Grabovë e Sipërme

Grabovë e Sipërme (also: Grabova; Aromanian: Greãva, Grabuva) is a village in Albania inhabited by Aromanians. The village is located in the former municipality of Lenie. At the 2015 local government reform it became part of the municipality Gramsh.[1]

Grabovë e Sipërme Greãva, Grabuva
Village
Grabova seen from Shkembi Kopacit
Grabovë e Sipërme
Coordinates: 40°47′43″N 20°24′31″E
Country	Albania
County	Elbasan
Municipality	Gramsh
Municipal unit	Lenie
Elevation	1,250 m (4,100 ft)
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)

History

Grabova was a medieval town created in the 10th century. Aromanians have left Grabova on several occasions, although the village has never been completely deserted. The first wave of depopulation took place in the 17th century, when Grabova shared the fate of Moscopolis and during the inter-war period, starting with 1931, many of Grabovars emigrated to Elbasan and Lushnjë. In 1933, 15 families from the village emigrated to Romania; they initially settled in the Quadrilater and then, in 1940, in the village of Nisipari, Constanța County, from where they moved to the larger nearby towns (Medgidia , Ovidiu , Constanta ) Another important immigration began in 1950, when communist authorities used the craftsmen from Grabova to build the industrial units in Korçë, Pogradec, Gramsh, Elbasan, and Tirana. [2]

Most common names of Grabovars

Family names: Paco, Bardhi, Buzo, Cyco, Nishku, Trushi, Thano, Verushi.

Male names: Andon, Kristo, Dhimo, Theodhor, Jani, Jorgji, Llambi, Dhionis, Pandeli, Piro, Spiro, Sotir (Sotiraq), Themistokli, Thoma, Vangjel

Female names: Dhimitra, Margarita, Maria, Naunka, Parashqevi, Thomaidha

Notable people originated from Grabova

• Andrei Șaguna, Metropolitan bishop of the Romanian Orthodox Church
• Cyril of Bulgaria, the first Patriarch of the restored Bulgarian Patriarchate
• Lika Yanko, Bulgarian painter
• Çetiri family of painters, icon painters active in central and southern Albania

References

1. "Law nr. 115/2014" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-09-24. Retrieved 2015-06-21.
2. Nistor Bardu, "Among the Aromanians in Grabova (Greava), Albania. Sociolinguistic Observations", Among the Aromanians in Grabova (Greava), Albania, 2007