Leskovik

Leskovik
Administrative Unit
The city of Leskovik and the Melesini Mountain
Leskovik
Coordinates:
Country	Albania
County	Korçë
Municipality	Kolonjë
Government
• Administrator	Fatmir Guda
Elevation	913 m (2,995 ft)
Population (2011)
• Administrative Unit	1,525
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
• Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
Postal Code	7402
Area Code	(0)871

Leskovik is a town and a former municipality in the Korçë County, southeastern Albania. At the 2015 local government reform it became a subdivision of the municipality Kolonjë. It is located right at the Greek-Albanian border. The population at the 2011 census was 1,525. Its maximum population was around 1910, with around 10,000 people.

History

Ottoman period

The area came under Ottoman rule in the 15th century and became part of the Sanjak of Ioannina. Leskovik was recognized as a town in the early 1800s. It was conceived as a relaxing and retreat center for the Ottoman administration. Leskovik subsequently was elevated from kaza into a sanjak.

Leskovik and the nearby mountain Melesin was the site of a battle in 1831, and an Albanian revolt led by Zylyftar Poda (from Podë) in the 1830s.

Edith Durham, who traveled the area during the last Ottoman period, would give a description of the town in her book "The Burden of the Balkans" as: "Leskovik is a quiet small place, solid and stony, built much like a North Wales village, but clean and tidy, the population mostly Bektashite Moslems. Some of the Christian women had a small cross tattooed between their eyebrows. There is small church, and a Greek school...". It was a kaza centre in Yanya sanjak of Yanya Vilayet till 1912.

During the Balkan Wars (1912-1913) Ottoman rule came to an end and Leskovik briefly came under the control of the Greek forces. Shortly after the town was visited by an international commission who was responsible to draw the precise borders between the Kingdom of Greece and the newly established Principality of Albania. Leskovik was finally ceded to Albania under the terms of the Protocol of Florence (17 December 1913).

World War II

During the Greco-Italian War, Leskovik was controlled by the Greek Army, during the penetration of the Greek forces in November 1940. Latter, the town showed a strong support to communist partisans during the Italian and German World War II occupation.

Cold War

The People's Socialist Republic of Albania, being an ally of the Soviet Union, was involved in the Greek Civil War (1946-1949) by supporting the communist led Greek Democratic Army. Leskovic became for a period its headquarters. The town also hosted a training, a supply center, as well as medical facilities for the communist guerrillas, who mounted several invasions from Albanian soil into the Greek region of Grammos and fled back to Albania once an operation was completed.

Today

The population has decreased after the 1990s, due to emigration. The population's religion is distributed between Islam (Sunni and Bektashi) and Orthodoxy.

Geography

Leskovik is located 0.7 miles from Melesin mountain, inside Ersekë-Konitsa-Çarshovë triangle.

Notable people

• Ibrahim Sirri Leskoviku, Albanian politician.
• Vasileios Sotiriadis, Greek politician.
• Ahmed Vefiku, Albanian politician.
• Jani Vreto, Albanian rilindas, born in the village of Postenan within Leskovik municipality.
• Asllan Rusi, volleyball player, the main volleyball arena in Tirana bears his name
• Mustafa Hilmi Leskoviku, better known as Muço Qulli, Albanian patriot, publicist, publisher of "Populli" newspaper in Shkodër
• Ajdin Asllan, musician and patriot, Vatra activist, composer of Vatra's hymn
• Naim Frashëri (actor)

External links

• "Zylyfar Poda" dance