Kranë ( sq-definite, Krana; el, Κρανιά;

romanized Romanization or romanisation, in linguistics, is the conversion of text from a different writing system to the Latin script, Roman (Latin) script, or a system for doing so. Methods of romanization include transliteration, for representing writ ...

''Kraniá'') is a village in

Vlorë County Vlorë County (; sq, Qarku i Vlorës) is one of the 12 counties of the Republic of Albania with the capital in Vlorë. The county spans and has a total population of 187,675 people as of 2021. It borders the counties of Fier and Gjirokastër, ...

, 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 The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the ...

. At the 2015 local government reform it became part of the municipality of

Finiq Finiq ( sq, Finiq or Finiqi, el, Φοινίκη, Foiniki) is a settlement, considered town or village, and municipality in Vlorë County, in southern Albania located 8 km from the Ionian Sea and 20 km north of the Greek border. It was f ...

. It is inhabited solely by

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, Greek Cypriots, Cyprus, Greeks in Albania, Albania, Greeks in Italy, ...

History

In antiquity it was an Epirot town, known as "Elikranon" (Greek: Ελίκρανον). The ancient ruins can be seen even today. The name "Krania" is firstly mentioned in the ''

Chronicle of the Tocco The ''Chronicle of the Tocco'' ( el, Χρονικό των Τόκκων) is a chronicle in fifteen-syllable blank verse written in medieval Greek. It covers the period of 1375-1425 and focuses on the ascent of the Tocco family, and especially Carl ...

'' in 1412. In 1856, the Greek scholar Panagiotis Aravantinos writes about the village: «''... a village with 15 houses, of Greek origin, the spoken language is Greek and belongs to the diocese of Delvino.''» Thimios Lolis (1880-1961) was born in the village, a Greek chieftain who fought in the

Macedonian Struggle The Macedonian Struggle ( bg, Македонска борба; el, Μακεδονικός Αγώνας; mk, Борба за Македонија; sr, Борба за Македонију; tr, Makedonya Mücadelesi) was a series of social, po ...

in the group of

Pavlos Melas Pavlos Melas ( el, Παύλος Μελάς, ''Pávlos Melás''; March 29, 1870 – October 13, 1904) was a Greek revolutionary and artillery officer of the Hellenic Army. He participated in the Greco-Turkish War of 1897 and was amongst the first ...

, the

Autonomous Republic of Northern Epirus The Autonomous Republic of Northern Epirus ( el, Αὐτόνομος Δημοκρατία τῆς Βορείου Ἠπείρου, translit=Aftónomos Dimokratía tis Voreíou Ipeírou) was a short-lived, self-governing entity founded in the aft ...

, the

Balkan Wars The Balkan Wars refers to a series of two conflicts that took place in the Balkan States in 1912 and 1913. In the First Balkan War, the four Balkan States of Greece, Serbia, Montenegro and Bulgaria declared war upon the Ottoman Empire and defe ...

and in the Greco-Italian War.Θύμιος Λώλης: Ποιος ήταν ο θρυλικός οπλαρχηγός της Ηπείρου και γιατί ενοχλεί τους Αλβανούς
himios Lolis: Who was the legendary chieftain of Epirus and why Albanians are bothered of him 4 December 2018, iellada A monument to honour him exists in the village. Between 2018-19, the Thimios Lolis monument has been vandalized twice by

Albanian nationalists Albanian nationalism is a general grouping of nationalist ideas and concepts generated by ethnic Albanians that were first formed in the 19th century during the Albanian National Awakening ( sq, Rilindja). Albanian nationalism is also associated ...

Demographics

In the Defter of the Sanjak of Delvinë from 1431-1432, 4 villages in the area of Vurgu are recorded: Finiki (Finiqi), Vurgo, Jeromi and Krajna, each with very few inhabitants. Among these villages, in the Ottoman register mentioned above typical Albanian names are attested, such as: ''Gjin'', ''Reçi'', ''Leka'', ''Gjon'', ''Dorza'', ''Meksh'' ''Nika'' and ''Deda''. According to a research of 1993, the village had a permanent population of 854, of which all were ethnically

References

External links

Video showing the village
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kranë Villages in Vlorë County Greek communities in Albania