Çarçovë (also Çarshovë) is a village, a municipal unit and a former

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

in the

Gjirokastër County Gjirokastër County () is one of the 12 counties of Albania. The total population in 2023 was 60,013, in an area of 2884 km2. Its capital is the city Gjirokastër. Administrative divisions Until 2000, Gjirokastër County was subdivided into thre ...

, southern

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

Name

In Greek the village is known as ''Τσαρτσόβα'' (''Tsartsova'') or ''Κεράσοβο''/''Kerasovo''. In Aromanian it is known as ''Ciarshova''.

Demographics

The population of the former municipality at the 2011 census was 918.2011 census results
/ref> The total number of registered citizens of Çarçovë is 2.969 as of 2019. At the 2015 local government reform it became a subdivision of the municipality

Përmet Përmet () is a List of cities and towns in Albania, town and Municipalities of Albania, municipality in Gjirokastër County, southern Albania. The municipality of Përmet consists of the administrative units of Çarçovë, Frashër, Petran, Qend� ...

. The municipal unit consists of the villages Çarçovë, Vllaho-Psilloterë, Biovizhdë, Zhepë, Draçovë, Iliar-Munushtir, Strëmbec, Pëllumbar and Kanikol. The town of Çarçovë also has

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

and Aromanian communities. Two villages in the former municipality of Çarçovë are predominantly Greek speaking, in particular: Biovizhdë () and Vllaho-Psilloterë (). In Biovizhdë there is a significant Aromanian minority population. Their presence was originally temporary, related to their

transhumant Transhumance is a type of pastoralism or nomadism, a seasonal movement of livestock between fixed summer and winter pastures. In montane regions (''vertical transhumance''), it implies movement between higher pastures in summer and lower ...

lifestyle, before becoming permanent in the village. According to a 2014 report by the Albanian government, there were 245 ethnic Greeks in Vllaho-Psillotere and 200 in Biovizhde in the total number of registered citizens. Some Biovizhdë Aromanians have migrated to Albanian cities. p. 133. R. Rrămăn (Aromunen mit der Eigenbezeichnung Rrămăn = Farscheroten, Arvanitovlachen)"; p. 144. "Biovizhdë... hoher Anteil R, ursprünglich bodenvage Sommersiedlungen der R, vermutliches Herkunftsgebiet der Farsheroten; heute z.T. gemischte Dauersiedlungen, z.T Abwanderung in sudalbanische Stadte."; In Vllaho-Psilloterë, three Muslim Albanian families used to live there with a single member from one family still remaining in the early 2010s. Some Greek speakers also exist in the nearby villages of Zhepë () and Draçovë (). The destroyed village of Mesarë located on the Albanian-Greek border was inhabited by Muslim Albanians.Nitsiakos, Vassilis (2010). ''On the border: Transborder mobility, ethnic groups and boundaries along the Albanian-Greek frontier''. LIT Verlag. p. 80. "Çarçovë is the base of the homonymous municipality (Komuna Çarçovë), which includes nine more villages, Biovizhdë, Vllaho-Psilloterrë, Zhepe, Kanikol, Dracovë, Pëllumbar, Strembec, Iliar, Manushtir-Toranik, the first two of which are Greek speaking."; p. 254. "He use to tell us about the Muslim beys who used to live in the next settlement, Vllahi, and occupied the land as ciftlik (landed estate), while the Christian inhabitants of the two settlements would work for them as vassals. Our previous interlocutors had referred to these beys, as well as identifying three particular families. One of their descendants still lives in the village, his name is Kurani." pp. 249-263. ; p. 282. "Mesarë (destroyed Muslim Albanian village next to the border)"

Notable people

Hasan Tahsin Pasha Hasan Tahsin Pasha (1845–1918), also known as Hasan Tahsin Mesarea, was a senior Ottoman Turkish military officer, who served in the Greco-Turkish War of 1897, and in the First Balkan War. Biography and career Hasan Tahsin was an Albani ...

, An Albanian Pasha from the now ruined village of Mesarë.

References

Administrative units of Përmet Aromanian settlements in Albania Former municipalities in Gjirokastër County Greek communities in Albania Villages in Gjirokastër County {{Gjirokastër-geo-stub