Kurvelesh

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Nivica with gorges, Këndrevica in the background

Kurvelesh ( Albanian  also  Kurveleshi , Turkish Korvaleş ) is a geographical and ethnographic region in southern Albania . The mountainous landscape lies southwest of Tepelena between the Vjosa and the Drino in the east and the Albanian Riviera , coast of the Ionian Sea , in the west. In the south the region is bounded by the Kardhiq River . The area covers an area of ​​approximately 700 square kilometers and has an average altitude of around 900  m above sea level. A.

geography

Waterfall in a gorge near Nivica

The Upper Kurvelesh (Kurvelesh i sipërm) is mostly drained from the Bënça river to the Vjosa , but also includes some areas adjacent to the south on the north side of the Kardhiq valley and the Salaria valley in the north . The area is a plateau that is cut by deep gorges. There are numerous waterfalls and karst forms such as caves, sinkholes , springs and poljes . The highest mountains are the Maja e Bardhë ( 1420  m above sea level ) in the southeast, the Mali i Thatë ( 1568  m above sea level ) in the south, the Maja e Mureve ( 1700  m above sea level ) and the Mali i Pleshovicës ( 1734  m above sea level ) in the west, the Maja e Këndrevicës ( 2122  m above sea level ) as part of the Mali i Griba in the north-west, the Mali i Komtirit ( 1616  m above sea level ) in the north and the Maja e Dudinës ( 1430  m above sea level ) in the northeast. In the center of the Upper Kurvelesh is the region drained by the Bënça southwest of Tepelena with the villages of Gusmar , Nivica , Rexhin , Progonat and Lekdush . Until 2015, these were combined in the independent Kurvelesh municipality within the Tepelena district. The community had 705 inhabitants (2011). The largest village is Progonat, the seat of the municipality was in Gusmar. The distant village of Salaria , north of Nivica, is also counted as part of the Upper Kurvelesh. The villages of Golem , Kaparjel , Picar and Kolonja are located in the adjacent Kardhiq valley to the south , which until 2015 formed the independent municipality of Picar in Gjirokastra district with 937 inhabitants (2011).

The Lower Kurvelesh (Kurvelesh i poshtëm) comprises the valley on the upper reaches of the Shushica and the valley of the Çorraj stream , which flows directly into the Ionian Sea. The Lower Kurvelesh includes the villages of Kuç , Bolena , Vërnik , Kallarat , Fterra and Çorraj , of which the former belonged to Vlora County and the last two to Saranda County .

Because of the mighty mountains around the plateau and the deep gorges, the Kurvelesh is difficult to access. The Upper Kurvelesh can be reached via a simple, unpaved road from Tepelena via Bënça, the southern part from the Kardhiq Valley. A simple, unpaved road leads through Lower Kurvelesh from Borsh on the coast over the Dërrasa pass between Fterra and Kuç into the lower Shushica valley and to Vlora. Upper and Lower Kurvelesh are only connected by a very poor road. The villages of Upper Kurvelesh are connected by an asphalt road.

history

In Nivica there is a hill called Kalaja (castle) , which is surrounded on three sides by steep cliffs. The complex was settled by Illyrians from Amantia in the 3rd to 2nd century BC . The fortifications were renewed at least twice, under Justinian and under the Ottomans . Today there are only a few ruins left.

In the Middle Ages the Kurvelesh still belonged to Himara . The name is derived from the tribe of the Korvese , who lived here in the Middle Ages, but later emigrated as Arbëresh .

Population and economy

The work of the residents in the region is primarily limited to agriculture, especially cattle breeding . Long-distance grazing was also traditionally used . Many residents were traveling as migrant workers in the Ottoman Empire .

The inhabitants of Kurvelesh are all Muslim , apart from part of the population of the village of Çorraj .

literature

  • Herbert Louis : Albania - a country study mainly because of my own travels . Publishing house of J. Engelhorn's successors in Stuttgart, Berlin 1927, Das Kurveleshplareau-Gribagebirge, p. 93-95 .
  • Emin Riza: Banesa popullore në Kurveleshin e Sipërm . In: Instituti i Monumenteve të Kulturës (ed.): Monumentet . No. 9 . Tirana 1975, p. 141–159 (with a French summary).
  • Christoph Baumann: The Albanian "Transformation Region" Gjirokastra - Structural Change in the 20th Century, Spatial Trends and Patterns of Action in Rural Space . In: Institute for Geography at the University of Bamberg (Hrsg.): Bamberger Geographische Schriften . Issue 28. Self-published, 2008, ISSN  0344-6557 .

Web links

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

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d Farudin Krutaj: Fjalor enciklopedik shqiptar . Ed .: Akademia e Shkencave e RPSSH . Tirana 1985, Kurveleshi, p. 581 f .
  2. ↑ a b Dhimitër Doka, Eqerem Yzeiri: Spatial Structure of Albania . In: Peter Jordan, Karl Kaser, Walter Lukan, Stephanie Schwandner-Sievers, Holm Sundhaussen (eds.): Österreichische Osthefte . Volume 45, issue 1/2. Peter Lang, 2003, ISSN  0029-9375 , p. 15 .
  3. ↑ a b c Robert Pichler: Shepherds, mercenaries and migrant workers. Forms of the mobile economy in the villages of the southern Albanian highlands . In: Karl Kaser, Robert Pichler, Stephanie Schwandner-Sievers (eds.): The wide world and the village. Albanian emigration at the end of the 20th century . To the customer of Southeast Europe. Albanological Studies, Volume 3 . Böhlau Verlag, Vienna 2002, ISBN 3-205-99413-2 , p. 133 ff . ( limited preview in Google Book search).
  4. ↑ 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]).
  5. ↑ Engjëll Serjani: Kalaja e Nivicës në Kurvelesh në vëmendje të arkeologëve britanik. In: Lajm-shqip.com. April 7, 2018, Retrieved April 6, 2019 (Albanian).

Coordinates: 40 ° 14 ′ 0 ″  N , 19 ° 52 ′ 0 ″  E