Sarandë

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Sarandë
Municipality
Saranda Waterfront
Saranda Waterfront
Sarandë is located in Albania
Sarandë
Sarandë
Coordinates: Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Country  Albania
County Vlorë
Government
 • Mayor Floriana Koka (SP)
Area
 • Municipality 58.96 km2 (22.76 sq mi)
Elevation 0.8 m (2.6 ft)
Population (2011)
 • Municipality 20,227
 • Municipality density 340/km2 (890/sq mi)
 • Administrative Unit 17,233
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
 • Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
Area Code 085
Vehicle registration SR
Website www.sarandaweb.al

Saranda or Sarandë (Greek: Άγιοι Σαράντα, Agioi Saranda, Italian: Santiquaranta ) is a town and municipality in Vlorë County, southern Albania. It is one of the most important tourist attractions of the Albanian Riviera. It is situated on an open sea gulf of the Ionian Sea in the central Mediterranean, about 14 km (8.7 mi) east of the north end of the Greek island of Corfu. The present municipality was formed at the 2015 local government reform by the merger of the former municipalities Ksamil and Sarandë, that became municipal units. The seat of the municipality is the town Sarandë.[1] The total population is 20,227 (2011 census), in a total area of 58.96 km2.[2] The population of the former municipality at the 2011 census was 17,233,[3] however the population according to the civil offices is 41,173 (2013 estimate).[4] Near Sarandë are the remains of the ancient city of Butrint, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Sarandë has a Greek minority and is considered one of the two centers of the Greek community in Albania.[5]

Etymology

Saranda is from the name of the Byzantine monastery of the Agioi Saranda (Greek: Άγιοι Σαράντα), meaning the "Forty Saints" and honoring the Forty Martyrs of Sebaste. Under Turkish rule, this became Aya Sarandi and then Sarandoz. Owing to Venetian influence in the region, it often appeared under its Italian name Santi Quaranta on Western maps.[6] This usage continued even after the establishment of the Principality of Albania, owing to the first Italian occupation of the region. During the second occupation in World War II, Benito Mussolini changed the name to Porto Edda, in honor of his eldest daughter.[7][8] Following the restoration of Albanian independence, the city employed its Albanian name Saranda.[9]

History

Lëkurësi Castle

In antiquity the city was known by the ancient Greek name of Onchesmos or Anchiasmos[10][11][12] and was inhabited by the Greek tribe of the Chaonians.[13] Onchesmos flourished as the port of the Chaonian capital Phoenice[14][15] (modern-day Finiq).

The city was probably raided by the Ostrogoths in 551 AD,[16] while during this period it became also the target of piratic raids by Gothic ships.[17] In a medieval chronicle of 1191 the settlement appears to be adandonded, while its former medieval name (Anchiasmos) isn't mentioned any more. From that year, the toponym borrows the name of the nearby Orthodox basilica church of Agioi Saranta, erected in the 6th century, ca. 1 km (0.6 mi) southeast of the modern town.[16]

In 1878, a Greek rebellion broke out, with revolutionaries taking control of Sarandë and Delvinë. This was suppressed by the Ottoman troops, who burned twenty villages in the region.[18]

20th century

The town was included in the newly formed Albanian state in 1913 under the terms of the Protocol of Florence.[19]

Italian occupied Sarande in 1917

It was occupied twice by Greece in 1913 and from 1914 to 1916, the second time by Greek insurgents from the Autonomous Republic of Northern Epirus. In May 1914, negotiations were started in Sarande between representative of the provisional government of Northern Epirus and that of Albania which continued in nearby Corfu and ended up with the recognition of the Northern Epirote autonomy inside the newly established Albanian state.[20]

It was then occupied by Italy between 1916 and 1920 as part of the Italian Protectorate on southern Albania.[21] Sarandë was again occupied by Italian forces in 1939 and was a strategic port during the Italian invasion of Greece. During this occupation, it was called "Porto Edda" in honor of the eldest daughter of Benito Mussolini.

During the Greco-Italian War, the city came under the control of the advancing Greek forces, on 6 December 1940. The capture of this strategic port further accelerated the Greek penetration to the north.[22] As a result of the German invasion in Greece in April 1941, the town returned to Italian control. On October 9, 1944 the town was captured by a group of British commandos under Brigadier Tom Churchill and local partisans of LANÇ under Islam Radovicka. The involvement of the British troops was considered problematic by LANÇ as they considered that they would use the town as their base and install their allies from Greece in the area as British documents indicate that EDES forces also joined the operation. However, the British troops soon withdrew from the region, leaving the region to the Albanian communist forces.[23]

Economy

Panorama of Sarandë overlooking Corfu
Panorama of Sarandë overlooking Corfu

Given its coastal access and Mediterranean climate, Sarandë has become an important tourist attraction since the fall of communism in Albania. Saranda as well as the rest of the Albanian Riviera, according to The Guardian, "is set to become the new 'undiscovered gem' of the overcrowded Med."[24] Tourism is thus the major economic resource, while other resources include services, fisheries and construction. The unemployment rate according to the population census of 2008 was 8.32%. It has been suggested that family tourism and seasonal work during the summer period help mitigate the real unemployment rate. Recently, the town has experienced an uncontrolled construction boom which may hamper the city's future tourism potential. Since 2012, the Port of Saranda is undergoing an expansion to accommodate cruise ships at its terminal.

Climate

Sarandë has a typical Mediterranean climate.

Climate data for Sarande (1991-2010)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 24
(75)		 25
(77)		 27
(81)		 29
(84)		 36
(97)		 39
(102)		 42
(108)		 42
(108)		 38
(100)		 30
(86)		 27
(81)		 25
(77)		 42
(108)
Average high °C (°F) 13.6
(56.5)		 14.1
(57.4)		 16.5
(61.7)		 19.2
(66.6)		 23.6
(74.5)		 28.4
(83.1)		 31.0
(87.8)		 31.1
(88)		 28.2
(82.8)		 22.4
(72.3)		 17.3
(63.1)		 15.0
(59)		 21.7
(71.07)
Average low °C (°F) 4.7
(40.5)		 5.2
(41.4)		 6.8
(44.2)		 10.6
(51.1)		 16.1
(61)		 19.7
(67.5)		 22.4
(72.3)		 22.3
(72.1)		 19.1
(66.4)		 10.5
(50.9)		 7.5
(45.5)		 6.1
(43)		 12.58
(54.66)
Record low °C (°F) −5
(23)		 −4
(25)		 0
(32)		 3
(37)		 8
(46)		 12
(54)		 16
(61)		 15
(59)		 6
(43)		 1
(34)		 −2
(28)		 −5
(23)		 −5
(23)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 125
(4.92)		 122
(4.8)		 98
(3.86)		 65
(2.56)		 39
(1.54)		 20
(0.79)		 5
(0.2)		 9
(0.35)		 48
(1.89)		 125
(4.92)		 161
(6.34)		 169
(6.65)		 986
(38.82)
Average precipitation days 14 12 9 7 5 2 1 1 5 9 12 15 92
Source: METEOALB Weather Station

Demographics

In 1912, right after the Albanian Declaration of Independence, the settlement had only 110 inhabitants.[25] At the 1927 census, it had 810 inhabitants, but was not yet a town.[25] In the 1930s, it had a good demographic development, and it is in this period that the first public buildings and the main roads were constructed.[25]

File:Wedding photo – Albania.jpg
Albanian newly weds in Butrint

In 1957, the city had 8,700 inhabitants and was made the center of a district.[25] According to a survey by the Albanian Helsinki Committee, in 1990 Sarandë numbered 17,000 inhabitants, of whom 7,500 belonged to the Greek minority.[26] The members of the Greek minority of the city, prior to the collapse of the socialist regime (1991), were deprived from their minority rights, since Sarande did not belong to the "minority areas".[27]

At present, the population of Sarandë has nearly doubled. According to official estimation in 2013, the population of the city is 41,173.[4] According to a survey conducted by the Albanian Committee of Helsinki, in 2001, the Albanian population numbered about 26,500, while Greeks formed the rest with about 3,400 alongside a small number of Vlachs and Roma.[26][28] The city, according to the Albanian Committee of Helsinki, has lost more than half of its ethnic Greeks from 1991 to 2001, because of heavy emigration to Greece.[26] Sarandë is considered one of the two centers of the Greek minority in Albania,[5][29] Gjirokastër being the other. According to Human Rights Watch, the Greek community is large enough to warrant a Greek school, according to the local state legislation about minorities, but one still does not exist.[29] According to the representatives of the Greek minority, 42% of the town's population belong to the local Greek community.[27]

Notable people

Italian singers Albano and Romina Power dedicated a song to Saranda entitled Saranda Okinawa.

International relations

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See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Albania

Twin towns – Sister cities

Sarandë is twinned with:

Gallery

  • Port of Saranda

  • Ag.Saranda - Panorama View.jpg
  • Kuruku 22 - Saranda Bay.jpg
  • Kuruku30 - Sarandë.jpg
  • Ksrbay.jpg
  • Orthodox Church (Sarandë) .jpg
  • SarandaPM3.jpg
  • SarandëPromenade1.JPG
  • Coastline in Albania.jpg

    Coastline in Borsh north of Sarandë

  • Corfu in the background

  • Blue Eye (Syri Kaltër)

  • Public beach in Saranda

  • Saranda pathway

  • Seaside promenade

  • Ancient ruins

  • Construction boom

  • Saranda town - Monument to the partisans.jpg
  • SarandëPanoraman.jpg

  • Hotel Butrinti in 1991

  • Albanien (14).jpg

    Saranda in 1991

night picture of saranda

See also

References

Notes

  1. ↑ Law nr. 115/2014
  2. ↑ Interactive map administrative territorial reform
  3. ↑ 2011 census results
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Pettifer, James. The Greek Minority in Albania - In the Aftermath of Communism. Conflict Studies Research Center, July 2001, ISBN 1-903584-35-3 - p. 12, "The concentration of ethnic Greeks in and around centres of Hellenism such as Saranda and Gjirokastra could guarantee their election there, but nowhere else in the country is success for an Omonia-based candidate possible."
  6. ↑ E.g., Walker, J. & C. "Turkey II: Containing the Northern Part of Greece." Published November 1st, 1829 by Baldwin & Cradock, 47 Paternoster Row, London. (London: Chapman & Hall, 1844). Accessed 24 Aug 2011.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ E.g., Wojskowe Zaklady Kartograficzne. Pergamon World Atlas. "Albania, Greece." Pergamon Press, Ltd. & P.W.N. Poland 1967. Sluzba Topograficzna W.P. Accessed 24 Aug 2011.
  10. ↑ Strabo, The Geography, Book VII, Chapter 7.5: "...these mountains one comes to Onchesmus, another harbor, opposite which lie the western extremities of Corcyraea."
  11. ↑ Bowden, William. Epirus Vetus: The Archaeology of a Late Antique Province. London: Duckworth, 2003, ISBN 0-7156-3116-0, p. 14. "Anchiasmos (Onchesmos)"
  12. ↑ Hodges, Richard. Saranda - Ancient Onchesmos: A Short History and Guide. Butrint Foundation, 2007. ISBN 99943-943-6-3
  13. ↑ Hammond, N.G.L. Philip of Macedon. London, UK: Duckworth, 1994. "Epirus was a land of milk and animal products...The social unit was a small tribe, consisting of several nomadic or semi-nomadic groups, and these tribes, of which more than seventy names are known, coalesced into large tribal coalitions, three in number: Thesprotians, Molossians and Chaonians...We know from the discovery of inscriptions that these tribes were speaking the Greek language (in a West-Greek dialect)."
  14. ↑ Talbert, Richard J.A. and Bagnall, Roger S. Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World, 2000, p. 815. "harbor, cape or town in Epirus between Onchesmos and Bouthroton."
  15. ↑ Eidinow, Esther. Oracles, Curses, and Risk Among the Ancient Greeks. Oxford University Press, 2007. ISBN 0-19-927778-8 "Onchesmos was the principal port of Phoinike, the capital of Chaonia,..."
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 M. V. Sakellariou. Epirus, 4000 years of Greek history and civilization. Ekdotike Athenon. ISBN 978-960-213-371-2, p. 153.
  17. ↑ M. V. Sakellariou. Epirus, 4000 years of Greek history and civilization. Ekdotike Athenon. ISBN 978-960-213-371-2, p. 164.
  18. ↑ M. V. Sakellariou. Epirus, 4000 years of Greek history and civilization. Ekdotike Athenon. ISBN 978-960-213-371-2, p. 292.
  19. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ Edith Pierpont Stickney. Southern Albania or northern Epirus in European international affairs, 1912-1923 Stanford University Press, 1926.
  22. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  23. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  24. ↑ 2009's hot new beach destination: Albania, www.guardian.co.uk
  25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 25.2 25.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  26. ↑ 26.0 26.1 26.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  27. ↑ 27.0 27.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  28. ↑ Pettifer, James. The Greek Minority in Albania - In the Aftermath of Communism. Conflict Studies Research Center, July 2001, ISBN 1-903584-35-3 - p. 11, "In 1991, Greek shops were attacked in the coastal town of Saranda, home to a large minority population, and inter-ethnic relations throughout Albania worsened."
  29. ↑ 29.0 29.1 Human rights in post-communist Albania, Fred Abrahams, Human Rights Watch, p.119 "The town of Saranda has an ethnic Greek population large enough to warrant a school, but one still does not exist".
  30. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  31. ↑ http://www.sgourosmp3.com/Sakharov-Sgouros.htm "Actor/Director, National Theater of Agioi Saranta"
  32. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  33. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  34. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  35. ↑ http://lajme.parajsa.com/Kulture/id_24381/
  36. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  37. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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