Albanians in Bulgaria

This article or section needs to be revised. Details should be given on the talk page. Please help to improve it , and then remove this flag.

This article or the following section is not adequately provided with supporting documents ( e.g. individual evidence ). Information without sufficient evidence could be removed soon. Please help Wikipedia by researching the information and including good evidence.

The Albanians in Bulgaria ( Albanian  Shqiptarët në Bullgari , Bulgarian Албанци в България Albantsi v Bŭlgariya ) are a small ethnic minority in Bulgaria . The number of Albanians in Bulgaria is estimated to be at least 300. Other figures assume around 10,000. Albanologists and historians estimate the actual number of the Albanian ethnic group to be much higher.

The immigration of the Albanians to Bulgaria had several phases. The first wave of Albanian migration was in the 13th to 15th centuries, when Christian Albanians fled the Ottomans . The largest waves of emigration, however, took place during the Ottoman rule . Especially after Skanderbeg's death in 1468, many people moved from northern Albania to southern Italy, where they founded new colonies. Others emigrated to Bulgaria or Odessa . While the Arbëresh in southern Italy have retained their customs and traditions and speak their own language to this day, ethnologists believe that the Albanian language and thus the Albanian culture in Bulgaria is in serious danger. There was also Albanian migration to Bulgaria in the years 1850–1912, when the capital Sofia was the main destination for migrants. The city of Veliko Tarnowo is considered the center of the Albanians (Arbanasi) in Bulgaria. It is known for its rich history and high number of historical monuments.

Mandriza

Mandriza (also Mandritsa, Bulgarian Мандрица ("small dairy"); Albanian  Mandrica / -ë ; Greek Μανδρίτσα , Turkish Mandıra ) is a village in the extreme south-east of Bulgaria, belonging to the municipality of Ivaylovgrad in Chaskovo Oblast .

Mandriza is "the only Albanian village" in Bulgaria, founded by Albanian shepherds from Korça and Kolonja during the Turkish occupation . Mandriza has an estimated 250 inhabitants, of whom few still speak a Tuscan Albanian .

The village is 50–99 m above sea level. NN on the right bank of the Biala reka on the edge of the Rhodope Mountains , 15 kilometers south of Ivaylovgrad and two kilometers east of the Luda reka (Greek: Erythropotamos), which forms the border with Greece here.

literature

• Aton Panchev: Diaspora shqiptare në Bullgari . In: Albert Ramaj (ed.): Poeta nascitur, historicus fit - Ad honorem Zef Mirdita . Albanian Institute, Hrvatski institut za povijest, St. Gallen / Zagreb 2013, ISBN 978-3-9524201-0-2 , p. 1015-1028 .
• Bojan Gjuselev: Албанци в Източните Балкани . Ed .: International Center for Minority Studies and Intercultural Relations. Sofia 2004, ISBN 954-8872-45-5 ( bulgari-istoria-2010.com [PDF; accessed February 7, 2018]).