Bilisht () is a town and a former municipality in
Korçë County
Korçë County (), officially the County of Korçë (), is a Counties of Albania, county in the Southern Albania, Southern Region of the Republic of Albania. It is the largest by area and the List of counties of Albania by population, fifth most p ...
, south-eastern
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 ...
. At the 2015 local government reform it became a subdivision and the seat of the municipality
Devoll. It was the seat of the former
Devoll District. The population as of the 2023 census is 7,287.
The town is 9 km from the
border
Borders are generally defined as geography, geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by polity, political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other administrative divisio ...
with
Greece
Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...
at
Kapshticë. The closest Greek village across the
border
Borders are generally defined as geography, geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by polity, political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other administrative divisio ...
is
Krystallopigi
Krystallopigi () or Kroustallopigi (Κρουσταλλοπηγή), before 1926: Smardesi (Σμαρδέσι) is a former Communities and Municipalities of Greece, community in Florina (regional unit), Florina regional unit, West Macedonia, Greece. ...
in the
Florina regional unit. Bilisht is at 890 meters above sea level
and has a continental climate with cool summers and cold winters. It serves as an economic centre for the local agriculture, mining, food and textile industries.
The
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
club is
Bilisht Sporti.
Geography
The town of Bilisht is the most southeastern city of Albania. It is located to the east of the Devoll Valley, about 880-970m above sea level in a hilly relief that stretches from the
Devoll River bed to Kokogllava hill over the city and covers an area of 1.4km2. With average altitude 925 m above sea level Bilisht is the second highest city in Albania after Ersekë (1020m above sea level).
The city has a very favorable geographic position as it passes through the motorway link connecting Albania with Greece via the Kapshticë customs that is 7 km east of it. In the north the town is bordered by Bitinckë (3 km east of it), east bounded by the hills of Kokogllava (1140m above sea level), Stranra (1280m above sea level), Sellcë (an early residence near Bilisht) and Vërnik, (5 km east), south is bordered by Vishoçicë (3 km south), while west is bordered by Devoll River and villages like Poloskë (4 km), Kuç (3 km), Baban (5.5 km ) and Hoçisht (6.5 km). Bilisht has a population of about 12,000 and is the capital of the Municipality of Devoll.
The
tyrbe (tomb) of the Muslim Sufi saint Qazim Baba is located in Bilisht.
History
A fortified location dating from the
early Iron Age
The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progr ...
exists nearby Bilisht.
Bilisht (,
'
) was part of the
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...
for several centuries. Muslims in the
kaza
A kaza (, "judgment" or "jurisdiction") was an administrative divisions of the Ottoman Empire, administrative division of the Ottoman Empire. It is also discussed in English under the names district, subdistrict, and juridical district. Kazas co ...
(district) of Bilisht owned tenet farms (baștina) in the late 16th century.
Bilisht became an important centre for the
Sufi
Sufism ( or ) is a mysticism, mystic body of religious practice found within Islam which is characterized by a focus on Islamic Tazkiyah, purification, spirituality, ritualism, and Asceticism#Islam, asceticism.
Practitioners of Sufism are r ...
Halveti order
and maintained two or three
tekkes in the town that were reliant on its tekke in
Ohrid
Ohrid ( ) is a city in North Macedonia and is the seat of the Ohrid Municipality. It is the largest city on Lake Ohrid and the eighth-largest city in the country, with the municipality recording a population of over 42,000 inhabitants as of ...
.
During the
Great Eastern Crisis
The Great Eastern Crisis of 1875–1878 began in the Ottoman Empire's Rumelia, administrative territories in the Balkan Peninsula in 1875, with the outbreak of several uprisings and wars that resulted in the intervention of international powers, ...
, the
Treaty of San Stefano nearly placed Albanian areas such as Bilisht in a proposed
large Bulgarian state.
[ "trattato russo-turco di Santo Stefano del 3 marzo 1878 che avrebbe fissato le «indiscutibili frontiere etniche bulgare», occupando i territori albanesi di Korcia, Bilisht, Pogradec, Struge, Dibër, Gostivar, Kaçanik e Kumanove."] Shortly thereafter it was superseded by the
Treaty of Berlin that left the town and its surrounding area in the Ottoman Empire. In the late Ottoman period, the
nahiya
A nāḥiyah ( , plural ''nawāḥī'' ), also nahiyeh, nahiya or nahia, is a regional or local type of administrative division that usually consists of a number of villages or sometimes smaller towns. In Tajikistan, it is a second-level divisi ...
(sub–district) of Bilisht was a centre of revolutionary activity for Albanian and
Aromanian cheta groups, whom collectively numbered some 150-200 individuals.
Until the early twentieth century, Bilisht experienced population growth from the surrounding rural area, as it was a centre for artisan activities and trade located on important transport lines.
It also made the town vulnerable in times of crisis to robberies and war.

Following the
Balkan Wars
The Balkan Wars were two conflicts that took place in the Balkans, Balkan states in 1912 and 1913. In the First Balkan War, the four Balkan states of Kingdom of Greece (Glücksburg), Greece, Kingdom of Serbia, Serbia, Kingdom of Montenegro, M ...
(1912–1913), Bilisht became part of Albania. Some Muslim Albanian villages on the Greek side of the border had Bilisht as their market town until their inhabitants were sent to
Turkey
Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...
during the
Greco–Turkish exchange of populations (1923),
based on religious criteria. Due to the Albanian census of 1923, the urban status of Bilisht was recognised.
During the interwar period a tekke of the
Rifa`i Sufi Order existed in Bilisht
and part of the surrounding Muslim rural population emigrated to
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
.
Bilisht was also the centre of the Bilisht district.
In the 1960s, the area around Bilisht and neighboring Korçë had the highest densities of population in mountainous districts within the country (500 metres and above).
The Albanian communist government
constructed many bunkers in the Bilisht area.
During the early 1990s,
Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...
and later
Islam
Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...
were revived in Albania.
As such in Bilisht, the Orthodox church of
Saint Paraskeva (Shën e Premte) was rebuilt in 1992 followed by a new mosque in 1995.
The town in post communist Albania has also been a recipient of in-migration by a small number of people from other parts of the country, due to pre-existing family connections.
New shops have opened in Bilisht
and it has been one of a number of towns in the wider area that has attracted investment.
Old communist era bunkers in Bilisht have been repurposed into cafes and other uses.
Built in the late 2010s, the
Trans Adriatic Pipeline
The Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP; ; ; ) is a natural gas pipeline operational since 2020, running from Greece through Albania and the Adriatic Sea to Italy. It is the final section of the Southern Gas Corridor originating in Azerbaijan. , capaci ...
(TAP) transporting Azerbaijani gas to Europe runs through Bilisht.
Demographics
Ottoman geographer
Hadji Khalfa (1609–1657) wrote that during the mid seventeenth century the nahiya (sub-district) of Bilisht was populated by a mixed
Albanian and
Bulgarian population and the Christian element was declining due to local disturbances and
inhabitants converting to Islam.
In the early nineteenth century, the ethnic border between Albanians and the neighbouring Slavic (Bulgarian) population ran close and to the east of Bilisht.
Between 1805 and 1807, the British traveller
William Martin Leake
William Martin Leake FRS (14 January 17776 January 1860) was an English soldier, spy, topographer, diplomat, antiquarian, writer, and Fellow of the Royal Society. He served in the British Army, spending much of his career in the Mediterrane ...
passed through the area, referred to the ethnic border and stated that the people of Bilisht spoke
Albanian.
[ ""]
During the 1980s, the population was 5600.
In post–communist Albania, Bilisht contains a mixed population of Muslims and Orthodox Christians.
In 1995, it had 8,000 inhabitants
and 7,000 in 2001.
Apart from the village of
Vërnik, all other settlements of the Devoll region including Bilisht are populated by an Albanian speaking population.
A
Romani community also exists in the town that settled in Bilisht during the 17th century.
As of the late 2010s, the majority population of Bilisht is Muslim of the
Bektashi Order
Bektashism (, ) is a Sufi order of Islam that evolved in 13th-century western Anatolia and became widespread in the Ottoman Empire. It is named after the ''walī'' "saint" Haji Bektash Veli, with adherents called Bektashis. The Bektashi co ...
.
[ "Bilisht town is majority Bektashi/Muslim"]
Education
An Ottoman secondary school (rüştiye) was opened in Bilisht during 1881–1882.
Twelve years later it closed down due to a decrease of students and poor quality teaching from its lone educator.
It was transformed into a primary school by the early 1890s.
In the mid 1890s it had reverted to a secondary school and was the smallest in the region.
By the 1900s, it had two teachers and around 20 students.
A Greek language school was already operating in Bilisht in 1888, while Greek education was still present during the 1912–1914 period.
Located outside of Albania's official Greek minority zone, post communist Bilisht has a Greek language and cultural tutoring centre.
In modern Bilisht, there are two Albanian primary schools, "Myteza Sala" with 20 teachers and "Dritëro Agolli" with 25 teachers.
Bilisht has an Albanian elementary school "Fuat Babani" and it caters for up to 800 students.
It was completely reconstructed and modernised through a €600,000 investment by the TAP pipeline in 2018.
Governance
The municipal council for Devoll composed of 17 members is located in Bilisht.
In local Albanian elections of the early 2000s, a member of the Romani community was elected to the municipal council as a councilor.
At the
2011 Albanian local elections, the Macedonian minority succeeded in electing one councilor to the municipal council.
In the early 1990s, the Greek political party
Omonia in Albania fielded a local candidate from Bilisht in elections, however it was later withdrawn after threats of violence.
Popular culture
The town of Bilisht is the location for events in an
Albanian polyphonic song ''Në plepat Bilishtit'' (The poplars of Bilisht) that commemorates male bravery, honour and family values.
Gallery
File:Bilishti.jpg, Centre of Bilisht, 2013
File:Stadiumi “Devolli” në Bilisht 1.jpg, "Devolli" Stadium
File:Bilisht 47.jpg, "Çezma e Madhe" (large water fountain), erected 1914–1918
File:Bilisht 53.jpg, Communist era bunker
File:Bilisht 55.jpg, Monument to local victims of communism
File:Bilisht 54.jpg, Bilisht and Orthodox Church (far right corner)
File:Teqeja Halvetjane, në Bilisht 2.jpg, Halveti tekke
File:Bilisht 34.jpg, Streetscape in Bilisht
File:Bilisht 37.jpg, Houses in Bilisht
References
External links
Visit Devoll Tourist Guide
{{Devoll div
Former municipalities in Korçë County
Albania–Greece border crossings
Administrative units of Devoll (municipality)
Towns in Albania