetian document dating to 1210, which states that "the continent facing the island of Corfu is inhabited by Albanians". Kosta Giakoumis believes that the use of hypothetical immigrations to explain the accounts of Albanian presence in Epirote territory prior to the 13th-14th century is somewhat arbitrary. In 1337, Epirus was once again brought under the rule of the restored Byzantine Empire . In 1348, taking advantage of
4800-421: Is now Preveza ) in 1463, and finally Vonitsa in 1479. With the exception of several coastal Venetian possessions, this was also the end of Latin rule in mainland Greece. The Ottomans ruled Epirus for almost 500 years. Their rule in Epirus proved particularly damaging; the region was subjected to deforestation and excessive cultivation, which damaged the soil and drove many Epirotes to emigrate so as to escape
4960-509: Is problematic, and it should be associated to the study of the culture of these fortifications, in relation to the culture of the same period discovered in the area of Shkodra, Mati and in eastern Albania. The Late Bronze Age fortification of Karos shares common typological features with that of the castle of nearby Himara . Karos also has a type of Early Iron Age fortifications with a more advanced architectural composition featuring several wall enclosures. Archaeological evidence so far shows that
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5120-600: Is situated on the western slope of Mount Gjivlash, at about 450 metres (1,480 ft) above sea level. In ancient times, Qeparo was situated in the hill of Kasteli. Later on, its inhabitants settled a little further down, in the Gjivlash Slope, southeast of the hill of Kasteli, to be closer to their fields and to escape the cold of the winter. From 1957 onwards, Qeparo was split into the Old Village ( Albanian : Fshati i vjetër , Greek : Άνω or Παλαιό Κηπαρό ), and
5280-598: Is spoken in North-western Greece, while Arvanitika is spoken by the Arvanites in southern Greece. In addition, Arbëresh is spoken by the Arbëreshë people, descendants of 15th and 16th century migrants who settled in southeastern Italy, in small communities in the regions of Sicily and Calabria . These settlements originated from the (Arvanites) communities probably of Peloponnese known as Morea in
5440-486: Is spoken in the south, and Gheg spoken in the north. Standard Albanian is based on the Tosk dialect. The Shkumbin River is the rough dividing line between the two dialects. Gheg is divided into four sub-dialects: Northwest Gheg, Northeast Gheg, Central Gheg and Southern Gheg. It is primarily spoken in northern Albania, Kosovo , and throughout Montenegro and northwestern North Macedonia . One fairly divergent dialect
5600-576: Is the Upper Reka dialect , which is however classified as Central Gheg. There is also a diaspora dialect in Croatia , the Arbanasi dialect . Tosk is divided into five sub-dialects, including Northern Tosk (the most numerous in speakers), Labërisht , Cham , Arvanitika , and Arbëresh . Tosk is spoken in southern Albania, southwestern North Macedonia and northern and southern Greece. Cham Albanian
5760-399: Is the most probable. Although Albanian shares lexical isoglosses with Greek , Germanic , and to a lesser extent Balto-Slavic , the vocabulary of Albanian is quite distinct. In 1995, Taylor, Ringe , and Warnow used quantitative linguistic techniques that appeared to obtain an Albanian subgrouping with Germanic, a result which the authors had already reasonably downplayed. Indeed,
5920-569: Is the official language of Albania and Kosovo and a co-official language in North Macedonia and Montenegro . Albanian is a recognised minority language in Croatia , Italy , Romania and in Serbia . Albanian is also spoken by a minority in Greece , specifically in the Thesprotia and Preveza regional units and in a few villages in Ioannina and Florina regional units in Greece. It
6080-576: Is unclear how much the area was affected by the second wave of Slavic migration, which began in the middle of the 8th century due to Bulgar pressure in the northern Balkans. Slavic toponyms are nearly lacking in the mountains of Labëria (on the Kurvelesh plateau ), in the Ionian coast where today Lab Albanian villages neighbour with the Greek-speaking ones, therefore it can be assumed that
6240-576: The Adriatic Sea . The modern Egnatia Odos , the A2 motorway , which links Ioannina to the Greek province of Macedonia and terminating at Igoumenitsa , is the only highway through the Pindus mountains and has served to greatly reduce the region's isolation from the east, while the Ionia Odos highway , connecting Epirus with Western Greece , helped reducing the region's isolation from the south. Also,
6400-781: The Autonomous Republic of Northern Epirus in February 1914. After fierce guerrilla fighting, they managed to gain full autonomy under the terms of the Protocol of Corfu , signed by Albanian and Northern Epirote representatives and approved by the Great Powers. The signing of the Protocol ensured that the region would have its own administration, recognized the rights of the local Greeks and provided self-government under nominal Albanian sovereignty. The Republic, however,
6560-571: The Avars and their Slavic allies. This is placed by the Chronicle of Monemvasia in the year 587, and is further corroborated by evidence that several sees were abandoned by their bishops by 591. Thus in c. 590 the bishop, clergy and people of Euroea fled their city, carrying with them the relics of their patron saint, St. Donatus , to Cassiope in Corfu. Of the various Slavic tribes, only
Qeparo - Misplaced Pages Continue
6720-624: The Baiounitai , first attested c. 615 , are known by name, giving their name to their region of settlement: " Vagenetia ". Based on the density of the Slavic toponyms in Epirus, the Slavs must have settled in the region, although the extent of this settlement is unclear. Slavic toponyms occur mainly in the mountainous areas of the interior and the coasts of the Gulf of Corinth , indicative of
6880-521: The Balkan Wars and World War I , southern Epirus became part of Greece, while northern Epirus became part of Albania. The name Epirus is derived from the Greek : Ἤπειρος , romanized : Ḗpeiros ( Doric Greek : Ἄπειρος , romanized: Ápeiros ), meaning "mainland" or terra firma . It is thought to come from an Indo-European root *apero- 'coast', and was applied to
7040-426: The Balkan Wars , but the Treaty of Bucharest , which concluded the Second Balkan War , assigned Northern Epirus to Albania. This outcome was unpopular among local Greeks, as a substantial Greek population existed on the Albanian side of the border. Among Greeks, northern Epirus was henceforth regarded as terra irredenta . Local Greeks in northern Epirus revolted, declared their independence and proclaimed
7200-408: The Congress of Dibra decided that Albanian schools would finally be allowed. Albanian is an isolate within the Indo-European language family; no other language has been conclusively linked to its branch . The only other languages that are the sole surviving members of a branch of Indo-European are Armenian and Greek. The Albanian language is part of the Indo-European language family and
7360-427: The Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople managed to shut down the few Albanian schools, considering teaching in Albanian a factor that would diminish its influence and lead to the creation of separate Albanian church, while publications in Albanian were banned by the Ottoman Empire. In the late 19th century, the Kingdom of Italy opened various schools in the regions of Ioannina and Preveza in order to influence
7520-415: The Empire of Thessalonica in 1224. During this time, the definition of Epirus came to encompass the entire coastal region from the Ambracian Gulf to Dyrrhachium, and the hinterland to the west up to the highest peaks of the Pindus mountain range. Some of the most important cities in Epirus, such as Gjirokastër (Argyrokastron), were founded during this period. The oldest reference to Albanians in Epirus
7680-517: The Janissary of Muhammad Ali Pasha , an Albanian who became Wāli , and self-declared Khedive of Egypt and Sudan . In addition to the dynasty that he established, a large part of the former Egyptian and Sudanese aristocracy was of Albanian origin. In addition to the recent emigrants, there are older diasporic communities around the world. Albanian is also spoken by Albanian diaspora communities residing in Australia and New Zealand . The Albanian language has two distinct dialects, Tosk which
7840-458: The Korçë District , Kamnik in Kolonja , Kolsh in the Kukës District , Rashtan in Librazhd , and Nezir in the Mat District . As in other parts of Europe, these PreIE people joined the migratory Indo-European tribes that entered the Balkans and contributed to the formation of the historical Paleo-Balkan tribes. In terms of linguistics, the pre-Indo-European substrate language spoken in the southern Balkans probably influenced pre-Proto-Albanian ,
8000-704: The League of Prizren and culminated with the Congress of Manastir held by Albanian intellectuals from 14 to 22 November 1908, in Manastir (present day Bitola ), which decided on which alphabet to use, and what the standardised spelling would be for standard Albanian. This is how the literary language remains. The alphabet is the Latin alphabet with the addition of the letters ⟨ ë ⟩ , ⟨ ç ⟩ , and ten digraphs : dh , th , xh , gj , nj , ng , ll , rr , zh and sh . According to Robert Elsie : The hundred years between 1750 and 1850 were an age of astounding orthographic diversity in Albania. In this period,
8160-442: The Sanjak of Albania within the Ottoman Empire . In 1722, Qeparo was inhabited by ethnic Albanians. Eastern-rite missionary Giuseppe Schirò from the Arbëresh town of Piana degli Albanesi in Sicily, visited the Himara region in 1722 due to connections based on the founders of Piana degli Albanesi being from the region of Himara. In the same year, the villages of Himara, Palasa, Ilias, Vuno, Pilur and Qeparo refused to submit to
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#17327870956178320-413: The Treaty of Berlin (1878) awarded large parts of Epirus to Greece, opposition by the Ottomans and the League of Prizren resulted in only the region of Arta being ceded to Greece in 1881. It was only following the First Balkan War of 1912–1913 and the Treaty of London that the rest of southern Epirus, including Ioannina , was incorporated into Greece. Greece had also seized northern Epirus during
8480-577: The Western Roman generalissimo Stilicho in order to wrest the Eastern Illyricum from the Eastern Empire. The Synecdemus of Hierocles , composed in ca. 527/8 AD but probably reflecting the situation in the first half of the 5th century, reports 11 cities for Old Epirus ( Ancient Greek : Παλαιὰ Ἤπειρος , Latin : Epirus Vetus ): the capital Nicopolis, Dodona , Euroea , Hadrianopolis , Appon , Phoenice , Anchiasmos , Buthrotum , Photike , Corfu Island, and Ithaca Island. New Epirus, with capital at Dyrrhachium , comprised 9 cities. From 467 on,
8640-402: The civil war between the Byzantine emperors John V Palaiologos and John VI Kantakouzenos , the Serbian king Stefan Uroš IV Dušan conquered Epirus, with a number of Albanian mercenaries assisting him. The Byzantine authorities in Constantinople soon re-established a measure of control by making the Despotate of Epirus a vassal state , but Albanian clans proceeded to invade and seize most of
8800-530: The 14th century, but they failed to cite specific words. The oldest surviving documents written in Albanian are the " formula e pagëzimit " (Baptismal formula), Un'te paghesont' pr'emenit t'Atit e t'Birit e t'Spertit Senit . ("I baptize thee in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit ") recorded by Pal Engjelli, Bishop of Durrës in 1462 in the Gheg dialect, and some New Testament verses from that period. The linguists Stefan Schumacher and Joachim Matzinger (University of Vienna) assert that
8960-410: The 1990s. In Switzerland , the Albanian language is the sixth most spoken language with 176,293 native speakers. Albanian became an official language in North Macedonia on 15 January 2019. There are large numbers of Albanian speakers in the United States, Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, and Canada . Some of the first ethnic Albanians to arrive in the United States were the Arbëreshë. The Arbëreshë have
9120-453: The Albanian and Germanic branches share a relatively moderate number of lexical cognates. Many shared grammatical elements or features of these two branches do not corroborate the lexical isoglosses. Albanian also shares lexical linguistic affinity with Latin and Romance languages. Sharing linguistic features unique to the languages of the Balkans , Albanian also forms a part of the Balkan linguistic area or sprachbund . The place and
9280-426: The Albanian language was on 14 July 1284 in Ragusa in modern Croatia ( Dubrovnik ) when a crime witness named Matthew testified: "I heard a voice crying on the mountain in the Albanian language" ( Latin : Audivi unam vocem, clamantem in monte in lingua albanesca ). The Albanian language is also mentioned in the Descriptio Europae Orientalis dated in 1308: Habent enim Albani prefati linguam distinctam
9440-435: The Albanian language was put to writing in at least ten different alphabets – most certainly a record for European languages. ... the diverse forms in which this old Balkan language was recorded, from the earliest documents to the beginning of the twentieth century ... consist of adaptations of the Latin, Greek, Arabic, and Cyrillic alphabets and (what is even more interesting) a number of locally invented writing systems. Most of
9600-455: The Albanian leaders of the Despotate of Arta . The Shpata were originally defeated by Carlo's brother Leonardo II Tocco at Mazoma near ancient Nicopolis , but Carlo's son Torno was in turn defeated by the Albanians. After the Tocchi succeeded in capturing Rhiniasa, Leonardo tried to take Rogoi and Carlo attempted to take Arta, but Jakob and Muriq succeeded in defending their capital for the time being. Carlo withdrew to Ioannina, but soon after
9760-535: The Albanian tribes of the Mazaraki and Malakasi, he marched against the Principality of Gjirokastër . He was defeated and captured by Albanian nobleman Gjon Zenebishi , and ransomed for 10,000 gold pieces on the intervention of the Venetian governor of Corfu . At the time the Zenebishi clan controlled the area around Gjirokastër (1386–1411), while only the city of Ioannina remained under Greek control. Carlo I Tocco (1411–1429) then assumed control of Ioannina, commencing heavy conflicts with Jakob and Muriq Shpata,
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#17327870956179920-469: The Allies. Due to the extensive activity of the anti-Nazi Greek resistance (mainly under EDES ), the Germans carried out large scaled anti-partisan sweeps, making wide use of Nazi-collaborationist bands of Cham Albanians , who committed numerous atrocities against the civilian population. They fought fiercely against the Greek partisans of the EDES, the latter being ordered by the Allied command to push them out of Greece into Albania. The violent clashes and
10080-412: The Greek revolutionaries), Nikolaos Skoufas and Athanasios Tsakalov, came from the Arta area and the city of Ioannina , respectively. Greece's first constitutional prime minister (1844–1847), Ioannis Kolettis , was a native of the village of Syrrako in Epirus and was a former personal physician to Ali Pasha. Ali Pasha tried to use the war as an opportunity to make himself a fully independent ruler, but
10240-443: The Greek villages of Himara, with the Albanian ones being Pilur, Vuno and Kudhes. Nicholas Hammond described that the village formed in the 1930s on the southern border of the Greek-speaking pocket of which the town of Himara (town) was the centre. During the interwar period, the village was Greek-speaking. After 1957, the village developed into two parts, New Qeparo where the population became concentrated and Old Qeparo. That year
10400-442: The Greek, is Epiri . Similarly, the Aromanian name for Epirus, which is also Greek-derived, is Epiru . Historically, the geographical area of Epirus proper is defined within the lines drawn from Cape Gjuhëz of the Ceraunian Mountains in the north-west, to Mount Qelqëz in the north-east, to Mount Gavrovo in the south-east, to the mouth of the Ambracian Gulf in the south-west. The northern boundary of ancient Epirus
10560-401: The Hellenization campaign also suggests a continuity of the original Greek population, and that the Slavs had settled among many Greeks, in contrast to areas further north, in what is now Bulgaria and the former Yugoslavia, as those areas could not be Hellenized when they were recovered by the Byzantines in the early 11th century. Following the great naval victory of admiral Nasar in 880, and
10720-576: The Himariotes is part of the territory of Qeparo. Qeparo has cultivated olives for centuries, as mentioned in the early 19th century in the work of François Pouqueville , Napoleon Bonaparte 's general consul at the court of Ali Pasha in Ioannina . Testimony to this, are some centennial olive trees still existing in the village. Qeparo in the early 1990s was mainly inhabited by an Albanian speaking population, many being Orthodox Christians. Kallivretakis estimated in 1995 that an Orthodox Albanian population inhabited Qeparo Poshtme (lower neighbourhood) and
10880-416: The Iliad. In the Middle Bronze Age, Epirus was inhabited by the same nomadic Hellenic tribes that went on to settle in the rest of Greece. Aristotle considered the region around Dodona to have been part of Hellas and the region where the Hellenes originated. According to Bulgarian linguist Vladimir I. Georgiev , Epirus was part of the Proto-Greek linguistic area during the Late Neolithic period. By
11040-418: The Ionian Islands and the coasts of Epirus became subject to raids by the Vandals , who had taken over the North African provinces and established their own kingdom centred on Carthage . The Vandals notably seized Nicopolis in 474 as a bargaining chip in their negotiations with Emperor Zeno , and plundered Zakynthos, killing many of its inhabitants and ferrying off others into slavery. Epirus Nova became
11200-414: The Ionian and Adriatic seas, combating Saracen piracy, and securing communications with the remaining Byzantine possessions in Italy, rather than any systematic effort at subduing the Epirote mainland. Nevertheless, following the onset of the Muslim conquest of Sicily in 827, the Ionian became particularly exposed to Arab raids. The 9th century saw great progress in the restoration of Imperial control in
11360-401: The Ionian coast. The Albanian local dialects, are part of southern Tosk , and more precisely, of the Labërisht sub-group. The Labërisht variant of Albanian spoken in Qeparo shares many features with the Arbëresh language which it is related to. The local Albanian idiom spoken in the village includes loanwords that go back to an old phase of the Greek language. Greek loanwords also witness
11520-521: The Middle Ages. Among them the Arvanites call themselves Arbëror and sometime Arbëresh. The Arbëresh dialect is closely related to the Arvanites dialect with more Italian vocabulary absorbed during different periods of time. The Albanian language has been written using many alphabets since the earliest records from the 15th century. The history of Albanian language orthography is closely related to
11680-653: The Mycenaean civilization, suggesting that the founders of Mycenae may have come from Epirus and central Albania . Epirus itself remained culturally backward during this time, but Mycenaean remains have been found at two religious shrines of great antiquity in the region: the Oracle of the Dead on the Acheron River, familiar to the heroes of Homer’s Odyssey , and the Oracle of Zeus at Dodona, to whom Achilles prayed in
11840-578: The New Village ( Albanian : Fshati i ri , Greek : Κάτω or Νέο Κηπαρό ). To the east, Qeparo is bounded by the village of Borsh, to the northeast by Çorraj, to the north with Kudhës, to the northwest by Piluri, to the west with the town of Himara and to the south and southwest by the Ionian sea. The Porto Palermo Castle , probably built by the Venetian and later used by Ali Pasha to guard against
12000-483: The Pasha of Delvina. The village has an Orthodox Church dedicated to Saint Demetrius , dated 1760, one of the nine churches in Albania today dedicated to that saint. The church was erected at a period when pressure for conversion to Islam was strong . Another church which is stands in the centre of the settlement is that of St. Mary and was erected in 1796. The Greek school of Qeparo, which still stands today, dates to
12160-742: The Peloponnesian War , as does Strabo in his Geography , although the latter clearly distinguishes them from the neighboring Illyrians . Other writers, such as Herodotus , Dionysius of Halicarnassus , Pausanias , and Eutropius , describe them as Greeks. Similarly, Epirote tribes/states are included in the Argive and Epidaurian lists of the Greek Thearodokoi (hosts of sacred envoys). Plutarch mentions an interesting element of Epirote folklore regarding Achilles: In his biography of King Pyrrhus , he claims that Achilles "had
12320-718: The Shkumbin river since the Post-Roman and Pre-Slavic period, straddling the Jireček Line . Centuries-old communities speaking Albanian dialects can be found scattered in Greece (the Arvanites and some communities in Epirus , Western Macedonia and Western Thrace ), Croatia (the Arbanasi ), Italy (the Arbëreshë ) as well as in Romania , Turkey and Ukraine . The Malsia e Madhe Gheg Albanian and two varieties of
12480-584: The Souliotes, his troops succeeded in conquering the area in 1803. On the other hand, Ali, who used Greek as official language, witnessed an increase of Greek cultural activity with the establishment of several educational institutions. When the Greek War of Independence broke out, the inhabitants of Epirus contributed greatly. Two of the founding members of the Filiki Eteria (the secret society of
12640-596: The Theme of Nicopolis was raided by the Bulgarians, who even occupied some parts until driven out or subjugated by the Byzantines years later. Only the extreme north of Epirus seems to have remained consistently under Bulgarian rule in the period, but under Tsar Samuel , who moved the centre of Bulgarian power south and west to Ohrid , probably all of Epirus down to the Ambracian Gulf came under Bulgarian rule. This
12800-412: The Tosk dialect, Arvanitika in Greece and Arbëresh in southern Italy, have preserved archaic elements of the language. Ethnic Albanians constitute a large diaspora , with many having long assimilated in different cultures and communities. Consequently, Albanian-speakers do not correspond to the total ethnic Albanian population, as many ethnic Albanians may identify as Albanian but are unable to speak
12960-442: The ancestor idiom of Albanian. The extent of this linguistic impact cannot be determined with precision due to the uncertain position of Albanian among Paleo-Balkan languages and their scarce attestation. Some loanwords, however, have been proposed, such as shegë ' pomegranate ' or lëpjetë ' orach '; compare Pre-Greek λάπαθον , lápathon ' monk's rhubarb '. Epirus Epirus ( / ɪ ˈ p aɪ r ə s / )
13120-535: The area had been subject to increasing Hellenization and settlement by Epirote tribes from the south. The two Epirote provinces became part of the Diocese of Moesia , until it was divided in ca. 369 into the dioceses of Macedonia and Dacia , when they became part of the former. In the 4th century, Epirus was still a stronghold of paganism , and was aided by Emperor Julian (r. 361–363) and his praetorian prefect Claudius Mamertinus through reduction in taxes and
13280-536: The area was again ceded to Albania. In 1939, Italy occupied Albania , and in 1940 invaded Greece . The Italians were driven back into Albania, however, and Greek forces again took control of northern Epirus. The conflict marked the first tactical victory of the Allies in World War II . Benito Mussolini himself supervised the spring counter-offensive of his divisions in spring 1941, only to be repulsed again by
13440-455: The beginning of the imperial period and the 3rd century CE. It has been suggested that the ancient fortification of Karos was reoccupied in late antiquity, with structures presumably dated to the 6th to 7th centuries CE, since some ceramics and pottery found on the site have been dated to the later Byzantine period. In 1501, villages in the Himara region were governed by their own elders, and
13600-668: The beginning of the Byzantine offensive against the Arabs in southern Italy in the 880s, the security situation improved and the Theme of Nicopolis was established, most likely after 886. As the ancient capital of Epirus had been laid waste by the Slavs, the capital of the new theme became Naupaktos further south. The extent of the new province is unclear, but probably matched the extent of the Metropolis of Naupaktos , established at about
13760-535: The bishop of Dyrrhachium participated in the Ecumenical Councils of 680/1 and 692 , a century later the bishops of Dyrrhachium, Nicopolis, Corfu, Cephallonia, and Zakynthos are attested in the Second Council of Nicaea in 787. In about the middle of the 8th century, the Theme of Cephallenia was established, but at least initially it was more oriented towards restoring Byzantine control over
13920-684: The border between Greece and Albania, and the Ceraunian Mountains (2,000 m) near Himara in Albania. Most of Epirus lies on the windward side of the Pindus, and the prevailing winds from the Ionian Sea make the region the rainiest in mainland Greece. Significant lowlands are to be found only near the coast, in the southwest near Arta and Preveza , in the Acheron plain between Paramythia and Fanari , between Igoumenitsa and Sagiada , and also near Saranda . The Zagori area
14080-457: The boundaries of ancient Epirus. The region of Epirus in Greece only comprises a fraction of classical Epirus and does not include its easternmost portions, which lie in Thessaly. In Albania, where the concept of Epirus is never used in an official context, the counties of Gjirokastër, Vlorë , and Berat extend well beyond the northern and northeastern boundaries of classical Epirus. Epirus
14240-576: The cause of Olympias against Cassander , but was dethroned in 313 BC. His son Pyrrhus came to throne in 295 BC, and for six years fought against the Romans and Carthaginians in southern Italy and Sicily . The high cost of his victories against the Romans gave Epirus a new, but brief, importance, as well as a lasting contribution to the Greek language with the concept of a " Pyrrhic victory ". Pyrrhus nonetheless brought great prosperity to Epirus, building
14400-477: The coast, reaching a maximum of 2,637 m at Mount Smolikas , the highest point in Epirus. Other important ranges include Tymfi (2,496 m at Mount Gamila), Lygkos (2,249 m), to the west and east of Smolikas respectively, Gramos (2,523 m) in the northeast, Tzoumerka (2,356 m) in the southeast, Tomaros (1,976 m) in the southwest, Mitsikeli near Ioannina (1,810 m), Mourgana (1,806 m), and Nemercke/Aeoropos (2,485 m) on
14560-672: The common threat of Illyrian raids, and in 359 BC the Molossian princess Olympias , niece of Arybbas of Epirus , married King Philip II of Macedon . She was to become the mother of Alexander the Great . On the death of Arybbas, Alexander of Epirus succeeded to the throne and the title King of Epirus in 334 BC. He invaded Italy, but was killed in battle by a Lucanian in the Battle of Pandosia against several Italic tribes 331 BC. Aeacides of Epirus , who succeeded Alexander, espoused
14720-457: The contact between the various languages. The concept of this linguistic group is explained as a kind of language league of the Bronze Age (a specific areal-linguistics phenomenon), although it also consisted of languages that were related to each other. A common prestage posterior to PIE comprising Albanian, Greek, and Armenian, is considered as a possible scenario. In this light, due to
14880-474: The continuation of the state of war until 1987 was that during the entire period of Communist rule in Albania, the Greek population of Northern Epirus experienced forced Albanisation . Although a Greek minority was recognized by the Hoxha regime, this recognition only applied to an "official minority zone" consisting of 99 villages, leaving out important areas of Greek settlement, such as Himara . People outside
15040-459: The counties of Gjirokastër and Vlorë in southern Albania. The largest city in Epirus is Ioannina , seat of the Greek region of Epirus, with Gjirokastër the largest city in the Albanian part of Epirus. A rugged and mountainous region, Epirus was the north-west area of ancient Greece . It was inhabited by the Greek tribes of the Chaonians , Molossians , and Thesprotians . It was home to
15200-745: The cultural orientation and knowledge of certain foreign languages among Albanian writers. The earliest written Albanian records come from the Gheg area in makeshift spellings based on Italian or Greek. Originally, the Tosk dialect was written in the Greek alphabet and the Gheg dialect was written in the Latin script . Both dialects had also been written in the Ottoman Turkish version of the Arabic script , Cyrillic , and some local alphabets ( Elbasan , Vithkuqi , Todhri , Veso Bey, Jan Vellara and others, see original Albanian alphabets ). More specifically,
15360-482: The daughter of a local magnate, took advantage of this, and within a few years consolidated his control over most of Epirus, first as a Venetian vassal and eventually as an independent ruler. By the time of his death in 1214/5, Michael had established a strong state, the Despotate of Epirus , with the former theme of Nicopolis at its core and Arta as its capital. Epirus, and the city of Ioannina in particular, became
15520-532: The early 19th century. It was built at a time when Greek education was thriving in the region. Later in 1860, a Greek school was sponsored by the Greek national benefactors Evangelos and Konstantinos Zappas . In 1898-1899 a total of three Greek schools were operating in Qeparo: elementary, secondary and a girls' school with a total of 100 students. During the Balkan Wars (1912–1913) the locals attacked and killed communities from adjacent Muslim villages in fear that
15680-724: The early 1st millennium BC, all fourteen Epirote tribes including the Chaonians in northwestern Epirus, the Molossians in the centre and the Thesprotians in the south, were speakers of a strong west Greek dialect. Geographically on the edge of the Greek world, Epirus remained for the most part outside the limelight of Greek history until relatively late, much like the neighbouring Greek regions of Macedonia, Aetolia, and Acarnania, with which Epirus had political, cultural, linguistic and economic connections. Unlike most other Greeks of this time, who lived in or around city-states ,
15840-486: The emergence of an aristocratic class and the consequent conflicts between settlements that required defence structures. Among the external factors could have been the pressure from neighbouring territories of Greece, due to the uncertainty and turmoil that started with the collapse of the Mycenaean civilization and continued in the Dark Ages (12th–8th centuries BCE). Determining the ethnic belonging of these fortifications
16000-586: The environs of Dyrrhachium, in 548/9, has been documented. Procopius further reports that in 551, in an attempt to interdict the Byzantines' lines of communication with Italy during the Gothic War , the Ostrogoth king Totila sent his fleet to raid the shores of Epirus. In response to these raids, and to repair the damage done by two destructive earthquakes in 522, Justinian initiated a wide-ranging programme of reconstruction and re-fortification: Hadrianopolis
16160-505: The expansion of the Slavs had not reach this region. As in eastern Greece, the restoration of Byzantine rule seems to have proceeded from the islands, chiefly Cephallonia, which was certainly under firm Imperial control in c. 702 , when Philippicus Bardanes was banished there. The gradual restoration of Imperial rule is evidenced further from the participation of local bishops in councils in Constantinople : whereas only
16320-477: The fact that this was the avenue used by most of the Slavs who crossed the Gulf into the Peloponnese . With the exception of some few toponyms on Corfu, the Ionian Islands seem to not have been affected by Slavic settlement. The linguistic analysis of the toponyms reveals that they date mostly to the early wave of Slavic settlement at the turn of the 6th/7th centuries. Due to scarcity of textual evidence, it
16480-459: The first literary records of Albanian date from the 16th century. The oldest known Albanian printed book, Meshari , or "missal", was written in 1555 by Gjon Buzuku , a Roman Catholic cleric. In 1635, Frang Bardhi wrote the first Latin–Albanian dictionary. The first Albanian school is believed to have been opened by Franciscans in 1638 in Pdhanë . One of the earliest Albanian dictionaries
16640-706: The first two Macedonian Wars but split in the Third Macedonian War (171–168 BC), with the Molossians siding with the Macedonians and the Chaonians and Thesprotians siding with Rome. The outcome was disastrous for Epirus; Molossia fell to Rome in 167 BC and 150,000 of its inhabitants were enslaved. The region of Epirus was placed under the senatorial province of Achaea in 27 BC, with the exception of its northernmost part, which remained part of
16800-543: The government of the People's Republic of Albania built the main road along the coast which boosted economic and other opportunities in the area. The water channel built near the road was a factor that made people over time settle near the sea, resulting in the village becoming split into parts, Old Qeparo and New Qeparo. Coastal New Qeparo is the hub of both villages where government services are located and social activities take place. In post communist Albania, some two thirds of
16960-542: The great theater of Dodona and a new suburb at Ambracia (now modern Arta ), which he made his capital. The Aeacid dynasty ended in 232 BC, but Epirus remained a substantial power, unified under the auspices of the Epirote League as a federal state with its own parliament, or synedrion . However, it was faced with the growing threat of the expansionist Roman Republic , which fought a series of wars against Macedon . The League steered an uneasy neutral course in
17120-812: The historic Bridge of Arta , the Louros , the Thyamis or Kalamas, and the Voidomatis, a tributary of the Vjosë flowing through the Vikos Gorge . The Vikos Gorge, one of the deepest in the world, forms the centerpiece of the Vikos–Aoös National Park , known for its scenic beauty. The only significant lake in Epirus is Lake Pamvotis , on whose shores lies the city of Ioannina , the region's largest and traditionally most important city. The climate of Epirus
17280-496: The inhabitants of Epirus lived in small villages and their way of life was foreign to that of the poleis of southern Greece. Their region lay on the periphery of the Greek world and was far from peaceful; for many centuries, it remained a frontier area contested with the Illyrian peoples to the north. However, Epirus had a far greater religious significance than might have been expected given its geographical remoteness, due to
17440-463: The king's recruitments in the region during the end of the 18th century. Apart from these Kapedana, the villages in the Himara region did not have unique leaders, but rather a council made up of the heads of the local fis or brotherhoods known as primates in relevant documents. In 1583 Kleparo (Qeparo) was listed among the villages of the Sopot Nahiye , which was an administrative division of
17600-596: The language. Standard Albanian is a standardised form of spoken Albanian based on Tosk . The language is spoken by approximately 6 million people in the Balkans, primarily in Albania, Kosovo , North Macedonia , Serbia , Montenegro and Greece . However, due to old communities in Italy and the large Albanian diaspora , the worldwide total of speakers is much higher than in Southern Europe and numbers approximately 7.5 million. The Albanian language
17760-601: The larger number of possible shared innovations between Greek and Armenian, it appears reasonable to assume, at least tentatively, that Albanian was the first Balkan IE language to branch off. This split and the following ones were perhaps very close in time, allowing only a narrow time frame for shared innovations. Albanian represents one of the core languages of the Balkan Sprachbund . Glottolog and Ethnologue recognize four Albanian languages. They are classified as follows: The first attested written mention of
17920-626: The later would be recruited by the Ottoman army against Qeparo. The locals of Qeparo were supported with ammunition by Greek units stationed in the area. Along with other adjacent villages residents of Qeparo and Vuno supported the armed operations of the Greek Army during the Balkan Wars. In 1912-1913 Qeparo was a Greek-speaking settlement. According to Martin Urban in 1938, Qeparo was among
18080-465: The latter alphabets have now been forgotten and are unknown, even to the Albanians themselves. Albanian constitutes one of the eleven major branches of the Indo-European language family , within which it occupies an independent position. In 1854, Albanian was demonstrated to be an Indo-European language by the philologist Franz Bopp . Albanian was formerly compared by a few Indo-European linguists with Germanic and Balto-Slavic , all of which share
18240-507: The local population. These schools began to attract students from the Greek language schools, but were ultimately closed after intervention and harassment by the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. Throughout, the late period of Ottoman rule (from the 18th century) Greek and Aromanian population of the region suffered from Albanians raiders, that sporadically continued after Ali Pasha's death, until 1912–1913. While
18400-459: The mainland of north-west Greece opposite Corfu and the Ionian islands . The local name was struck on the coinage of the unified Epirote commonwealth : "ΑΠΕΙΡΩΤΑΝ" ( Ancient Greek : Ἀπειρωτᾶν , romanized : Āpeirōtân , Attic Greek : Ἠπειρωτῶν , romanized: Ēpeirōtôn , i.e. "of the Epirotes", see adjacent image). The Albanian name for the region, which derives from
18560-440: The mainland, as evidenced by the participation of the bishops of Ioannina, Naupaktos , Hadrianopolis, and Vagenetia (evidently by now organized as a Sklavinia under imperial rule) in the Ecumenical Councils of 869/70 and 879/80 . The Byzantine recovery resulted in an influx of Greeks from southern Italy and Asia Minor into the Greek interior, while remaining Slavs were Christianized and Hellenized . The eventual success of
18720-613: The mountains of Epirus also became the scene of some of the fiercest fighting of the second and bloodier round of the Greek Civil War. The final episode of the war took place on Mount Grammos in 1949, ending with the defeat of the Communists. Peace returned to the region in 1949, although because of official Albanian active involvement in the civil war on the side of the communists, the formal state of war between Greece and Albania remained in effect until 1987. Another reason for
18880-664: The name is Albanian or Greek. The form Qeparo is a later innovation which was produced via vowel metathesis and the typical shift of /kl/ to /q/ in southern Albanian dialects. Early and Middle Bronze Age fortifications have been found in Kukum, a hill to the west of the Qeparo basin that rises 100 m above sea level, and in Ngurë, a hill to the west of Qeparo basin that rises 70m above the sea level. Kukum's Early Bronze Age pottery and building techniques and pattern bear similarities to those of
19040-429: The names for fish and for agricultural activities (such as ploughing ) are borrowed from other languages. A deeper analysis of the vocabulary, however, shows that could be a consequence of a prolonged Latin domination of the coastal and plain areas of the country, rather than evidence of the original environment in which the Albanian language was formed. For example, the word for 'fish' is borrowed from Latin, but not
19200-456: The north and Tosk spoken to the south of the Shkumbin river . Their characteristics in the treatment of both native words and loanwords provide evidence that the split into the northern and the southern dialects occurred after Christianisation of the region (4th century AD), and most likely not later than the 6th century AD, hence possibly occupying roughly their present area divided by
19360-518: The number of people in Turkey with Albanian ancestry and or background upward to 5 million. However, the vast majority of this population is assimilated and no longer possesses fluency in the Albanian language, though a vibrant Albanian community maintains its distinct identity in Istanbul to this day. Egypt also lays claim to about 18,000 Albanians, mostly Tosk speakers. Many are descendants of
19520-410: The official minority zone received no education in the Greek language, which was prohibited in public. The Hoxha regime also diluted the ethnic demographics of the region by relocating Greeks living there and settling in their stead Albanians from other parts of the country. Relations began to improve in the 1980s with Greece's abandonment of any territorial claims over Northern Epirus and the lifting of
19680-414: The official state of war between the two countries. A rugged topography, poor soils, and fragmented landholdings have kept agricultural production low and have resulted in a low population density. Animal husbandry is the main industry and corn the chief crop. Oranges and olives are grown in the western lowlands, while tobacco is grown around Ioannina. Epirus has few natural resources and industries, and
19840-412: The only surviving representative of its own branch , which belongs to the Paleo-Balkan group . Although it is still uncertain which ancient mentioned language of the Balkans it continues, or where in the region its speakers lived. In general, there is insufficient evidence to connect Albanian with one of those languages, whether Illyrian , Thracian , or Dacian . Among these possibilities, Illyrian
20000-437: The planimetric structure of these Iron Age Karos-type fortifications was a characteristic of the border area between Illyria and Epirus, and that the architecture of Karos was influenced by the nearby area of Amantia , where similar structures can be found. In terms of the planimetric structures they find parallels with similar settlements in the rest of the territory of Chaonia and southern Illyria , but they are different from
20160-569: The poorly equipped, but determined, Greeks. Nazi Germany then intervened in April 1941 to avert an Italian defeat. The German military performed rapid military maneuvers through Yugoslavia and forced the encircled Greek forces of the Epirus front to surrender. The whole of Epirus was then placed under Italian occupation until 1943, when the Germans took over following the Italian surrender to
20320-468: The population has been depleted by migration. The population is centered around Ioannina, which has the largest number of industrial establishments. Epirus has historically been a remote and isolated region due to its location between the Pindus mountains and the sea. In antiquity, the Roman Via Egnatia passed through Epirus Nova , which linked Byzantium and Thessalonica to Dyrrachium on
20480-572: The prehistoric fortified villages of Molossia , which on the other hand clearly display an organization of the inhabited spaces and provide evidence for a continuous habitation from the Bronze Age to the Hellenistic period . In classical antiquity the area made up the Chaonian coast, located in north-western Epirus . Hellenistic, Roman and Late Antiquity archaeological material found on
20640-533: The presence of the shrine and oracle at Dodona – regarded as second only to the more famous oracle at Delphi . The Epirotes, speakers of a Northwest Greek dialect, different from the Dorian of the Greek colonies on the Ionian islands, and bearers of mostly Greek names, as evidenced by epigraphy, seem to have been regarded with some disdain by some classical writers. The 5th-century BC Athenian historian Thucydides describes them as " barbarians " in his History of
20800-507: The province of Macedonia . Under Emperor Trajan , sometime between 103 and 114 AD, Epirus became a separate province, under a procurator Augusti . The new province extended from the Gulf of Aulon ( Vlorë ) and the Acroceraunian Mountains in the north to the lower course of the Acheloos River in the south, and included the northern Ionian Islands of Corfu , Lefkada , Ithaca , Cephallonia , and Zakynthos . Probably during
20960-482: The provincial reorganization by Diocletian (r. 284–305), the western portion of the province of Macedonia along the Adriatic coast was split off into the province of New Epirus ( Latin : Epirus Nova ). Although this territory was not traditionally part of Epirus proper as defined by the ancient geographers, and was historically inhabited by Illyrian tribes and Greeks, the name reflects the fact that under Roman rule,
21120-419: The rebuilding of the provincial capital, Nicopolis . According to Jordanes , in 380 the Visigoths raided the area. With the division of the Empire on the death of Theodosius I in 395, Epirus became part of the Eastern Roman or Byzantine Empire . In 395–397, the Visigoths under Alaric plundered Greece. They remained in Epirus for a few years, until 401, and again in 406–407, during Alaric's alliance with
21280-401: The region around Dyrrhachium existed as the homonymous theme possibly as early as the 9th century. During the early 10th century, the themes of Cephallenia and Nicopolis appear mostly as bases for expeditions against southern Italy and Sicily, while Mardaites from both themes are listed in the large but unsuccessful expedition of 949 against the Emirate of Crete . In c. 930 ,
21440-425: The region's pervasive poverty. Nonetheless, the Ottomans did not enjoy total control of Epirus. The Himara and Zagori regions managed to successfully resist Ottoman rule and maintained a degree of independence throughout this period. The Ottomans expelled the Venetians from almost the whole area in the late 15th century. Between the 16th and 19th centuries, the city of Ioannina attained great prosperity and became
21600-449: The region. Under Pjetër Losha , the Albanian Malakasi and Mazaraki tribes defeated Nikephoros II Orsini at the Battle of Achelous in 1359, which won Pjetër Losha the rule of Arta ; Losha then founded the Despotate of Arta (1358-1416) with the help of the Mazaraki and Malakasi clans. Although Albanian clans gained control of most of the region by 1366/7, their continued division into rival clans meant that they could not establish
21760-461: The reprisals that followed by the Greek guerillas resulted in the expulsion to Albania of almost the entire Cham population. With the liberation of Greece and the start of the first round of the Greek Civil War at the end of 1944, the highlands of Epirus became a major theater of guerrilla warfare between the leftist Greek People's Liberation Army (ELAS) and the right-wing National Republican Greek League (EDES). In subsequent years (1945–1949),
21920-411: The same period found in Maliq , Shkodër , Gajtan and Mat . Those of Kukum are the earliest known buildings on the Albanian Ionian Sea Coast . Mycenaean Greek Buchholz IV double axes of the final stage of the LBA palatial system (1100-1030 BC) have been found in the location Shafka e Kudhësit between Qeparo and Kudhës . Similar items which originated in the Aegean region were imported throughout
22080-432: The same time, encompassing the sees of Vonditsa, Aetos, Acheloos, Rogoi , Ioannina, Hadrianopolis, Photike, and Buthrotum. Vagenetia notably no longer appears as a bishopric. As the authors of the Tabula Imperii Byzantini comment, it appears that "the Byzantine administration had brought the strongly Slavic-settled areas in the mainland somewhat under its control, and a certain Re-Hellenization had set in". Further north,
22240-402: The sanctuary of Dodona , the oldest oracle in ancient Greece, and the second most prestigious after Delphi . Unified into a single state in 370 BC by the Aeacidae dynasty, Epirus achieved fame during the reign of Pyrrhus of Epirus who fought the Roman Republic in a series of campaigns . Epirus subsequently became part of the Roman Republic along with the rest of Greece in 146 BC, which
22400-449: The sees of Bonditza, Aetos, and Acheloos. Basil II also established new, smaller themes in the region: Koloneia , and Dryinopolis (Hadrianopolis). The region joined the uprising of Petar Delyan in 1040, and suffered in the First Norman invasion of the Balkans : Dyrrhachium was occupied by the Normans in 1081–1084, Arta was unsuccessfully besieged, and Ioannina was captured by Robert Guiscard . An Aromanian presence in Epirus
22560-407: The surface near these fortifications and on the archaeological excavations in some of them, is related to the establishment of the komai ( Greek : κώμη/κώμαι , "unwalled village(s)") type rural settlements, which were built near them. The inhabitants of the komai should have used these abandoned fortified structures only in cases of danger. A Roman site has been found in Qeparo, dating back between
22720-444: The territory of what is now Albania during this period. Fortifications with multiple-row walls dating back to the Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age have been found in the Karos castle in Qeparo. The settlements in what would become western Chaonia, including Karos, were probably fortified in the LBA and EIA due to internal as well as external factors. Among the internal factors was the process of socio-economic differentiation, with
22880-478: The time that the Albanian language was formed are uncertain. The American linguist Eric Hamp has said that during an unknown chronological period a pre-Albanian population (termed as "Albanoid" by Hamp) inhabited areas stretching from Poland to the southwestern Balkans. Further analysis has suggested that it was in a mountainous region rather than on a plain or seacoast. The words for plants and animals characteristic of mountainous regions are entirely original, but
23040-405: The time, and used as a synonym for the Albanian language. Published in Rome in 1635, by the Albanian bishop and writer Frang Bardhi, the first dictionary of the Albanian language was titled Latin : Dictionarium latino-epiroticum ' Latin-Epirotan dictionary ' . During the five-century period of the Ottoman presence in Albania , the language was not officially recognised until 1909, when
23200-412: The traditional meeting place of the region was in the locality of Spilea, near the village of Qeparo. Certain villages enjoyed more privileges than others, as they were provided with Kapedana - hereditary leaders with military roles, particularly regarding recruitment. The Gjika family held this title in Qeparo, and a major by the name of Atanasio Gjika was mentioned in Neapolitan documents relating to
23360-410: The treatment of the native words and loanwords from other languages are evidence that the dialectal split preceded the Slavic migrations to the Balkans , which means that in that period (the 5th to 6th centuries AD), Albanians were occupying nearly the same area around the Shkumbin river, which straddled the Jireček Line . References to the existence of Albanian as a distinct language survive from
23520-585: The tsitakism feature which is typical to various Greek idioms including the one of Himara , such in the case of foreshí (costume), shimé (flag). Qeparo is part of a common and barely traceable Greek language substratum area which includes both sides of the Ionian Sea as seen in local toponyms. The village is composed of the following neighbourhoods or brotherhoods ( Albanian : vëllazëri ): Ballëguras, Bragjint' e Poshçërë, Bragjint' e Sipërmë, Dhimëgjonas, Gjikëbitaj, Mërtokaj, Ndregjin, Peçolat, Pogdan and Rushat . Every brotherhood had its own patron saint. Today
23680-549: The vast majority of the locals have moved to nearby Greece in search of permanent or seasonal work. Qeparo is one of the favorite tourist destinations in the Albanian Riviera . Two hotels and a few guesthouses serve the tourists' enjoyment of the small beaches. Famous attractions include: Frëngu Cave, Hunda e madhe, Skaloma Beach, and the ancient harbour. Albanian language Albanian ( endonym : shqip [ʃcip] , gjuha shqipe [ˈɟuha ˈʃcipɛ] , or arbërisht [aɾbəˈɾiʃt] )
23840-414: The village is "Clapero" in the 1566 correspondence of the people of Himara who were seeking refuge from the Ottoman Empire with the Kingdom of Naples . The name is thought to derive from the word kllapë and the Greek suffix -erό , which is commonly used in toponyms (e.g. Vromero ). As "kllapë/klapa" has nearly the same meaning in the local Albanian and Greek dialects, the question arises as to whether
24000-486: The village population emigrated from Qeparo. The remaining people were involved in developing the village by constructing new homes and focusing on raising the quality of life. Later, the wider area became a tourist destination and New Qeparo has had to deal with problems related to uncontrolled urban sprawl and population growth. Emigration mostly impacted Old Qeparo whose population has declined, with many old houses being uninhabited and in various states of disrepair. Qeparo
24160-421: The word for 'gills' which is native. Indigenous are also the words for 'ship', 'raft', 'navigation', 'sea shelves' and a few names of fish kinds, but not the words for 'sail', 'row' and 'harbor'; objects pertaining to navigation itself and a large part of sea fauna. This rather shows that Proto-Albanians were pushed away from coastal areas in early times (probably after the Latin conquest of the region) and thus lost
24320-415: The writers from northern Albania and under the influence of the Catholic Church used Latin letters, those in southern Albania and under the influence of the Greek Orthodox church used Greek letters, while others throughout Albania and under the influence of Islam used Arabic letters. There were initial attempts to create an original Albanian alphabet during the 1750–1850 period. These attempts intensified after
24480-411: Was able to lure Jakob to an ambush near Vobliana: Jakob was captured and immediately executed (1 October 1416). Carlo had effectively ended the rule of the Albanian clans in southernmost Epirus. Nevertheless, internal dissension eased the Ottoman conquest, which began with the capture of Ioannina in 1430 and continued with Arta in 1449, Angelokastro in 1460, Riniasa Castle and its environs (in what
24640-416: Was assassinated by Ottoman agents in 1822. When Greece became independent in 1830, however, Epirus remained under Ottoman rule. In 1854, during the Crimean War , a major local rebellion broke out . Although the newly found Greek state tried tacitly to support it, the rebellion was suppressed by Ottoman forces after a few months. Another failed rebellion by local Greeks broke out in 1878 . During this period,
24800-409: Was closely related to Illyrian and Messapic . The Indo-European subfamily that gave rise to Albanian is called Albanoid in reference to a specific ethnolinguistically pertinent and historically compact language group. Whether descendants or sisters of what was called ' Illyrian ' by classical sources, Albanian and Messapic , on the basis of shared features and innovations, are grouped together in
24960-403: Was followed by the Roman Empire and Eastern Roman Empire . Following the sack of Constantinople by the Fourth Crusade (1204), Epirus became the center of the Despotate of Epirus , one of the successor states to the Byzantine Empire . In the 14th century, Epirus was brought under the rule of the restored Byzantine Empire , before being briefly conquered by the Serbian Empire . The region
25120-405: Was rebuilt, albeit in reduced extent, and renamed Justinianopolis, while Euroea was moved further inland (traditionally identified with the founding of Ioannina ), while Procopius claims that no less than 36 smaller fortresses in Epirus Vetus—most of them not identifiable today—were either rebuilt or built anew. In the late 6th century, much of Greece, including Epirus, fell under the control of
25280-427: Was short-lived, as when World War I broke out, Albania collapsed, and northern Epirus was alternately controlled by Greece, Italy and France at various intervals. Although the Paris Peace Conference of 1919 awarded Northern Epirus to Greece, developments such as the Greek defeat in the Greco-Turkish War and, crucially, Italian lobbying in favor of Albania meant that Greece would not keep Northern Epirus. In 1924,
25440-454: Was then divided amongst a number of despotates and political entities, including the Despotate of Epirus, the Despotate of Arta , the Zenebishi family , and the Republic of Venice , before being conquered by the Ottoman Empire in the 15th century. Epirus became part of the semi-independent Pashalik governed by the Ottoman Albanian ruler Ali Pasha in the early 19th century, but the Sublime Porte re-asserted its control in 1821. Following
25600-453: Was written in 1693; it was the Italian manuscript Pratichae Schrivaneschae authored by the Montenegrin sea captain Julije Balović and includes a multilingual dictionary of hundreds of the most frequently used words in everyday life in Italian, Slavic, Greek, Albanian, and Turkish . Pre-Indo-European (PreIE) sites are found throughout the territory of Albania. Such PreIE sites existed in Maliq , Vashtëmi , Burimas , Barç , Dërsnik in
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