Moscopole

Voskopojë
Moscopole
Moschopolis
Municipal unit
St. Nicholas Church
St. Nicholas Church
Voskopojë is located in Albania
Voskopojë
Voskopojë
Coordinates: 40°38′0″N 20°35′25″E / 40.63333°N 20.59028°E / 40.63333; 20.59028
Country Albania
CountyKorçë
MunicipalityKorçë
Population
 (2011)
 • Municipal unit
1,058
Demonym(s)Moscopolean[1]
Moscopolitan[2]
Voskopojar[3]
Time zoneUTC+1 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+2 (CEST)
Postal Code
7029
Area Code0864
Websitewww.voskopoja.al
Part of a series on
Aromanians
Geographical distribution
Major settlements
Culture
Language and identity
Religion
History
Related groups

Moscopole or Voskopoja (Albanian: Voskopojë; Aromanian: Moscopole, with several other variants; Greek: Μοσχόπολις, romanized: Moschopolis) is a village in Korçë County in southeastern Albania. During the 18th century, it was the cultural and commercial center of the Aromanians.[4] At its peak, in the mid 18th century, it hosted the first printing house in the Ottoman Balkans outside Constantinople, educational institutions and numerous churches.[5] It became a leading center of Greek culture[6][7][8] but also with elements of Albanian and Aromanian culture, all with great influence from Western civilization.[9][10]

One view[neutrality is disputed] attributes the decline of the city to a series of raids by Muslim Albanian bandits.[11][12] Moscopole was initially attacked and almost destroyed by those groups in 1769 following the participation of the residents in the preparations for a Greek revolt supported by the Russian Empire.[13] Its destruction culminated with the abandoning and destruction of 1788.[14][15][11] Moscopole, once a prosperous city, was reduced to a small village by Ali Pasha of Ioannina. According to another view, the city's decline was mainly due to the relocation of the trade routes in central and eastern Europe following these raids.[13] Today Moscopole, known as Voskopojë, is a small mountain village, and along with a few other local settlements is considered a holy place by local Orthodox Christians. It was one of the original homelands of much of the Aromanian diaspora.[16] It has been also nicknamed as "Jerusalem of the Aromanians",[17][18] "New Athens" or "Arcadia of the Balkans".[19]

In modern times, Aromanians no longer form a majority of the population, with incoming Christian and Muslim Albanians having further settled in the village, especially after World War II.[20] Still, Moscopole has held a key place within Aromanian nationalism, and many Aromanian writers have written about Moscopole in a mythical and utopian way, mourning the city's destruction.[21]

  1. ^ Lascu, Stoica (2012). "The constitution of the dimensions of Balkan Romanianism in the perception of the society of the Danubian Principalities (first half of the XIXth century)". Valahian Journal of Historical Studies. 18–19: 81–106.
  2. ^ Berciu Drăghicescu, Adina; Madge, Octavia Luciana; Coman, Virgil (2011). "Farsherots, Moscopolitans, Megleno-Romanians – Online Recovery of their Cultural Heritage". Library & Information Science Research (15).
  3. ^ Giakoumis 2016, p. 105.
  4. ^ Förster Horst, Fassel Horst. Kulturdialog und akzeptierte Vielfalt?: Rumänien und rumänische Sprachgebiete nach 1918.. Franz Steiner Verlag, 1999. ISBN 978-3-7995-2508-4, p. 33: "Moschopolis zwar eine aromunische Stadt ... deren intelektuelle Elite in starken Masse graekophil war."
  5. ^ Rousseva R. Iconographic characteristics of the churches in Moschopolis and Vithkuqi (Albania), Makedonika, 2006, v. 35, pp. 163–191. Archived 4 December 2013 at the Wayback Machine In English and Greek, with photographs of icons and inscriptions.
  6. ^ Cohen, Mark (2003). Last century of a Sephardic community: the Jews of Monastir, 1839–1943. Foundation for the Advancement of Sephardic Studies and Culture. p. 13. ISBN 978-1-886857-06-3. Moschopolis emerged as the leading center of Greek intellectual activity in the 18th
  7. ^ Winnifrith, Tom (2002). Badlands, borderlands: a history of Northern Epirus/Southern Albania. Duckworth. p. 109. ISBN 978-0-7156-3201-7.
  8. ^ Skendi, Stavro (1980). Balkan Cultural Studies. East European Monographs. ISBN 978-0-914710-66-0. Two centers of Greek culture exercised strong influence on the Orthodox Albanians : Voskopojë ( Moskhopolis ), in the south, near Korçë
  9. ^ Mustafa, Avzi (1997). Edukata dhe arsimi nëpër shekuj: studime dhe artikuj. Shkupi. p. 61. Në Voskopojë jetonin shqiptarët ortodoksë dhe arumunët, të cilët i takonin Patrikanës së Ohrit. Nga ana tjetër tregtia e zhvilluar ndikoi që të depërtojë kultura e perëndimit. Kështu Voskopoja u bë një nyje e rëndësishme ku lidheshin të gjitha rrjetat tregtare, madje edhe kulturale të Evropës Perëndimore.
  10. ^ Skutsch, Carl (2013). Encyclopedia of the World's Minorities. Taylor & Francis. p. 64. ISBN 9781135193881.
  11. ^ a b Vickers, Miranda (1995). The Albanians: A Modern History. I.B.Tauris. pp. 14–15. ISBN 9780857736550.
  12. ^ Cohen, Mark (2003). Last century of a Sephardic community : the Jews of Monastir, 1839–1943. New York: Foundation for the advancement of Sephardic studies and culture. ISBN 9781886857063. In 1769, and then again in 1788, this thriving town was sacked by Muslim Albanians. It was finally destroyed in the early 19th century by Ali Pasha...
  13. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Miropoulos was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  14. ^ Hermine G. De Soto, Nora Dudwick. Fieldwork dilemmas: anthropologists in postsocialist states. Univ of Wisconsin Press, 2000. ISBN 978-0-299-16374-7, p. 45.
  15. ^ Mackridge, Peter (2 April 2009). Language and National Identity in Greece, 1766–1976. Oxford University Press, USA. p. 58. ISBN 978-0-19-921442-6.
  16. ^ Gilles de Rapper. Religion on the border: Sanctuaries and festivals in post-communist Albania. Religion on the Boundary and the Politics of Divine Interventions. Proceedings of the International Conference, Sofia 14–18 April 2006. Istanbul, Isis Press, p. 5.
  17. ^ "Ismail Kadare ti armâńi / Ismail Kadare për vllehtë". Frația (in Albanian and Aromanian). Vol. 11, no. 177. 3 November 2010. p. 3. Al'iura dit România și Gărchia, armâńi tu Albanii avea Jerusalemu a lor, Moscopolea.
  18. ^ Popescu, Adina (1–7 September 2022). "Cine sînt aromânii din Albania? – un interviu cu Entela BINJAKU". Dilema Veche (in Romanian). No. 960. Moscopole este ca un Ierusalim al nostru, pentru că o mare parte din aromânii risipiți prin țară, cum ar fi cei din orașul Fier, provin din Moscopole.
  19. ^ Kocój, Ewa (29 September 2016). "Artifacts of the Past as Traces of Memory. The Aromanian Cultural Heritage in the Balkans". Res Historica. 41: 159. doi:10.17951/rh.2016.41.159. ISSN 2082-6060. Retrieved 12 September 2022. The 1768 expulsion of Aromanians from Moscopole gave rise to the legend of the city, which in modern explications is portrayed as the Arcadia of the Balkans, a New Jerusalem or a New Athens.
  20. ^ Cite error: The named reference GdR was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  21. ^ Lambru, Steliu (2001). "Narrating national utopia. The case of Moschopolis in the Aromanian national discourse" (PDF). Xenopoliana. 9 (1–4): 54–81.