Sarandë - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Sarandë or Saranda is the capital of the District of Sarandë, 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 is one of the most important tourist attractions of the Albanian Riviera

Albanian Riviera

Albanian Riviera is a coastal area in the County of Vlorë running along the Ionian Sea under the Ceraunian Mountains in Southern Albania. It should not be confused with the Albanian Coastline as a whole which incorporates both the Riviera and the mostly flat coastline of the north...

. It is situated on an open sea gulf of the Ionian Sea

Ionian Sea

The Ionian Sea , is an arm of the Mediterranean Sea, south of the Adriatic Sea. It is bounded by southern Italy including Calabria, Sicily and the Salento peninsula to the west, southern Albania to the north, and a large number of Greek islands, including Corfu, Zante, Kephalonia, Ithaka, and...

in the Mediterranean 2 nautical mile

Nautical mile

The nautical mile is a unit of length that is about one minute of arc of latitude along any meridian, but is approximately one minute of arc of longitude only at the equator...

s from the Greek

Greece

Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....

island of Corfu

Corfu

Corfu is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea. It is the second largest of the Ionian Islands, and, including its small satellite islands, forms the edge of the northwestern frontier of Greece. The island is part of the Corfu regional unit, and is administered as a single municipality. The...

. The city of Saranda has a population of about 30,000 (2001 estimate). Near Sarandë are the remains of the ancient city of Butrint

Butrint

Butrint was an ancient Greek and later Roman city in Epirus. In modern times it is an archeological site in Sarandë District, Albania, some 14 kilometres south of Sarandë and close to the Greek border. It was known in antiquity as Βουθρωτόν Bouthroton or Βουθρώτιος Bouthrotios in Ancient Greek...

, a UNESCO

UNESCO

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...

World Heritage site.

Alongside its ethnic Albanian majority, Sarandë is home to an ethnic Greek

Greeks

The Greeks, also known as the Hellenes , are a nation and ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighboring regions. They also form a significant diaspora, with Greek communities established around the world....

minority and is considered one of the centers of the Greek minority in Albania

Greek minority in Albania

About a general view on history, geography, demographics and political issues concerning the region, see Northern Epirus.The Greeks of Albania are ethnic Greeks who live in or originate from areas within modern Albania...

Name

Sarandë's current name derives from the name of the Byzantine

Byzantine Empire

The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...

monastery of the Agioi Saranda , meaning the "Forty Saints" and honoring the Forty Martyrs of Sebaste

Forty Martyrs of Sebaste

The Forty Martyrs of Sebaste or the Holy Forty were a group of Roman soldiers in the Legio XII Fulminata whose martyrdom in 320 for the Christian faith is recounted in traditional martyrologies.They were killed near Sebaste, in Lesser Armenia, victims of the persecutions of Licinius,...

. Under Turkish rule

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...

, 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. This usage continued even after the establishment of the Principality of Albania

Principality of Albania

The Principality of Albania refers to the short-lived monarchy in Albania, headed by William, Prince of Albania and to the state after the First World War, until the abolition of the monarchy in 1925, when Albania was declared a republic.-Principality:The Principality was established on February...

, owing to the first Italian occupation of the region. During the second occupation

Albania under Italy

The Albanian Kingdom existed as a protectorate of the Kingdom of Italy. It was practically a union between Italy and Albania, officially led by Italy's King Victor Emmanuel III and its government: Albania was led by Italian governors, after being militarily occupied by Italy, from 1939 until 1943...

in World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, Benito Mussolini

Benito Mussolini

Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was an Italian politician who led the National Fascist Party and is credited with being one of the key figures in the creation of Fascism....

changed the name to Porto Edda, in honor of his eldest daughter

Edda Mussolini

Edda Mussolini was the eldest child of Benito Mussolini, Italy's fascist dictator from 1922 to 1943. Upon her marriage to fascist propagandist and foreign minister Galeazzo Ciano she became Edda Ciano, Countess of Cortellazzo and Buccari.She strongly denied her involvement in the National Fascist...

. Following the restoration of Albanian independence, the city employed its Albanian name Saranda.

History

In antiquity the city was known by the ancient Greek name of Onchesmos or Anchiasmos and was inhabited by the Greek

Greeks

tribe of the Chaonians

Chaonians

The Chaonians were an ancient Greek tribe that inhabited the region of Epirus located in the north-west of modern Greece and southern Albania. On their southern frontier lay another Epirote kingdom, that of the Molossians, to their southwest stood the kingdom of the Thesprotians, and to their...

. Onchesmos flourished as the port of the Chaonian capital Phoenice

Phoenice

Phoenice or Phoenike was an ancient Greek city in Epirus and capital of the Chaonians. It was also the location of the Treaty of Phoenice which ended the First Macedonian War, as well as one of the wealthiest cities in Epirus until the Roman conquest. During the early Byzantine period, Phoenice...

(modern-day Finiq

Finiq

Finiq is a village and municipality in southern Albania located 8 km from the Ionian Sea and 20 km north of the Greek border. It is part of Delvinë District and Vlorë County. Its inhabitants speak Greek as their mother tongue. It is the center of the commune of Finiq, which comprises the...

). In AD 552, it experienced repeated attacks from the Goths

Goths

The Goths were an East Germanic tribe of Scandinavian origin whose two branches, the Visigoths and the Ostrogoths, played an important role in the fall of the Roman Empire and the emergence of Medieval Europe....

.

In 1878, a Greek rebellion

Epirus Revolt of 1878

The 1878 revolt in Epirus was the part of a series of Greek uprisings that occurred in the Ottoman-ruled Greece during the outbreak of the Russo-Turkish War . Although Greek officials individually supported the revolt, the Greek Government, being aware of the international situation in eastern...

broke out, with revolutionaries taking control of Sarandë and Delvinë

Delvinë

Delvinë is a small town in Vlorë County in southern Albania, 16 km northeast of Saranda. Delvinë is the seat of the Delvinë District. Delvinë has lost over a third of its citizens since 1990, having a population of 4,200 .The city is built on a mountain slope...

. This was suppressed by the Ottoman troops, who burned twenty villages in the region. The town was included in the newly formed Albanian state

Provisional Government of Albania

The Provisional Government of Albania is the first Government created by Assembly of Vlorë in 4 December 1912. It was a paternal government, led by Ismail Qemali, until his resignation in 22 January 1914 and by Fejzi Bej Alizoti, until the coronation of William, Prince of Albania.- Government...

in 1913 under the terms of the Protocol of Florence.
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

Autonomous Republic of Northern Epirus

The Autonomous Republic of Northern Epirus was a short-lived, self-governing entity founded on February 28, 1914, in the aftermath of the Balkan Wars, by the Greeks living in southern Albania ....

. It was then occupied by Italy

Kingdom of Italy (1861–1946)

The Kingdom of Italy was a state forged in 1861 by the unification of Italy under the influence of the Kingdom of Sardinia, which was its legal predecessor state...

between 1916 and 1920 as part of the Italian Protectorate on southern Albania. 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

Edda Mussolini

of Benito Mussolini

Benito Mussolini

Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was an Italian politician who led the National Fascist Party and is credited with being one of the key figures in the creation of Fascism....

.

As part of Northern Epirus

Northern Epirus

Northern Epirus is a term used to refer to those parts of the historical region of Epirus, in the western Balkans, that are part of the modern Albania. The term is used mostly by Greeks and is associated with the existence of a substantial ethnic Greek population in the region...

, the city came under Greek rule on 6 December 1940 until the German invasion in Greece in the spring of 1941.

Economy

Given its coastal access and Mediterranean climate

Mediterranean climate

A Mediterranean climate is the climate typical of most of the lands in the Mediterranean Basin, and is a particular variety of subtropical 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

Albanian Riviera

, according to The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...

, "is set to become the new 'undiscovered gem' of the overcrowded Med." Tourism

Tourism

Tourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes".Tourism has become a...

is thus the major economic resource, while other resources include services, fisheries and construction

Construction

In the fields of architecture and civil engineering, construction is a process that consists of the building or assembling of infrastructure. Far from being a single activity, large scale construction is a feat of human multitasking...

. 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 experinced an uncontrolled construction boom which may hamper the city's future tourism potential.

Climate

Sarandë has a typical Mediterranean climate

Mediterranean climate

A Mediterranean climate is the climate typical of most of the lands in the Mediterranean Basin, and is a particular variety of subtropical climate...

Demographics

In 1912, right after the Albanian Declaration of Independence

Albanian Declaration of Independence

The Albanian Declaration of Independence is the declaration of independence of the Albanian Vilayet from the Ottoman Empire. Albania was proclaimed independent in Vlorë on November 28, 1912.-Background:...

, the city had only 110 inhabitants. During the 1927 census, the city had 810 inhabitants, but no city status. In the 1930s, the city had a good demographic development, and it is in this period that the first public buildings and the main roads were constructed.

In 1957, the city had 8,700 inhabitants and became the center of a district.

In 1990, the inhabitants of Sarandë numbered 15,700, with 7,500 of them belonging to the Greek minority. At present, the population of Sarandë has nearly doubled. According to municipal sources, approximately 30,000 (2001 estimate) inhabitants are currently living in the city. 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

Vlachs

Vlach is a blanket term covering several modern Latin peoples descending from the Latinised population in Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe. English variations on the name include: Walla, Wlachs, Wallachs, Vlahs, Olahs or Ulahs...

and Roma. 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. Sarandë is considered one of the two centers of the Greek minority in Albania

Greek minority in Albania

, Gjirokastër

Gjirokastër

Gjirokastër is a city in southern Albania with a population of 43,000. Lying in the historical region of Epirus, it is the capital of both the Gjirokastër District and the larger Gjirokastër County...

being the other.

Notable people

Lefter Agora – singer
Vangjel Agora – actor/director
Niko Kacalidha – poet, author, ex-state minister.
Ilir Seitaj
Ilir Seitaj
Ilir Seitaj is an Albanian chess International Master. Seitaj is current Albanian champion and has won the Albanian Chess Championship tournament four times .-External links:...

– four times National Chess Champion
Albanian Chess Championship
The Albanian Chess Championship is the annual individual national chess championship of Albania. The first tournament took place in 1933.-Winners:-Titles Men:-Titles women:...
Luiza Xhuvani – actress

Additionally, Italian singers Albano

Albano

Albano may refer to:geography*Albano di Lucania, comune in the province of Potenza, Italy*Albano Laziale, comune in the province of Rome, Italy*Lake Albano, lake in Italy*Albano Sant'Alessandro, comune in the province of Bergamo, Italy...

and Romina Power

Romina Power

Romina Francesca Power is an American-born singer and actress.-Biography:Born in Los Angeles, California, Romina Power is the eldest daughter of American actor Tyrone Power and his second wife, actress Linda Christian....

dedicated a song to Saranda entitled Saranda Okinawa available here.

Twin towns – Sister cities

Sarandë is twinned with: Corfu

Corfu (city)

Corfu is a city and a former municipality on the island of Corfu, Ionian Islands, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform, it is part of the municipality Corfu, of which it is a municipal unit. It is the capital of the island and of the Corfu regional unit. The city also serves as a capital...

, Greece