Elšani ( mk, Елшани) is a

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred ...

in the

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

Ohrid Ohrid ( mk, Охрид ) is a city in North Macedonia and is the seat of the Ohrid Municipality. It is the largest city on Lake Ohrid and the List of cities in North Macedonia, eighth-largest city in the country, with the municipality recording ...

North Macedonia North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Yugoslavia. It ...

. It is situated south of the City of

.Pg 308 - - Total pages: 484 It is spread across the western slopes of Galičica Mountain, near

Lake Ohrid Lake Ohrid ( mk, Охридско Езеро , al, Liqeni i Ohrit , also referred as ''Liqeni i Pogradecit'';) is a lake which straddles the mountainous border between the southwestern part of North Macedonia and eastern Albania. It is one of E ...

. The village is located at above sea level.

Demographics

Elšani has 620 inhabitants living in the village all year around, though, in the summer, there are approximately 400 additional temporary inhabitants staying in their holiday (second) homes. As of the 2021 census, Elšani had 620 residents with the following ethnic composition: *Macedonians 598 *Persons for whom data are taken from administrative sources 17 *Others 5

Ethnicity

All of Elšani's inhabitants are ethnic Macedonians, and Macedonian is their mother tongue.

Religion

For centuries,

Orthodox Christianity Orthodoxy (from Greek: ) is adherence to correct or accepted creeds, especially in religion. Orthodoxy within Christianity refers to acceptance of the doctrines defined by various creeds and ecumenical councils in Antiquity, but different Chur ...

has been the traditional religion in Elšani and the dating of the oldest church in the village goes back as far as 1408. The Cathedral Church is dedicated to St.

Elijah Elijah ( ; he, אֵלִיָּהוּ, ʾĒlīyyāhū, meaning "My El (deity), God is Yahweh/YHWH"; Greek form: Elias, ''Elías''; syr, ܐܸܠܝܼܵܐ, ''Elyāe''; Arabic language, Arabic: إلياس or إليا, ''Ilyās'' or ''Ilyā''. ) w ...

(restored in 1859; painted in 1944), and there is a chapel dedicated to

Saint Menas Menas of Egypt (also Mina, Minas, Mena, Meena; el, Άγιος Μηνάς, ; 285 – c. 309), a martyr and wonder-worker, is one of the most well-known Coptic saints in the East and the West, due to the many miracles that are attributed to his in ...

(built in 1994). The chapel of St. Petka from 1947 is shared with the neighbouring village of

Peštani Peštani ( mk, Пештани) is a village in the municipality of Ohrid, North Macedonia, located 12 kilometres south of the city of Ohrid. It is a popular beachside town along Lake Ohrid and lies at the foot of Galičica National Park. Origina ...

Economy

Most of the local people work in hotels by the lakeside, or in the Ohrid factories. There are still some more traditional activities, as well: each family has its own

vineyard A vineyard (; also ) is a plantation of grape-bearing vines, grown mainly for winemaking, but also raisins, table grapes and non-alcoholic grape juice. The science, practice and study of vineyard production is known as viticulture. Vineya ...

and a garden, animals are still kept, and traditional production of

wine Wine is an alcoholic drink typically made from fermented grapes. Yeast consumes the sugar in the grapes and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Different varieties of grapes and strains of yeasts are m ...

and ''rakija'' ( brandy) is still practised.

Historical timeline of Elšani

* Early 13th century: first written record on Elšani under Byzantian rule * 1395: Elšani is under

Ottoman rule Ottoman is the Turkish spelling of the Arabic masculine given name Uthman ( ar, عُثْمان, ‘uthmān). It may refer to: Governments and dynasties * Ottoman Caliphate, an Islamic caliphate from 1517 to 1924 * Ottoman Empire, in existence fro ...

* 1408: the church of St. Elijah (rebuilt) * 19th century: Elšani has about 240 inhabitantsВасил Кънчов. „Македония. Етнография и статистика“. София, 1900, с. 252.
/ref> * 1912: end of Ottoman rule; during the

First Balkan War The First Balkan War ( sr, Први балкански рат, ''Prvi balkanski rat''; bg, Балканска война; el, Αʹ Βαλκανικός πόλεμος; tr, Birinci Balkan Savaşı) lasted from October 1912 to May 1913 and invo ...

Elšani is occupied by

Serbs The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are the most numerous South Slavic ethnic group native to the Balkans in Southeastern Europe, who share a common Serbian ancestry, culture, history and language. The majority of Serbs live in their na ...

who impose recruitment on local men and 13 of them killed on battlefield * 1915-1918: the time of Bulgarian military occupation during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

* 1918: Elšani under the rule of the new

Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes Kingdom commonly refers to: * A monarchy ruled by a king or queen * Kingdom (biology), a category in biological taxonomy Kingdom may also refer to: Arts and media Television * ''Kingdom'' (British TV series), a 2007 British television drama s ...

(later renamed into Kingdom of Yugoslavia) * 1941: Italian fascist occupation * 1943: Bulgarian occupation; many of the local men join the antifascist guerilla movement – 7 of them killed in battle * 1944: end of the Bulgarian rule and Elšani is now in the Socialist Republic of Macedonia, which at that time is one of the six republics of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia; the village makes the biggest progress in its centuries old history, when roads, water supply, electricity and telephony for very first time were introduced * 1991: Elšani is now one of the prosperous villages in the independent Republic of Macedonia

References

Villages in Ohrid Municipality {{Ohrid-geo-stub