Lukovë and Bunec

Location and administrative status

Lukovë is a village in Vlorë County, in southern Albania. It formerly held the status of a separate municipality but became a subdivision of the municipality of Himarë following the local government reform of 2015.

The population recorded at the 2011 census was 2,916. The village serves as the municipal seat of what was formerly the Lukovë commune, a unit that encompassed several other settlements including Borsh, Fterrë, Sasaj, Piqeras, Çorraj, Shën Vasil, Nivicë, and Qazim Pali.

Origins of the name

The Albanian toponym Lukovë is derived from Slavic roots. Scholarly interpretation offers two possible origins: the words luk, laka, or luka, referring to water flowing nearby, meadowland, or a wet meadow along a river; or alternatively luk and luka in the sense of a place associated with onions. Both derivations are combined with the Slavic suffix -ov/-a.

In Greek the village is known as Λούκοβο (Loukovo).

Ottoman period and the 1798 Ali Pasha raids

During the Ottoman period, Lukovë was grouped with the nearby settlements of Piqeras and Nivicë within the Himara area, a community that held a special semi-autonomous status inside the Ottoman administrative structure. In 1570 and 1571 a short-lived rebellion broke out in the Himara region under Emmanuel Mormoris. After a prolonged siege the rebels succeeded in capturing the castle of Nivicë.

In 1722, the Italian missionary Giuseppe Schirò recorded that Lukovë was inhabited by ethnic Albanians.

In 1798, Lukovë and several adjacent villages south of Himara were attacked and plundered by Ali Pasha of Ioannina, the local Ottoman lord. In the villages of Nivicë and Shën Vasil, massacres of Orthodox inhabitants were carried out around Easter of that year. These events were followed by cases of large-scale Islamisation among the local population in the region.

By the end of the 19th century, Greek-language elementary schools were operating in the villages of Lukovë, Nivicë, Çorraj, and Shën Vasil.

Population composition and language

According to 1991 estimates, Lukovë village itself had a majority Orthodox Albanian population of approximately 2,076 people (82%), with minorities of Muslim Albanians at around 250 (12%) and Greeks at around 150 (6%). The villages of Borsh, Fterrë, and Sasaj were exclusively populated by Muslim Albanians. Piqeras had an Orthodox Albanian majority of 991 alongside around 100 Muslim Albanians and 50 Greeks. Shën Vasil had a majority Orthodox Albanian population of 1,434, with a minority of 220 Muslim Albanians and 210 Greeks. Nivicë had an Orthodox Albanian majority of 899 and a minority of approximately 30 Greeks. Qazim Pali, established as a new village during the communist period, was populated by 861 Muslim Albanians alongside minorities of Orthodox Albanians (50) and Greeks (80). Çorraj was described as a mixed Orthodox Albanian and Muslim Albanian village.

A demographic study by Leonidas Kallivretakis conducted in the late 20th century found that across the Lukovë commune and all its villages, 54% of the population were Albanian Christians, 40% were Albanian Muslims, and 6% were Greek Christians. A separate 2016 estimate recorded the municipality as majority Albanian-speaking with a minority of Greek speakers.

Seaside settlements in the Lukovë area were among Greek minority areas that experienced a substantial decline in population following the fall of communism in Albania in the early 1990s.

The Albanian-speaking inhabitants of the Lukovë region speak the Tosk dialect, specifically the Lab regional variety.

Climate

Lukovë has a hot-summer Mediterranean climate, classified as Köppen Csa. Winters are mild and summers are hot and dry. Precipitation falls mainly in the winter months, amounting to 737 mm (29.0 inches) annually.

The average annual temperature is 15.1 °C (59.2 °F).

Notable individuals from Lukovë and its villages

Several notable figures are recorded as originating from the Lukovë area. Vasil Laçi (1922–1941) was an Albanian patriot who in 1941 attempted to assassinate Victor Emmanuel III, then King of Italy, and Shefqet Bej Vërlaci, then Prime Minister of Albania. Nafiz Bezhani is noted as an Albanian jurist, politician, and writer. Muzafer Korkuti served as an Albanian archaeologist and Vice President of the Academy of Sciences of Albania. Jakup Mato, an Albanian publicist and educational administrator, served as head of the Centre of Art Studies of the Academy of Sciences of Albania.

From the village of Nivicë, Dimitrios Doulis (1865–1928) was a Greek politician who served as Minister of Military Affairs of the Autonomous Republic of Northern Epirus. Niphon of Kafsokalyvia (1316–1411) was a Greek monk venerated as a saint of the Eastern Orthodox Church.