The villages around Korca
are a synonim of
history.Those villages make delightful
excursions . The villages are generally on or near the Plain, rather
than in the mountains thus it is possible to reach them with taxi
from the city. This area is very mixed and the visitor will meet an extraordinary
diversity of people within a small geographical area.Albanian
language is universally understood , while in some quite small
villages it is possible to hear as many as four languages spoken in
a community of a few hundred people.
The hilltown of Voskopoja is 21km near Korca.This city is one of the
msot evocative and atmospheric places in this part of the Balkans,
with Orthodox churches of the highest architectural and historical interest,
remarkable fresco paintings, and the remains of a small urban
settlement . Until mid-18C was Voskopoja one of the msot flourishing
and prosperous cities in the region.This region is largely inhabited
by Vlach shepherds (a small minority in Albania).
History of Voskopoja :
Voskopoja first appears as a place of any importance in
medieval chronicles in
the 14C. It was then known by the Greek name of Moschopolis.In the
15C the region developed as a trade centre.It grew rapidly, and was
particulary prosperous after the Venetian expansion in the Balkans,
acting as an entreport between Venice and Constantipole. Merchants from Vlora had a
large interests in the town, and business connections existed in
palces as far as away as Saxony,Budapest,Constanza,Trieste and
Poland.
By the middle of the 18C as many as 50,000 people may have lived in the vicinity, and
30,000 in the town itself. It was the second largest city in "
Turkey in Europe" after Constantinople. The first churches were
constructed in the 17C. In 1720 the first printing press in the
Balkans was said to be established, and in 1760 books were being
printed. The writers Theodore Kavalioti and Theodore Haxhifilipi
lived here.The town declined at the end of 18 century as Korca grew
as the regional capital .