Vurg

Vurg (definite Albanian form: Vurgu; Greek: Βούργος Vourgos[1] or Βούρκος Vourkos[2]) is a plain and region in the southern part of Vlorë County, southwestern Albania.[3]

Vurg
Region
Vurg is located in Albania
Vurg
Vurg
Coordinates: 39°48′16″N 20°4′17″E
Country Albania
CountyVlorë County
DistrictSarandë District
Time zoneUTC+1 (Central European Time)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+2 (CEST)
Car PlatesSR

Name

The toponym means marshland, in both Albanian and Greek. Before bonification works in the Communism period, most of the Vurg area was covered with marshes. When it rained, the Kalasë and Bistrica rivers increased the marsh area even further.[4][5]

History

At the archaic era of antiquity the winter pastures of the Vurg plain were controlled by the Chaonians when the later reached their peak of power.[6] The main city of the Chaonians, Phoenice was located at the center of the plain of Vurg.[7]

In 1431 , Vurg's field belonged to sanjak of Albania. According to Ottoman register data, in 1520, the number of families in Vurg villages was 207.[8]

Ottoman notebooks of the 17th century testify that their then inhabitants bore characteristic Albanian names, such as: Lekë (Alexander), Gjon (John), Gjin (a typical Albanian variant of the name John), Gjergj(George) etc. This proves that the majority of today's Greek-speaking inhabitants of those villages are descended from those who came or were brought there as farmers from the southernmost Greek-speaking villages there from the end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th century. This can also be witnessed in the toponymy of some of the villages such as Vrion, Kasemallajbej, Ymerefend, Memushbej etc.[9]

Sources
  1. Nicholas Geoffrey Lemprière Hammond. Epirus: the geography, the ancient remains, the history and topography of Epirus and adjacent areas. Clarendon P., 1967, p. 30.
  2. Kyriazis, Doris (2019). "Διατοπικότητα και διαχρονικότητα των νεοελληνικών γλωσσικών ιδιωμάτων της νότιας Αλβανίας" (PDF). Modern Greek Dialects and Linguistic Theory. 8th International Conference of Modern Greek Dialects and Linguistic Theory (in Greek). Gjirokastër: University of Patras. p. 108. ISSN 1792-3743. The region of Vourkos (map)
  3. "Location of Vurg". Retrieved 22 April 2010.
  4. Kabo, Mevlan (1991). Gjeografia fizike e Shqipërisë: në dy vëllime. Akademia e Shkencave. p. 383.
  5. Demiraj, Shaban (2008). "La situation ethnique-linguistique des habitants de Dropulli et de Vurgu au cours des siecles". Studia Albanica. Academy of Sciences of Albania. 1: 77–91. ISSN 0585-5047. Vurg, appelé ainsi par le mot du grec moderne vurkos "pays bas, marais".
  6. Hammond, N. G. L. (1997). "Epirus and the Greek World of City-States 750-500 B.C." Epirus, 4000 Years of Greek History and Civilization: 54. the Chaonians at their period of greatest power controlled the winter pastures of the coast from the Gulf of Aulon to the Vourgos plain by Konispolis
  7. Boriani, Maurizio; Giambruno, Mariacristina (28 September 2015). Studi per la conservazione del patrimonio culturale albanese (in Italian). Altralinea Edizioni. p. 56. ISBN 978-88-98743-51-3.
  8. Delvina, Sherif (2006). Low Albania (Epirus) and Cham Issue (in Albanian). Albania: Eurolindja. p. 45. ISBN 99943-861-0-7.
  9. Demiraj (2010). Wir sind die Deinen: Studien zur albanischen Sprache, Literatur und Kulturgeschichte, dem Gedenken an Martin Camaj (1925-1992) gewidmet (in Albanian). Germany: Otto Harrassowitz Verlag. p. 567. ISBN 978-3-447-06221-3.
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