Palasë

Palasë (definite Albanian form: Palasa; Albanian pronunciation: [paˈlasə] or [paˈlasa]; Greek: Παλάσα, Palasa) also Paljasa (Greek: Παλιάσα),[1] is a village in Himarë municipality (13 kilometres from the town), Vlorë County, southern Albania.[2] It is located near the Llogara National Park and next to the Ionian coast on the Albanian Riviera.

For other uses, see Palase.
Palasë

Παλάσα/Palasa
Village
Palasë
Coordinates: 40°9′54″N 19°37′29″E
Country Albania
CountyVlorë
MunicipalityHimarë
Municipal unitHimarë
Population
 • Total413
Time zoneUTC+1 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+2 (CEST)

History

In classical antiquity Roman writer Lucan recorded a town named Palaeste on the Ceraunian Mountains.[3][4][5][6] which corresponds to the site area of modern day Palasë.[7] In Palaeste, Julius Caesar landed from Brundusium, in order to carry on the war against Pompey.[3]

According to local legend the settlement was initially located on the coast on a location once known as Meghalihora (Greek: Μεγάλη χώρα), but due to pirate attacks in 12th-13th century it was slightly moved inland.[8] In the local Greek dialect of Himara the change /st/ > /s/ is a typical phonetic rule. Thus if Palaeste is linguistically connected with modern Greek Pal(i)asa then this change must have taken place before 1582.[9] In 1663 a Greek school was established in Palasa.[10]

The Italian missionary Giuseppe Schiro wrote that in 1722 Palasë was inhabited by Greeks.[9] It is still not clear if there was any significant migration of families to or from Palasa. According to Albanian dialectologists, Gjini family originates from nearby Dukat, Nikdedaj from Mirdita and Sinanaj from Tepelenë. Andrei Sobolev in fieldwork in the 21st century further documented that the families Babe, Gjinajt, Çaço, Paço, Xhelilaj, and Mëhilli haild from Dukat, while few others (Milaj, Papadhates) from Krujë and the Peloponnese.[11] In 1720, the villages of Himara, Palasa, Ilias, Vuno, Pilur and Qeparo refused to submit to the Pasha of Delvina.[12]

Until the 1750s Himarë was composed of more than 50 villages,[13] but by the end of the 1780s it comprised only 16, situated by the seashore from Saranda to Palasë.[14] Later on, with Ali Pasha's defeat, the region of Himara shrunk to only seven villages. In 1872 a Greek elementary school was operating in Palasa sponsored by a wealthy local, Nasios Dimoulis.[15]

At 1914 Palasa joined the movement of Spyros Spyromilios during the establishment of the Autonomous Republic of Northern Epirus.[16] In September 1916, the provinces of Himarë and Tepelenë became part of the Vlorë prefecture and were placed under the control of the Italian armed forces. The city of Himarë became the official capital of the region and was responsible for the administration of the traditionally Orthodox coastal villages of Palasë, Dhërmi, Kudhës, Qeparo, Vuno and Iljas.[17] With the incorporation of the region in the Albanian state the locals were officially recognized as part of the Greek minority.[18] In 1934 part of the local population asked for intervention by the League of Nations for the opening of a Greek school in the village.[19] However, the minority status in Palasë was revoked during the People's Republic of Albania with the explanation that there were not enough Greek speakers.[18]

Geography

The village is located several kilometres northwest of the town of Dhërmi, and is accessed via the main road leading out of the town. The Llogara Pass and Çika Mountain are nearby. The Thunderbolt Mountains, the western chain of the Ceraunian Mountains, enclose the area on its northern and northeastern side. The area opens up on its southwestern side with the mountain of Çika and descends towards the Ionian coast, with the Greek Islands of Othonas and Corfu in the distance.

Coastline. The village can be seen to the left of the picture. Further to the right is Dhërmi

The village contains narrow stone roads and quaint white houses and is built around a 400-year-old platanus (plane tree), which is central to village life and the pride of the village. Geologically the terrain belongs to the western part of the Ionian Tectonic plate.[20] This section of the coastline is referred to by geologists as the Palasë-Butrint coastline. Palasë's beach is 1.5 kilometres in length.[21]

North of Palasë, is located a small bay, named Gramma ('letter' in Greek), accessible only by sea, with the surrounding cliffs containing various epigraphs, texts and symbols, perhaps carved out by sailors.[22]

Language

The inhabitants of Palasë are bilingual as they mainly speak a variant of the Himariote Greek dialect, and partly the Tosk Albanian.[23] The local Greek idiom retains features of an older Greek linguistic substratum.[24] Though Greek speakers the locals are also fluent in Albanian.[25] Bilingualism in Palasa often takes the form of compartmentalized or situational, bilingualism. In this form of bilingualism, different languages are used in different social contexts. In Palasa, Greek is used in the context of Greek Orthodox rituals, while Albanian is used in transmitting traditional, folk mythological rituals.[26] Lexical borrowings from Albanian to Greek are found in the terminology which concerns village life. It indicates that the culture of the village was originally Albanian and reflects the function of the older language (Albanian) as prevailing in affairs of village life.[27]

Saint Demetrius Church in Palasë

Toponyms of Greek origin are found more densely in the area of Palasë than in other area of southern Albanian coast. Some of them are of archaic origin and preserve unique features of the Greek language.[28]

Notable people

Movies

The 1987 film The Waxed Shirts (albanian: Këmishët me dyllë) was filmed in Palasë.[29]

See also

References
  1. A Gazetteer of Albania (1946), Permanent Committee on Geographical Names for British Official Use, House of the Royal Geographical Society
  2. Law nr. 115/2014 Archived 2015-09-24 at the Wayback Machine
  3. Lucan, Phars. 5.460: "caelo languente fretoque naufragii spes omnis abit. sed nocte fugata laesum nube dies iubar extulit imaque sensim concussit pelagi mouitque Ceraunia nautis. inde rapi coepere rates atque aequora classem curua sequi, quae iam uento fluctuque secundo lapsa Palaestinas uncis confixit harenas. prima duces iunctis uidit consistere castris tellus, quam uolucer Genusus, quam mollior Hapsus circumeunt ripis."
  4. de Ligt, Luuk (2008). "An Eteocretan inscription from Praisos and the Homeland of the Sea Peoples". Talanta (XL–XLI): 153. In classical times Palaiste was a small town on the South-Illyrian coast, while Pliny’s list of peoples inhabiting the more northerly parts of Roman Illyricum include the Siculi and the Sardeates (Lehmann 1985, 42-49).
  5. Hencken, Hugh (1968). Tarquinia, Villanovans, and Early Etruscans, Volume 1. Bulletin (American School of Prehistoric Research), American School of Prehistoric Research and Harvard University, Peabody Museum, American School of Prehistoric Research. Bulletin. 23. Peabody Museum. p. 649. Furthermore, there was a place named Palaiste, considered to be Illyrian, and located near the border of Illyria and Epirus...
  6. Wylle, Graham (1992). "The Road to Pharsalus". Latomus. 51 (3): 560. ISSN 0023-8856. JSTOR 41541372. Retrieved 24 August 2020.
  7. Sakellariou M.V. (1997). Epirus, 4000 years of Greek history and civilization. Ekdotikē Athēnōn. p. 20. ISBN 978-960-213-371-2. The sea-ward face of the Akrokeraunian range, from Hagios Basileios northwards, to Palasa, the ancient Palaiste...
  8. Gregorič Bon, Nataša (2008). "Contested spaces and negotiated identities in Dhërmi/Drimades of Himarë/Himara area, southern Albania : dissertation". University of Nova Gorica, Graduate School. p. 45. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
  9. Doris, Kyriazis (1 November 2015). "Relation of the Greek Idiom of Himara with the Rest of the Modern Greek Idioms". Infognomon Politics (in Greek). Institute of Modern Greek Studies. Retrieved 18 October 2020.
  10. Gregorič Bon, Nataša (2008). "Contested spaces and negotiated identities in Dhërmi/Drimades of Himarë/Himara area, southern Albania : dissertation". University of Nova Gorica, Graduate School. p. 67. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
  11. Sobolev 2017, p. 425.
  12. Etnografia shqiptare. 15. Akademia e Shkencave e RPSH, Instituti i Historisë, Sektori i Etnografisë. 1987. p. 199.
  13. Bulletin of Social Sciences (Albanian: Buletin për Shkencat Shoqërore, II, Tiranë, 1955, p. 159: part of the Letter sent from the people of Himara to the Tzarine Elizabeta Petrovna
  14. Studime historike (1964). "Dokumente: Kapiteni Dedoviç, Vjenë, më 30 korrik 1787. (English: Documents: Captain Dedowitch, Vienna, July 30th, 1787)". Studime Historike (English: Historical Studies) (in Albanian) (4).
  15. Koltsida, Athina. "Education in Northern Epirus during Late Ottoman Period" (PDF). invenio.lib.auth.gr (in Greek). University of Thessaloniki. p. 175. Retrieved 18 October 2020.
  16. Vakalopoulos, Kōnstantinos Apostolou (2003). History of Epirus from Early Ottoman Times to Present (in Greek). Hērodotos. Χιμάρα, Κήπαρό , Βούνος, Δρυμάδες, Παλιάσα, Πήλιουρι... Οι Χιμαριώτες δεν υπάκουαν σε κανένα παρά μόνο στις εντολές του συμπατριώτη τους μακεδονομάχου Σπύρου Σπυρομήλιου"
  17. Murzaku, Ines Angeli (2009). Returning Home to Rome - The Basilian Monks of Grottaferrata in Albania, Volume 7. Analekta Kryptoferri. p. 112. ISBN 978-88-89345-04-7.
  18. Katić, Dr Mario; Eade, Professor John (28 June 2014). Pilgrimage, Politics and Place-Making in Eastern Europe: Crossing the Borders. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. p. 140. ISBN 978-1-4724-1594-3. During his rule .... Palasa... was revoked with the explanation that there were not enough Greek-speakers living in the area.
  19. Manta, Eleftheria (2005). "Οψεις της ιταλικής επίδρασης στη διαμόρφωση των ελληνοαλβανικών σχέσεων κατά την περίοδο του μεσοπολέμου [Aspects of the Italian Influence upon Greek-Albanian Relations during the Interwar Period]". Univerisity of Thessaloniki: 219. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
  20. Marinos, Paul G. (June 1997). Volume 2 of Engineering Geology and the Environment, International Association of Engineering Geology. Taylor & Francis, organized by the Greek National Group of IAEG, Athens, Greece. p. 1311. ISBN 90-5410-879-7.
  21. "Destination Guide". Tourism in Albania. Archived from the original on December 11, 2009. Retrieved August 26, 2010.
  22. Tourist Guide of Himara. Bashkia e Himares, p. 33.
  23. Gregorič, Nataša. "Storytelling as a spatial practice in Dhërmi/Drimades of southern Albania" (PDF). Anthropological Notebooks. 2 (14): 5. 1408-032X. Retrieved 2009-11-28. They use the Albanian (Tosk) language.
  24. Kyriazis, Doris. "Διατοπικότητα και διαχρονικότητα των νεοελληνικών γλωσσικών ιδιωμάτων της νότιας Αλβανίας". University of Patras. p. 118. Retrieved 19 October 2020.
  25. Brian D. Joseph, Rexhina Ndoci, & Carly Dickerson. "Language Mixing in Palasa" (PDF). Proceedings of The8thInternational Conference of Modern Greek Dialects and Linguistic Theory: 371. Retrieved 19 October 2020. The villagers are Greek-speaking but are fully fluent in Albanian as well,CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  26. Sobolev 2017, p. 430.
  27. Joseph, Brian; Ndoci, Rexhina; Dickerson, Carly (2019). "Language mixing in Palasa". Journal of Greek Linguistics. 19 (2): 236. doi:10.1163/15699846-01902002. Another interesting domain where lexical borrowing is not unusual is terminology related to village life. We find it interesting because we would not expect Albanian being used here by the Greek villagers unless the village culture was originally Albanian and these borrowings are an indication that the older language in the village prevails in domains pertaining to village life.
  28. Kyriazis, Doris (2016). "Γλωσσικές επαφές και διαστρωματώσεις στα αλβανικά και ελληνικά ιδιώματα της περιοχής Bregu i Detitsti" (in Greek). Aristotle University of Thessaloniki: 3. Retrieved 19 October 2020. Για τα τοπωνύμια ελληνικήςαρχήςδιαπιστώνουμε ότι, αν και απαντάνε καθ’ όλη την παραλιακή γραμμή από την/τον Αυλώνα και μέχρι το Βουθρωτό, πυκνώνουν ωστόσο σε ορισμένα σημεία του Bregu i Detit(Παλάσα, Δρυμάδες, Χιμάρα), ενώ αλλού αραιώνουν (Πικέρας-Piqeras) ή απαντάνε κυρίως ως μακροτοπωνύμια. Επίσης, μερικά βρίσκουν τα αντίστοιχά τους στις απέναντι ακτές των Διαποντίων Νήσων(Μαθράκι, Ερείκουσα, Οθωνοί),της Κάτω Ιταλίας και των Επτανήσων. Βασικό τους χαρακτηριστικό είναι τα αρχαϊκά γνωρίσματα, αλλά και η μοναδικότητα, πράγμα που σημαίνει ότι ορισμένα απαντάνε μόνο εδώ. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  29. . National Center of Cinematography

Sources
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