Dhërmi (Albaniandefinite form: Dhërmiu; Greek: Δρυμάδες, Drymádes) is a village in Vlorë County, Albania. It is part of the municipality of Himarë.[1] The village lies 42 kilometers south of the city of Vlorë and 69 kilometers north of the southern city of Sarandë. It is built on a slope of the Ceraunian Mountains at approximately 200 meters in altitude, and comprises three neighborhoods: Gjilek, Kondraq, Kallami, and Dhërmi itself. The mountains descend to the southwest into the Ionian coast and Corfu in the distance to the south. Nearby is the village of Palasë. The local inhabitants of Dhërmi are ethnic Greeks[2] that mainly speak a variant of the Greek Himariote dialect, and partly the Tosk Albanian dialect.[3][4] During the last decade, the coastal area has seen a boom in the construction of accommodation facilities, such as wooden villa complexes.
Name
The official Albanian name "Dhërmi" is mainly used by those inhabitants and seasonal workers who use either the Tosk or Gheg Albanian dialect. Many of these newcomers and seasonal workers moved to the Dhërmi from other parts of Albania during the socialist period (1945-1991) or more recently. On the other hand the Greek name of the village, "Drimades" or "Drymades", is mainly used by the inhabitants, in particular the ones who mainly use the local Greek dialect and partly the southern Albanian (Tosk) one.[5]
History
Dhërmi is recorded in the Ottomandefter of 1583 as a settlement in the Sanjak of Delvina with a total of 50 households. The anthroponymy recorded predominantly belonged to the Albanian onomastic sphere (e.g., Leka Gjini, Gjin Kondi, Gjoka Qezari), however, personal names reflecting broader Orthodox Christian anthroponymy are also recorded (e.g., Petri Dhima, Nikolla Kosta, Kristo Dhimo). Albanian historian Kristo Frashëri further writes that none of the recorded personal names can be classified as ethnic Greek onomastics.[6]
In 1632 the first Albanian school in Dhërmi was founded by Greek Cypriot missionary Neophytos Rodinos.[7][8] A Greek-language school was also founded in 1633 in Dhërmi by the same missionary.[9]
Additional Greek schools operated by 1682 with the support of the local bishopric of Himara. During the 17th century (precise year is unknown) another Greek school (the Vizilios School) opened under the sponsorship of a local benefactor. In the 1898–1899 school season three Greek schools were operating: elementary, secondary and a girls' school.[10]
On the request of Himariots to the Pope of Rome, a new Basilian mission to Albania was launched in 1693. Among the missionaries were Nico Catalano, who in Albania had already been titled Archbishop of Durrës, and Basilian monk Filoteo Zassi, from the Arbëreshë town of Mezzojuso. They departed by the end of January 1693, and firstly stopped in Dhërmi, where they found a deteriorated spiritual state of the people, with pressures firstly from the Ottomans, and secondly from the Greek bishops who, as reported by Catalano, "were making of God's house a house of traffic, of affairs and of sacrilegious trade". Catalano opened a school in the Himarë region, raised in the village of Dhërmi, where more than eighty students, both Christian and Muslim, were registered from the adjacent villages. Catalano taught Christian spirit and morals, as well as farming techniques and other professions. Catalano was particularly careful in teaching and preaching in the Albanian language, since he considered it to be the most effective method to counter the diffusion of Islam. The Archbishop stayed in the Himarë region visiting the peoples of local villages, until in Vuno he fell ill, and he died on June 3, 1694. He was buried at the Church of St. Athanasius in Dhërmi.[11]
The initiative by the Catholic missionaries finally failed since the locals didn't show any interest and the recruitment of student was unsuccessful.[12] The Italian missionary Giuseppe Schirò wrote in 1722 that Dhërmi was inhabited by Greeks.[13]
On November 5, 1912, when the nearby town of Himara was controlled by the Greek forces of the local major Spyros Spyromilios, armed groups from Dhermi declared that they were prepared to assist his movement for the incorporation of the rest of the region into Greece.[14]
In 2015 the demolition of the local church of St. Athanasius by the state authorities caused a storm of reactions between the Albanian Orthodox Church and the Albanian Government as well as sparked tensions between the municipality of Himarë and both the local Albanian and ethnic Greek orthodox communities.[15][16][17][18] Three years later the church was being reconstructed.[18] It was second demolition of the specific religious monument by the state authorities, the first having taken place during the era of the People's Republic of Albania, but at the time the church was rebuilt by the local Orthodox Church after the restoration of Democracy in the country (1991).[19][20]
As of 2018[update], Dhërmi has been hosting many music festivals, making it a popular tourist destination.[21]
Demographics
The village is inhabited by an ethnic Greek community.[2] The inhabitants of Dhërmi are primarily Greek-speaking and partly Tosk Albanian-speaking, calling themselves horiani or Drimadiotes, a term used to denote that they are locals who originate from the village.[3][4] They speak a variety of the Greek Himariote dialect,[3][4] which is characterized by archaic features not retained in Standard Modern Greek.[22] There are also some Tosk-speaking and Gheg-speaking newcomers and seasonal workers, who moved to Dhërmi from other parts of Albania during the communist era (1945-1990).[4]
Tourism
Dhërmi is considered to be a popular tourist destination, especially due to its well-known beaches and at times riotous nightclub-based nightlife centred on the modern resorts of Dhërmi's coastline. In 2018 Dhërmi was considered a center in the Albanian Riviera area by the Ministry of Tourism and Environment. The beach is 5km long and it ends into a hill where the monastery of Saint Theodore is located.[23] The former minister Blendi Klosi created a touristic campaign named "Smile Albania" on promoting the local Albanian cuisine, part of the "Local products, an added offer in our touristic package". Dhërmi and the rest of Himarë region is famous for the Beekeeping and the production of Honey, where a three-days fair "Mjalt Fest" takes place every year.[24] The government also promotes the "Kala Fest" festival to boost the tourism of Dhërmi.[25]
^ abcTourism, Culture & Communication. Cognizant Communication Corporation. 2006. p. 124. The local people of Dhërmi/Drimades, its neighboring village Palasa, and the municipal town Himarë/Himara mainly use the local Greek dialect and partly the southern Albanian (Tosk) dialect in their day-to-day conversations.
^ abcdGregorič Bon 2008b, p. 9: "The official Albanian name Dhërmi is mainly used by those inhabitants and seasonal workers who use the southern (Tosk) or the northern (Ghek) Albanian dialects. Many of these newcomers and seasonal workers moved to the village from other parts of Albania during (1945-1990) or after the communist era. In contrast to Dhërmi, the local, Greek name Drimades is mainly used by the inhabitants who are believed to 'originate' from the village and declare themselves to be locals, horiani or Drimadiotes. They primarily use the local Greek dialect and partly the southern Albanian (Tosk) one in their day to day conversations, as is the case with the neighbouring village Palasa and the municipal town of Himarë/Himara. The people inhabiting the other five villages of the Himarë/Himara area (Ilias, Vuno, Qeparo, Pilur, and Kudhes) mainly speak the southern Albanian dialect."
^Frashëri, Kristo (2005). Himara dhe Përkatësia Etnike e Himarjotëve. Toena. pp. 40–1.
^Temo, Sotir (1985). Education in the People's Socialist Republic of Albania. "8 Nentori" Publishing House. p. 7. ... the primary schools in Korça (1637), in Pedhanë and Blinisht in the Shkodra district (1639) where a secondary school was opened that same year, the Albanian schools in the region of Himara : Dhërmi, Vuno, Palasë (1632) .
^Gaçe, Bardhosh (1999). Lëvizja kombëtare në Vlorë, 1878-1912 (in Albanian). Botimet Toena. p. 224. ISBN978-99927-1-185-9. Shkollat e para u çelën në Dhërmi, Palasë, Vuno dhe Himarë . Këtu vinin nxënës nga Dukati, Tërbaçi, Kuçi, Lukova, Piqerasi e tjerë . Shkollat e para i çeli Noefit Rodinoja, që besohet se në fshatrat e Himarës arriti në vitin 1632
^Gregorič Bon 2008a, p. 67: In spite of these differences in opinions, both sides agree that the first school of Himarë/Himara area was initiated by the Bazilian missionary Neofit Rodino, whose lessons in 1627 were held in Greek language. Some years later the school was closed down and reopened again in 1633 – this time not only in Himarë/Himara, but also in Dhërmi/Drimades and later in Palasa in 1663
^Koltsida, Athina. Η Εκπαίδευση στη Βόρεια Ήπειρο κατά την Ύστερη Περίοδο της Οθωμανικής Αυτοκρατορίας(PDF) (in Greek). University of Thessaloniki. p. 258. Retrieved 27 December 2014. Η προσπάθεια των ρωμαιοκαθολικών μισσιοναρίων δεν τελεσφόρησε, αφού οι κάτοικοι επέδειξαν παντελή αδιαφορία και η αλίευση μαθητών για το «σχολείο» τους απέβη άκαρπη
^Kyriazis 2016, p. 9: "Δεν τα έφερε εκείνος τα ελληνικά στη Χιμάρα, αλλά τα βρήκε εκεί, κι αυτό μας το μαρτυρά ο εξ Ιταλίας ιεραπόστολος Giuseppe Schiro (Zef Skiro) από το έτος 1722,... O Schiro έγραφε ότι «η Cimara (Χιμάρα)..., Drimades (Δρυμάδες), Balasa (Παλάσα) [είναι] ελληνικής εθνότητας -"di natione greci"-, ενώ τα υπόλοιπα χωριά της Χιμάρας είναι αλβανικής εθνότητας -"di natione albanesi"»."
^Kaphetzopoulos Ioannis; Flokas Charalambos; Dima-Dimitriou Angeliki (2000). The struggle for Northern Epirus (1.udg. ed.). Athens: Hellenic Army General Staff, Army History Directorate. ISBN9789607897404. Retrieved 27 December 2014.
^Erebara, Gjergj (26 August 2015). "Albanian Church Demolition Angers Greece". BalkanInsight. Retrieved 26 October 2015. "Albanian police have demolished a contested church dedicated to St Athanas in the southern village of Dhermi, angering the Orthodox Church and neighbouring Greece, which supports the Church's mission. The Orthodox Church called it a vandalistic act of desecration and a violation of church property.... Police used heavy machinery to reduce to rubble the roof built in 1994 to cover the foundations of a much older church destroyed during the communist era. The renovated church was declared an "illegal construction" by the local authorities in Himarë municipality two weeks ago, pitting Albanian nationalists against the Greek-supported Orthodox Church.... Speaking about the church, Prime Minister Rama said on Monday that "the old church in Dhermi will be regenerated in the name of national heritage [over] the 'parking lot' that is illegal, which they call a church.""
1 Includes localities with a substantial ethnic Greek population, or otherwise with any kind of cultural or other type of significance, historical or current, for the Greek minority in Albania. 2 Includes individuals not necessarily of Greek ethnicity but with important contributions to Greek civilization.
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