Boga (Albania)

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Bogë
Boga
Boga (Albania) (Albania)
Paris plan pointer b jms.svg

Coordinates: 42 ° 24 '  N , 19 ° 39'  E

Basic data
Qark : Shkodra
Municipality : Malësia e Madhe
Height : 950  m above sea level A.
Culture and history
City Festival : September 29th
Boga in the trough valley of the Përroi i thatë

Boga ( Albanian  also  Bogë ) is a village in northern Albania in the Albanian Alps . It is located in the Shkrel area and belongs to the municipality of Malësia e Madhe .

Boga is a scattered settlement that stretches for around two kilometers. Not quite 1000  m above sea level. A. , Boga is the last settlement in the valley of the Përroi i thatë . The trough valley of the “dry river” in the limestone mountains , formed by glaciers, is considered to be arid. Boga has the most precipitation in the country with an average of 3093 millimeters per year (with peaks of 5237 millimeters per year or 420 millimeters within 24 hours). The soils don't give much, livestock is very important. Several mountains over 2000 meters high rise on both sides of the valley. In the north lies the large limestone dome Bjeshkët e Namuna (in German: Verwunschene Berge ). To the west the mountains of Malësia e Madhe gradually flatten out. Around Boga there are some of the most important caves in Albania.

Boga is about 50 kilometers northeast of Shkodra . A road leads from Koplik (25 kilometers) through Boga and over the pass Qafa e Thorës ( 1685  m above sea level ) to Theth (30 kilometers) in the Shala valley.

Church of Boga

The residents are traditionally Catholic : all 75 families in 1908 were Catholic , according to Edith Durham . The church is dedicated to St. Michael , whose feast is celebrated on September 28th and 29th.

The village is said to have been founded in 1480. The inhabitants of the Boga tribe consider themselves related to the Kelmendi beyond the mountains in the north. Earliest mentions as Bogu are from the 1680s. In 1918 over 200 people were counted. The cattle, some of which still spend the summer in the mountains, used to be herded into the coastal plain of Albania as far as Kurbin in winter . In 1963 the private farms were forcibly collectivized in a cooperative . In 1995 over 500 people lived in the village.

The Shkrel region with Boga is one of the poorest in the country. Almost the entire population is active in agriculture, although tourism has also become increasingly important in recent years . For this reason, like all mountain areas in Albania, the region is severely affected by emigration .

Today there is a primary school in the village, a few inns for tourists and a few cafes or bars, some of which also serve as small shops. The road from Koplik to the top of the pass has been paved throughout for several years.

From a tourist point of view, Boga is particularly important as a starting point for hikes , for example day trips in the area, hikes over the Shtegu i Dhënve to Theth or demanding tours in the Bjeshkët e Namuna .

literature

  • Steve Cook, Marash Rakaj: Social Changes in the Albanian Alps During Communism . In: Middle States Division of the Association of American Geographers (Ed.): Middle States Geographer . Volume 28. New Brunswick 1995, pp. 84–90 ( article as PDF ).
  • Steve Cook, Marash Rakaj: Village and Regional Exogamy in Bogë, a Village in the Malësia e Madhe Rreth (Great Highlands Administrative Area) of northern Albania . University of Pittsburgh, Johnstown 1995 (unpublished research paper).

Web links

Commons : Boga  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. a b Cook, Rakaj (1995), p. 84 f.
  2. Florian Baba et al .: Guida e gjelbër shqiptare . 6th edition. Blue Agency, Tirana 2013, p. 47 .
  3. Akademia e Shkencave e RPSSH (ed.): Gjeografia fizike e Shqipërisë . tape 2 . Tirana 1991, p. 31 f .
  4. ^ Örjan Sjöberg: Rural Change and Development in Albania . Westview Press, Boulder 1991, ISBN 0-8133-8167-3 .
  5. a b Fshati Bogë. (No longer available online.) In: Kelmend - Shkrel. Formerly in the original ; Retrieved April 29, 2017 (Albanian).  ( Page no longer available , search in web archivesInfo: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.kelmend-shkrel.org  
  6. Edith Durham: High Albanian . Edward Arnold, London 1909 ( Chapter IV [accessed April 29, 2017]).
  7. Cook, Rakaj (1995) with reference to Edith Durham
  8. ^ Robert Elsie : The Tribes of Albania: History Society and Culture . IB Tauris, London / New York 2015, ISBN 978-1-78453-401-1 , The Boga Tribe, p. 79 f .
  9. Cook, Rakaj (1995), page 84
  10. Shkëlzen Marku: Kelmend and Shkrel Integrated Rural Development Project, Malësi e Madhe, Albania. Project Completion Evaluation . Ed .: VIS, Komuna Kelmend, Komuna Shkrel, Cooperazione Italiana alla Sviluppo. Tirana 2013 ( feedingknowledge.net [PDF; accessed April 29, 2017]).