Pogon, Albania
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Pogon ( sq, Pogon or ''Pogoni'', el, Πωγώνι, ''Pogoni''), is a former
commune A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...
in the Gjirokastër County, southern
Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...
. At the 2015 local government reform it became a subdivision of the municipality
Dropull Dropull ( sq-definite, Dropulli; el, Δρόπολη or Δερόπολη ''Dropoli'' or ''Deropoli'') is a municipality in Gjirokastër County, in southern Albania. The region stretches from south of the city of Gjirokastër to the Greek–Albania ...
. The population at the 2011 census was 432.2011 census results
It consists of seven villages which are mostly Greek speaking:
Poliçan Poliçan ''( sq-definite, Poliçani)'' is a city and a municipality situated in south-central Albania. It was formed at the 2015 local government reform by the merger of the former municipalities Poliçan, Tërpan and Vërtop, that became munici ...
; Skore;
Hllomo Hllomo ( sq, Hllomoja, el, Χλωμό) is one of the six villages of the former commune of Pogon, in southern Albania. At the 2015 local government reform it became part of the municipality Dropull. According to a 2014 report by the Albanian gov ...
;
Sopik Sopik ( el, Σωπική) is a settlement in Gjirokastër County, southeastern Albania. It is part of the former commune of Pogon. After the 2015 local government reform, it became part of the municipality of Dropull. A secondary border crossi ...
; Mavrojer; Çatistë and Selckë of which
Poliçan Poliçan ''( sq-definite, Poliçani)'' is a city and a municipality situated in south-central Albania. It was formed at the 2015 local government reform by the merger of the former municipalities Poliçan, Tërpan and Vërtop, that became munici ...
is the administrative center. The administrative unit of Pogon is inhabited by
ethnic Greeks The Greeks or Hellenes (; el, Έλληνες, ''Éllines'' ) are an ethnic group and nation indigenous to the Eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea regions, namely Greece, Cyprus, Albania, Italy, Turkey, Egypt, and, to a lesser extent, other ...
.


Demographics

Greek is spoken in Poliçan, Skore, Hllomo, Sopik, Mavrojer and Çatistë and those villages along with Drymadhes on the Greek side of the border comprise the sub-region of Paleo-Pogoni (Old Pogoni), part of the wider region of Pogoni. Traditionally Greeks of Pogoni in Albania practised
endogamy Endogamy is the practice of marrying within a specific social group, religious denomination, caste, or ethnic group, rejecting those from others as unsuitable for marriage or other close personal relationships. Endogamy is common in many cultu ...
by intermarrying within their group, although occasionally brides from
Zagori Zagori ( el, Ζαγόρι; rup, Zagori), is a region and a municipality in the Pindus mountains in Epirus, in northwestern Greece. The seat of the municipality is the village Asprangeloi. It has an area of some and contains 46 villages known as ...
were taught to speak Greek. Poliçan is the northernmost Greek speaking village in the Pogoni area, as villages north west of Poliçan are Albanian speaking. Selckë, part of a wider region of Lunxhëria, is traditionally inhabited by an Orthodox Albanian population as well as later Aromanian migrants, while the rest of the villages belong to the Greek minority zone.


History

In 15th century Pogon came under Ottoman rule and became part of the
Sanjak of Ioannina The Sanjak of Ioannina (variously also Janina or Yanina, ota, Sanjak-i Yanya) was a sanjak (second-level province) of the Ottoman Empire whose capital was Ioannina in Epirus. Administration The Sanjak of Ioannina consisted of the following ...
. It was a nahiya centre as "Pogun" at Pogun kaza (Its centre was Voştina) in Ergiri sanjak of Yanya Vilayet till 1912. As part of Albania, the municipality is part of the recognized Greek Minority Zone. Historically each village of Pogon has its own variation of traditional costumes and dresses. "Pogoni, or Paleo-Pogoni as the people call it, consists of seven Greek-speaking villages nearly 3,000 ft. above sea level (Poliçan, Skorë, Hlomo, Sopik, Mavrojer, Çatistë, and the Greek side of the frontier, Drimadhes).... The Pogoniates normally only marry within their own group, but occasionally a bride may be taken from Zagorië and she is taught Greek."; p
213
"Selck, an Albanian speaking village of some thirty-five houses"
The area is part of Pogoni, a region that also includes parts of nearby
Pogoni Pogoni ( el, Πωγώνι, rup, Pugon) is a municipality in the Ioannina regional unit, Epirus, Greece. The seat of the municipality is the village Kalpaki. The municipality has an area of 701.059 km2. Its population was 8,960 at the 2011 ...
on the Greek side of the
border Borders are usually defined as geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other subnational entities. Political borders c ...
.


Culture

The villages of Pogon (except Selckë) are part of the wider Pogoni region, which is divided between Greece (40 villages) and Albania (7 villages). "With a population of 2,500 Poliçan is the largest village in the long-rift within the double range of Nemerçkë. The villages to the north-west are Albanian-speaking, while those to the south speak Greek as their mother tongue. Poliçan therefore regards itself as the most northerly village of the area Pogoni." Polyphonic singing, although shared among several ethnic groups, tends to be mostly identified with the Pogoni area.


Notable people

*
Sophianos Bishop Sophianos of Dryinoupolis (died 1711) was a Greek religious figure and Orthodox missionary in Ottoman Epirus around the turn of the 18th century. Biography He was probably born in the village of Polytsani, in the Pogon region. Άγιος ...
(-1711), local Greek-Orthodox bishop and scholar. *
Pandeli Sotiri Pandeli Sotiri (1842–1892) was an Albanian activist that acted as director of the first Albanian school of modern times in Korçë. Sotiri was one of the most important Rilindas figures that contributed in the propagation of the Albanian langua ...
, Albanian patriot, main contributor to the modern
Albanian alphabet The Albanian alphabet ( sq, alfabeti shqip) is a variant of the Latin alphabet used to write the Albanian language. It consists of 36 letters: ''Note:'' The vowels are shown in bold. The letters are named simply by their sounds, followed by ë ...


References


Further reading

*ΖΩΤΟΥ, ΜΕΝΕΛΑΟΥ; ΓΙΑΝΝΑΡΟΥ, ΧΡΙΣΤΟΦΟΡΟΥ. Η ΠΟΛΥΤΣΑΝΗ ΤΗΣ ΒΟΡΕΙΟΥ ΗΠΕΙΡΟΥ. ΕΚΔΟΣΕΙΣ, ΙΩΑΝΝΙΝΑ, 1989. *Politsanitika Nea Newspaper, Tel. +30 210 5238058


See also

* Mount Nemërçkë {{Northern Epirus Former municipalities in Gjirokastër County Administrative units of Dropull Albanian ethnographic regions