Elšani is a village in the Republic of Macedonia

Republic of Macedonia

Macedonia , officially the Republic of Macedonia , is a country located in the central Balkan peninsula in Southeast Europe. It is one of the successor states of the former Yugoslavia, from which it declared independence in 1991...

 situated 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) south of the City of Ohrid

Ohrid

Ohrid is a city on the eastern shore of Lake Ohrid in the Republic of Macedonia. It has about 42,000 inhabitants, making it the seventh largest city in the country. The city is the seat of Ohrid Municipality. Ohrid is notable for having once had 365 churches, one for each day of the year and has...

. It is spread across the western slopes of Galičica Mountain, near Lake Ohrid

Lake Ohrid

Lake Ohrid straddles the mountainous border between the southwestern Macedonia and eastern Albania. It is one of Europe's deepest and oldest lakes, preserving a unique aquatic ecosystem with more than 200 endemic species that is of worldwide importance...

. The village is located at 850 metres (2,788.7 feet) above sea level.

Demographics

Elšani has 590 inhabitants living in the village all year around, though, in the summer, there are approximately 400 additional temporary inhabitants staying in their holiday (second) homes.

Ethnicity

All of Elšani's inhabitants are ethnic Macedonians

Macedonians (ethnic group)

The Macedonians also referred to as Macedonian Slavs: "... the term Slavomacedonian was introduced and was accepted by the community itself, which at the time had a much more widespread non-Greek Macedonian ethnic consciousness...

, and Macedonian

Macedonian language

Macedonian is a South Slavic language spoken as a first language by approximately 2–3 million people principally in the region of Macedonia but also in the Macedonian diaspora...

 is their mother tongue.

Religion

For centuries, Orthodox Christianity

Eastern Orthodox Church

The Orthodox Church, officially called the Orthodox Catholic Church and commonly referred to as the Eastern Orthodox Church, is the second largest Christian denomination in the world, with an estimated 300 million adherents mainly in the countries of Belarus, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Georgia, Greece,...

 has been the traditional religion in Elšani and the dating of the oldest church in the village goes back as far as 1408. There are two temples in the village: The Cathedral Church of St. Elijah (restored in 1859; painted in 1944) and St. Mina's

Saint Menas

Saint Menas , the Martyr and Wonder-worker, is one of the most well-known Egyptian saints in the East and the West, due to the many miracles that are attributed to his intercession and prayers...

 (built in 1994). The chapel of St. Petka

Paraskevi

Paraskevi is a female name. Variations include Petka, Paraskeva, Praskovia, Praskovie, Pyatnitsa, Pyetka, Paraskevoula, Paraschiva and Voula.Notable people with the name include:*Voula Patoulidou, Greek hurdler and long jumper*Paraskevi...

 from 1947 is shared with the neighbouring village of Peštani

Pestani

Peštani is a village in the Republic of Macedonia, located 12 kilometres south of the city of Ohrid. It is a popular beachside town along Lake Ohrid and lies at the foot of Galičica National Park. Originally a fishing village, it now gets most of its income from tourism.Roughly 1,326 people live...

.

Economy

Most of the local people work in hotels by the lakeside, or in the Ohrid factories. There are still some more traditional activities, as well: each family has its own vineyard

Vineyard

A vineyard is a plantation of grape-bearing vines, grown mainly for winemaking, but also raisins, table grapes and non-alcoholic grape juice...

 and a garden, animals are still kept, and traditional production of wine

Wine

Wine is an alcoholic beverage, made of fermented fruit juice, usually from grapes. The natural chemical balance of grapes lets them ferment without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes, or other nutrients. Grape wine is produced by fermenting crushed grapes using various types of yeast. Yeast...

 and rakija (brandy

Brandy

Brandy is a spirit produced by distilling wine. Brandy generally contains 35%–60% alcohol by volume and is typically taken as an after-dinner drink...

) is still practised.

Historical timeline of Elšani

• Early 13th century: first written record on Elšani under Byzantian rule
• 1395: Elšani is under Ottoman rule
  Ottoman Empire
  The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
  
  
• 1408: the church of St. Elijah (re)built
• 19 century: Elšani has about 240 inhabitants
• 1912: end of Ottoman rule; during the First Balkan War
  First Balkan War
  The First Balkan War, which lasted from October 1912 to May 1913, pitted the Balkan League against the Ottoman Empire. The combined armies of the Balkan states overcame the numerically inferior and strategically disadvantaged Ottoman armies and achieved rapid success...
  
   Elšani is occupied by Serbs
  Serbs
  The Serbs are a South Slavic ethnic group of the Balkans and southern Central Europe. Serbs are located mainly in Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and form a sizable minority in Croatia, the Republic of Macedonia and Slovenia. Likewise, Serbs are an officially recognized minority in...
  
   who impose recruitment on local men and 13 of them killed on battlefield
• 1915-1918: the time of Bulgarian military occupation during World War I
  World War I
  World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
  
  
• 1918: Elšani under the rule of the new Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (later renamed into Kingdom of Yugoslavia)
• 1941: Italian fascist occupation
• 1943: Bulgarian occupation; many of the local men join the antifascist guerilla movement – 7 of them killed in battle
• 1944: end of the Bulgarian rule and Elšani is now in the (Socialist) Republic of Macedonia, which at that time is one of the six republics of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia; the village makes the biggest progress in its centuries old history, when roads, water supply, electricity and telephony for very first time were introduced
• 1991: Elšani is now one of the prosperous villages in the independent Republic of Macedonia