Vuno

Vuno is a village in Himara municipality, Vlorë County, Albania. It is located along the road between the municipal centre of Himarë and the village of Dhërmi in the Albanian Riviera.

Name

It is said that because of the village's situation on the hills, which ascend to about , the village's name derives from the Greek word ''Vouno'' ( el, Βουνό), meaning "mountain".

History

The region was inhabited by the Chaonians in the ancient period.

In 1632 an Albanian-language school was founded in Vuno.

In 1720, the villages of Himara, Palasa, Ilias, Vuno, Pilur and Qeparo refused to submit to the Pasha of Delvina.

In 1873 a Greek school with 80 pupils was already operating in the village. Greek education was expanded the following years and in the 1898-1899 school season three schools were operating in Vuno: a primary, a secondary (Hellenic) and a girls' school. Education was sponsored by various distinguished personalities and the diaspora members who originated from Vuno, as well as from adjacent settlements. These schools appear to have ceased their operation in 1913. Greek school classes in Vuno were housed in an imposing building, however after the incorporation of the village in the newly established Principality of Albania, Greek education was prohibited by state policies.

During the First Balkan War, on 5/18 November 1912, Himara revolted under Spyros Spyromilios and expelled the Ottoman forces. Vuno was captured by the Greek military body of Stylianos Galeros on 6 November 1912 After the Albanian Declaration of Independence in Vlorë, on 28 November, Himarë was constantly attacked by Albanian units without success and the area remained under Greek control until the end of the Balkan Wars. Upon the Greek Army evacuation from Himara, the locals undertook the defense of the region. The Himariotes rebels were joined by volunteers from neighbouring villages and defectors of the army, that set up points on the roads leading to Himara and continued the resistance. Athanasios Liampou Kotsou commanded a volunteer band and the residents in Vuno. The rebel bands in Vuno were assisted by a Greek revolutionary band numbering 55 fighters commanded by guerrilla leader Georgios Tsolakes. The Vuno troops were unable to enter Vranisht on 30 June due to strong Albanian resistance, but they managed to capture it the next day. Tsolakes and other Himariote leaders were later killed in action.

The Himara region came under the control of the Albanian state. The Himara question in 1921, regarding the rights of "Himariots" and their villages Dhërmi, Vuno, Himarë, Pilur, Kudhës and Qeparo, was supervised by Albanian government representative Spiro Jorgo Koleka. The government concluded that Albanian was obligatory in school, as the official language, while Greek was free to be taught as a second language, as desired by the people. Spiro Koleka, a native of Vuno and a local leader of the Albanian national movement opposed the Himara area and wider region around Vlora being annexed by foreign powers. To that effect Koleka was an organiser of the Vlora War, where other local Himariots participated.Meta, Beqir (2008). "Ballafaqimi shqiptaro-grek për Himarën (1920-1924) reek-Albanian confrontation in Himara (1920-1924)" ''Studime Historike''. 1-2: 43: "Pas mbarimit të Luftës I Botërore lëvizja atdhetare shqiptare në Himarë u rigjallërua. Një vend të veçantë luajti Spiro Gogo Koleka, i cili ndihmoi për mbledhjen e Kongresit të Lushnjës dhe zbatimin e vendimeve të tij. Ai bashkë me patriotë të tjerë ishte nënshkruesi i mjaft dokumenteve dërguar përfaqësuesve të Fuqive të Mëdha në Konferencën e Paqes, në të cilat kundërshtohej çdo përpjekje për aneksimin e Vlorës dhe Himarës1. Në maj të vitit 1920 Spiro G. Koleka u caktua anëtar i qeverisë kombëtare. Ai më vonë u bë njëri nga organizatorët e Luftës së Vlorës kundër italianëve, në të cilën morën pjesë edhe himarjotë të tjerë." "[After the end of World War One, the Albanian patriotic movement in Himarë was revived. A special place Spiro Gogo Koleka played, who assisted at the gathering of the Congress of Lushnja and implementation of its decisions. He and other patriots were signatory to many documents sent to the representatives of the Great Powers during the Peace Conference, that opposed any attempt to annex Vlora and Himarë. In May 1920 Spiro G. Koleka was appointed member of the national government. He later became one of the organizers of the Vlora War against the Italians, where other Himariots participated.]"

With the incorporation of the region in Albania (1920s) the inhabitants of Vuno kept their Greek school and in 1934-36 asked for the continuation of Greek education in their village but their demand was rejected by the authorities of the Albanian state.

During the Greco-Italian War on 30 December 1940, the Italians stopped a Greek attack on Bënçë, Vuno and Bolenë. On 15 January 1941, the Italians stopped a Greek attack on Vuno, while the Greeks attacked the Dishnicë region. A military cemetery of the fallen Greek soldiers is maintained at Scutara.

A number of locals joined the Albanian National Liberation Army, as guerilla fighters during World War II. Three of them were posthumously awarded with the People's Hero of Albania decoration. The most well known of them was Zaho Koka, the others were Kozma Nushi and Llambro Andoni. Other participants, whose names are also engraved on the village memorial were Arqile Vjero, Amali Andoni, Eftihi Baka, Foto Goxho, Herkole Koleka, Irakli Thani, Llambro Sheti, Kleomen A. Ndrenika, Niqita Andoni, Naço Koço, Pano Dhimegjoka, Pilo Varfi, Stefo Cura, Thoma Simo. Vuno formed also the core region in which Greek Himariotes were organized in the Albanian National Liberation Army.

During the 1997 civil disorder in Albania, an armed group set up a roadblock between Himarë and Vuno.

Architecture and churches

The village has many churches, but they are not operational as currently there are no priests in the village.

The church located at the Jali beach, dating to the 14th century, of Venetian architectural style. Two other churches, dedicated respectively to St. Spyridon's Church ( sq, Kisha e Shën Spiridhonit) (1778) and to St. Mary (1783) are still relatively well preserved. Local legend holds that the inhabitants of the village hail from the city of Shkodër and moved to Vuno, where they built the church of St. Mary. The church is still well preserved at a salient point of the village, called ''Scutara''. The name Scutara possibly reflects the Byzantine military traditions of the Pronoia which was widely known in the wider region. This church was originally Catholic but was subsequently converted into Orthodox.

Attractions

The beaches of Vuno together with the ones of Himara represent the main tourist attraction of the municipality during the summer months. The beach of Jaliskari (or Jali), between Vuno and Dhërmi, has become a well-known summer resort attracting tourists all over the world.Gregorič p. 46

Identity and language

The village of Vuno is mainly inhabited by Albanian-speaking Eastern Orthodox Christians. In his fieldwork anthropologist V. Nitsiakos (2010) notes that they are proud of their strong Orthodox Christian identity, they have friendly feelings towards Greece, and their pro-Greek attitude may also be related to provision of employment opportunities in Greece, while the elderly are recipients of Greek pensions as ''Hellenes''. The Albanian local dialect is a southern Tosk one, more precisely a Labërisht sub-dialect. Labërisht itself is composed of non-unical language groups.), year=1971, language=sq, page=85 In contemporary times the village elderly are monolingual Albanian speakers, whereas due to migration to Greece, some of the younger people also speak Greek.Nitsiakos, Vassilis (2010). ''On the border: Transborder mobility, ethnic groups and boundaries along the Albanian-Greek frontier''. LIT Verlag. p. 466. "I can mention the village Vuno, where I conversed several times with the villagers. Quite a few of the young people in the village speak Greek, because they have worked in Greece. The older ones speak only Albanian. They talk proudly about their Orthodox Christian identity and their friendly feelings towards Greece; they are thankful to Greece, for both letting the young people of the village work there and for giving out to them agricultural pensions as "Hellenes". When they mention their national identity they are very careful. They never define themselves directly as Greek and use the terms "Northern Epirote" or "Orthodox" instead. The term "Northern Epirote" is particularly convenient in its ambiguity, but they prefer it because they know it means "Greek" to the Greeks. This way they both appear honest and achieve their goal without falling into the trap of denying the true national identity. This is actually the case with the majority of the Orthodox Christians of the Albanian south."

Vuno is one of the villages of Himara region inhabited by an Orthodox Albanian population.Kallivretakis, Leonidas (1995).
Η ελληνική κοινότητα της Αλβανίας υπό το πρίσμα της ιστορικής γεωγραφίας και δημογραφίας [The Greek Community of Albania in terms of historical geography and demography
" In Nikolakopoulos, Ilias, Kouloubis Theodoros A. & Thanos M. Veremis (eds). ''Ο Ελληνισμός της Αλβανίας [The Greeks of Albania]''. University of Athens. p. 51. "ΑΧ Αλβανοί Ορθόδοξοι Χριστιανοί"; p.53. "VUNOS ΒΟΥΝΟΣ 555 ΑΧ"

Gallery

File:Vouno.jpg, Pupils and teachers of the Greek School of Vuno in 1909
File:Venetian Saint Mark Lion, photo taken in Vuno 1918.jpg, Venetian Saint Mark Lion from the middle ages, photo taken in Vuno 1918

File:Lapidari.jpg, The Memorial of Vuno

File:Vuno_Albania_goatherd.jpg, Goatherd shepherd in Vuno
File:Jala_Beach_Vlora_Albania.jpg, Jal or Jali beach next to Vuno

Notable people

*Dhimitër Anagnosti, People's Artist of Albania, cineast, and former ''Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports''
*Odhise Grillo, writer
* Spiro Jorgo (Gogo) Koleka (1879 or 1880–1940) prominent Albanian politician and activist
*Spiro Koleka, (1908 – 2001) communist politician and a partisan
* Anastas Kondo, writer
* Sofokli Lazri, counselor of Enver Hoxha and writer
*Robert Ndrenika, actor (People's Artist of Albania)
*Gogo Nushi, Albanian political figure and World War II hero
* Athanasios Pipis (−1821), revolutionary of the Greek War of Independence
*Edi Rama - Prime Minister of Albania
* Leandro Zoto, politician and former mayor of Tirana

References

Sources

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External links

{{Albanian Riviera

Populated places in Himara
Villages in Vlorë County