Këlcyra
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Këlcyrë Këlcyra |
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Coordinates: 40 ° 19 ′ N , 20 ° 11 ′ E |
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| Basic data | |||
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| Qark : | Gjirokastra | ||
| Municipality : | Këlcyra | ||
| Height : | 175 m above sea level A. | ||
| Area : | 304.65 km² | ||
| Bashkia residents : | 6113 (2011) | ||
| Population density (Bashkia): | 20 inhabitants / km² | ||
| Telephone code : | (+355) 875 | ||
| Postal code : | 6402 | ||
| Politics and administration (as of 2019 ) | |||
| Mayor : | Klement Ndoni ( PS ) | ||
| Website : | |||
| Culture and history | |||
| City foundation : | 13th Century | ||
 The Këlcyra gorge with the village in front of it (1999) |
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Këlcyra ( Albanian also Këlcyrë ) is a small town in southern Albania on the Vjosa . It is a local center for the mountain areas to the north and east of the city.
Prior to the incorporation of the surrounding Komunen in the north of the dissolved circle Përmet the place 2,651 inhabitants (2011 census), at that time the second largest municipality in the district had. Since then, the municipalities of Ballaban (1047 inhabitants), Dishnica (1159 inhabitants) and Suka (1256 inhabitants) belong to Këlcyra. The new municipality has a total of 6113 inhabitants (as of 2011).
Just west of Këlcyra, the Vjosa passes a deep gorge, the Gryka e Këlcyrës . On both sides, about 1000 meters high mountain slopes rise.
Even today, the road through the gorge is the most important access that connects Këlcyra with Tepelena and the centers of Albania. To the south, the road continues to the district capital Përmet and to Greece. The road leading north in the direction of Berat is only paved for a few kilometers and is very difficult to drive over long stretches. Nevertheless, this route, which was built by the Italians in the 1930s and has hardly been developed since then, can be found in many maps as an important through route.
During the Second Macedonian-Roman War , Philip V's troops controlled the bottleneck. The Macedonians had fortified the passage and blocked it in 198 BC. The Roman advance. A shepherd is said to have led Roman troops through the mountains so that they could attack and destroy the Macedonians in the narrow gorge from two sides. The Macedonians had been decisively defeated for the first time. Later, the Romans used the route through the Këlcyra Gorge and built a small settlement. To control this passage, a castle was built in the 13th century at the latest. The Turks expanded the castle and also built a seraglio in Këlcyra in the 19th century . At that time Këlcyra experienced its heyday as a central trading place between Berat , Korça and Gjirokastra . In the castle, which is enthroned high above the town, there are remains of walls from antiquity - the Illyrians had already established themselves there. Some of the graves dating from the Bronze Age are even older . A medieval chronicle from 1272 mentioned the place with the Latin name Clausura .
There are several centuries-old Orthodox churches around Këlcyra. But the place is also an important center of the Bektashi .
Web links
- Official website of Bashkia Këlcyra (Albanian)
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Ines Nurja: Censusi i popullsisë dhe banesave / Population and Housing Census - Gjirokastër 2011 . Results Kryesore / Main Results. Ed .: INSTAT . Pjesa / Part 1. Adel Print, Tirana 2013 ( instat.gov.al [PDF; accessed April 14, 2019]).
- ↑ Vassilis Nitsiakos: On the Border . LIT, Münster 2010, ISBN 978-3-643-10793-0 .