Peshkopi
Encyclopedia
Peshkopi is a city in Dibër District
Dibër District
The District of Dibër is one of the thirty-six districts of Albania, part of Dibër County. It has a population of 62,825, and an area of 1088 km². It is in the north-east of the country, and its capital is Peshkopi....
, Dibër County
Dibër County
The County of Dibër is one of the 12 counties of Albania. It consists of the districts Bulqizë, Dibër, and Mat and its capital is Peshkopi.Dibër is known for its resistance against the Turks. Historical Dibër included parts of Albania and Macedonia...
, northeastern Albania
Albania
Albania , officially known as the Republic of Albania , is a country in Southeastern Europe, in the Balkans region. It is bordered by Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, the Republic of Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south and southeast. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea...
.
It is located 187 kilometres (116.2 mi) away from Tirana
Tirana
Tirana is the capital and the largest city of Albania. Modern Tirana was founded as an Ottoman town in 1614 by Sulejman Bargjini, a local ruler from Mullet, although the area has been continuously inhabited since antiquity. Tirana became Albania's capital city in 1920 and has a population of over...
, the capital of Albania
Albania
Albania , officially known as the Republic of Albania , is a country in Southeastern Europe, in the Balkans region. It is bordered by Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, the Republic of Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south and southeast. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea...
, and 20 kilometres (12.4 mi) from the Macedonian border
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...
. It is situated at 41°40'N and 20°25'. It sits 651 metres (2,135.8 ft) above sea level. In the 2004 census
Census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
, there were approximately 14,100 residents. It is the capital of both the county and district of Dibër. It is the only county capital in Albania that does not share its name with its county.
Peshkopi lies east of the Black Drin river
Black Drin
The Black Drin is a river in Albania and the Republic of Macedonia. It flows out of Lake Ohrid in Struga, Macedonia. After approximately it crosses the border to Albania, west of Debar. It merges with the White Drin in Kukës to form the Drin, which flows into the Adriatic Sea...
. The Drin valley is the lowest part of the district. Mineral ores such as chromium, sulphur, and marble have been discovered in the district. Peshkopi have a branch of Aleksandër Moisiu University
Aleksander Moisiu University
Aleksandër Moisiu University or officially Aleksandër Moisiu University of Durrës is the newest public academic institution of the Republic of Albania. The University is located in the ancient city of Durrës and have branch in Peshkopia...
.
History
The region now known as Dibër was inhabited in pre-Christian times by the Illyrian tribe known to the Romans as Penestae .The name of Peshkopi is derived from the Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
Episkopi or 'bishop's seat', which shows early signs of Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
settling in the Balkans
Balkans
The Balkans is a geopolitical and cultural region of southeastern Europe...
. Bulgarian maps of the eleventh century show the town under the name Presolengrad. The region of Dibër was subsumed under the Orthodox
Orthodox Christianity
The term Orthodox Christianity may refer to:* the Eastern Orthodox Church and its various geographical subdivisions...
archepiscopate 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...
in 1019, and one year later received the status of an episcopate with its center in the Bulke ward of Peshkopi, located in what is now the neighborhood of Dobrovë. The central church of the Dibër Episcopate was that of St. Stephen . The seat of the Episcopate would later be relocated, but the town of Peshkopi retained its name. Peshkopi is referenced as early as the fifteenth century under the name Peskopia.
By the beginning of the sixteenth century, the Ottoman Empire
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...
had completed its conquest of Albania. Under the rule of the Ottoman Empire, Peshkopi (then Debre-i Zir, which meant "Lower Debre" in Ottoman Turkish) was a small market town, overshadowed by the larger and more flamboyant Debar
Debar
Debar is a city in the western part of the Republic of Macedonia, near the border with Albania, on the road from Struga to Gostivar. It is the seat of Debar Municipality.-Geography:...
, which today lies just over the Macedonian
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...
border. The population of Peshkopi was almost completely Muslim by 1583. In 1873 an Ottoman barracks was built in Peshkopi, housing up to 8,000 soldiers.
The Dibër region, including Peshkopi, took part in the uprisings against Ottoman authority that were occurring throughout Albania in the early 1910s. Albanian armed bands captured Peshkopi from the Ottomans on August 16, 1912.
In the aftermath of the breakup of the Ottoman Empire, a Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
n army invaded
Serbia in the Balkan Wars
The Kingdom of Serbia was one of the main parties in the Balkan Wars during the early twentieth century. Serbia, victorious in two Balkan wars, gained significant territorial areas of the Central Balkans and almost doubled its territory...
Dibër and entered Peshkopi in early December 1912. Albanian forces retook the city on September 20, 1913. A Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
n army invaded Peshkopi on January 1, 1916. The Austro-Hungarian Empire, an ally of Bulgaria, brought an army to Peshkopi on April 12, 1916 and engaged in punitive house-burnings and executions throughout the region in an attempt to quell local resistance. The Bulgarians and Austro-Hungarians departed the area in September 1918.
Italian forces invaded Albania in 1939, reaching Peshkopi on April 15. Albanian Communist partisans retook Peshkopi on September 9, 1943. The following October, the partisans defeated Balli Kombëtar
Balli Kombëtar
Balli Kombëtar was an Albanian nationalist, anti-communist and anti-monarchy organization established in October 1939. It was led by Ali Këlcyra and Mit’hat Frashëri...
forces in an armed battle for control of the city. In July 1944, German forces occupied the city, but were expelled later that same month. Fighting continued in the Dibër region until early September, leaving the Communist-dominated National Liberation Army in control.
Places of interest
- The museumMuseumA museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities...
, located beside the general secondary school. It houses an excellent collection of local costumes, carpets, kitchen equipment and filigree jewelry, as well as a number of models of local architecture. - Elez Isufi Boulevard, a pedestrian-only street lined with lindenTilia cordataTilia cordata is a species of Tilia native to much of Europe and western Asia, north to southern Great Britain , central Scandinavia, east to central Russia, and south to central Spain, Italy, Bulgaria, Turkey, and the Caucasus; in the south of its range it is restricted to...
trees. - Thermal mineral water springs in the vicinity of Peshkopi are a draw for seasonal tourism, primarily from within Albania, but also to a lesser extent from neighboring countries. They are located a short distance east of the city, upstream along the Bellova Creek.
Neighborhoods
- Lagjja e Re ("the New Neighborhood")
- Nazmi Rushiti
- Gjok Doçi
- Kamen
- Dobrova
- Kallaverët