Shpirag

Shpirag Mali i Shpiragut
	The eastern flank of the mountain seen from Berat
height	1197 m above sea level A.
location	South albania
Mountains	Southern Albanian mountains
Coordinates	40 ° 40 ′ 3 " N , 19 ° 51 ′ 57" E Coordinates: 40 ° 40 ′ 3 " N , 19 ° 51 ′ 57" E

The Shpirag ( Albanian Mali i Shpiragut ) is a mountain in southern Albania , around six kilometers west of the city of Berat . The elongated ridge is 1197 m above sea level. A. the highest elevation in the area and the Mallakastra , the large hilly area between Vjosa and Berat.

The Shpirag is an elongated, steeply sloping ridge on both sides of about six kilometers in length, which runs in a north-south direction. The foot of the slope is around 400 m above sea level. A. - low hill country surrounds the mountain. In the north, the mountain merges directly into the Myzeqe plain , which, like the Osum valley near Berat, is less than 50 meters high. In the south, the hill country is higher, gradually rising towards the southern Albanian mountain country , but only after more than 20 kilometers again heights of over 1000 m above sea level. A. achieved. Around 24 kilometers to the east is the Tomorr ( 2415 m above sea level ), the next higher neighbor.

The mountain is quite bare and marked by furrows, which is why it is also called Mali me Vija , the mountain with lines . It is made of limestone . At the foot of the slope, where some springs emerge, there are several villages, such as Konizbalta , Mbreshtan , Sadovica , Paftal and Kamçisht from north to south on the east side, Mbjeshova and Sinja in the south-west. Some of the villages have old Orthodox churches. The St. Mary's Church in Sinja from the 12th or 13th century is particularly worth mentioning.

East flank with lettering made of stones

The mountain is best known for the large lettering ENVER , created in 1968 from stones on the bare eastern flank . It was communist propaganda in honor of the head of state Enver Hoxha made of letters about 100 meters high, which could not be removed after the end of the regime. In 1994 the Albanian Army tried to erase the prominent lettering with napalm . Not quite 20 years later it was converted into NEVER .

A legend (passed down among others by Maximilian Lambertz ) reports a dispute between the mountains Baba Tomorr and Shpirag over the city of Berat. In battle, Shpirag dented his rival with a club, while Tomorr himself injured him with a scythe: furrows that can still be seen on the flanks today.

Web links

Commons : Shpirag - collection of images

Report an ascent with pictures (English)

Individual evidence

↑ Mevlan Kabos et al .: Gjeografia fizike e Shqipërisë . Ed .: Akademia e Shkencave e RPS të Shqipërisë. tape 2 . Tirana 1991, Mallakstra, p. 524 ff .
↑ Kisha e "Shën Marisë" dhe "Ura e Kasabashit" shpallen monument kulture të kategorisë së I-rë. In: BalkanWeb. June 26, 2015, Retrieved February 2, 2016 (Albanian).
↑ Benet Koleka: "NEVER" again, despot's name wiped from Albanian mountain. Reuters, July 10, 2012, accessed January 31, 2016 .
^ Robert Elsie : Handbook on Albanian Folk Culture . In: Center for Albanian Studies (Ed.): Albanian Studies . Vol. 12. London 2015, ISBN 978-1-5089-8630-0 , Tomor-Berg, pp. 342 ( English translation from Lambertz's collection of fairy tales [accessed January 31, 2016]).

[band2-1] Mevlan Kabos et al .: Gjeografia fizike e Shqipërisë . Ed .: Akademia e Shkencave e RPS të Shqipërisë. tape 2 . Tirana 1991, Mallakstra, p. 524 ff .

[2] Kisha e "Shën Marisë" dhe "Ura e Kasabashit" shpallen monument kulture të kategorisë së I-rë. In: BalkanWeb. June 26, 2015, Retrieved February 2, 2016 (Albanian).

[3] Benet Koleka: "NEVER" again, despot's name wiped from Albanian mountain. Reuters, July 10, 2012, accessed January 31, 2016 .

[4] Robert Elsie : Handbook on Albanian Folk Culture . In: Center for Albanian Studies (Ed.): Albanian Studies . Vol. 12. London 2015, ISBN 978-1-5089-8630-0 , Tomor-Berg, pp. 342 ( English translation from Lambertz's collection of fairy tales [accessed January 31, 2016]).