Çarçovë

In Greek the village is known as Τσαρτσόβ (Tsartsova) or Κεράσοβο/Kerasovo.[1] In Aromanian it is known as Ciarshova.

The population of the former municipality at the 2011 census was 918.[2] The total number of registered citizens of Çarçovë is 2.969 as of 2019.[3] At the 2015 local government reform it became a subdivision of the municipality Përmet.[4] The municipal unit consists of the villages Çarçovë, Vllaho-Psilloterë, Biovizhdë, Zhepë, Draçovë, Iliar-Munushtir, Strëmbec, Pëllumbar and Kanikol.[5] The town of Çarçovë also has Greek and Aromanian communities.[1] Two villages in the former municipality of Çarçovë[6][7] are predominantly Greek speaking, in particular: Biovizhdë and Vllaho-Psilloterë.[8] In Biovizhdë there is a significant Aromanian minority population. Their presence was originally temporary, related to their transhumant lifestyle, before becoming permanent in the village.[9] According to a 2014 report by the Albanian government, there were 245 ethnic Greeks in Vllaho-Psillotere and 200 in Biovizhde in the total number of registered citizens.[10] Some Biovizhdë Aromanians have migrated to Albanian cities.[9] In Vllaho-Psilloterë, three Muslim Albanian families used to live there with a single member from one family still remaining in the early 2010s.[8] Some Greek speakers also exist in the nearby villages of Zhepë and Draçovë.[7] The destroyed village of Mesarë located on the Albanian-Greek border was inhabited by Muslim Albanians.[8]

• Hasan Tahsin Pasha, An Albanian Pasha from the now ruined village of Mesarë.