Vuno

Vuno is a village in the municipality of Himarë, Vlorë County, Albania. It is located on the road that connects the centre of Himarë with the village of Dhërmi on the Albanian Riviera. The population of Vuno is exclusively Orthodox Albanians.

Name
The village's name comes from the Greek word Vouno (Βουνό), meaning 'mountain', due to its location on hills that rise to about 300 metres (980 ft).

History
In 1628, Neophytos Rodinos, a Catholic missionary, founded a school in Vuno with the aim of converting the local Greek Orthodox population to Catholicism. In 1632, an Albanian school was founded in Vuno.

In 1720, the villages of Himarë, Palasë, Ilias, Vuno, Pilur and Qeparo refused to submit to the Pasha of Delvinë.

According to Giuseppe Schirò, an Italian missionary who wrote in 1722, Albanians inhabited Vuno.

In 1873, there was a Greek school in the village with 80 pupils. Greek education expanded in the following years, and by the 1898–1899 school season, there were three schools in Vuno: a primary school, a secondary school and a girls' school. Education was sponsored by various notables and members of the diaspora from Vuno and neighbouring settlements. These schools ceased their operation in 1913. The Greek classes in Vuno were held in an imposing building. However, after the village was incorporated into the newly established Principality of Albania, state policy prohibited Greek education.

In November 1912, during the First Balkan War, Himara revolted under Spyros Spyromilios and expelled the Ottoman forces. On 6 November 1912, Vuno was taken by the Greek military under Stylianos Galeros. After the Albanian Declaration of Independence in Vlorë on 28 November, Himarë was under constant attack by Albanian units, but they were unable to regain control of the area. The region remained under Greek control until the end of the Balkan Wars. After the Greek army evacuated Himara, the local population took over the defence of the region. The rebels from Himara were joined by volunteers from neighbouring villages and army deserters, who set up checkpoints on the roads leading to Himara and continued the resistance. Athanasios Liampou Kotsou commanded a group of volunteers and the people of Vuno. The Vuno rebels were supported by a Greek revolutionary group of 55 fighters led by the guerrilla leader Georgios Tsolakes. On 30 June, the Vuno troops faced strong Albanian resistance and were unable to enter Vranisht. However, they managed to capture it the following day. During the conflict, Tsolakes and other Himariote leaders were later killed in action.

The Himara region came under the control of the Albanian state. In 1921, the Himara question arose regarding the rights of the 'Himariots' and their villages, including Dhërmi, Vuno, Himarë, Pilur, Kudhës and Qeparo. The Albanian government representative, Spiro Jorgo Koleka, oversaw the matter. The government concluded that Albanian would be compulsory in schools as the official language, while Greek could be taught as a second language if the people so wished. Spiro Koleka, a native of Vuno and a local leader of the Albanian national movement, opposed the annexation of the Himara region and wider Vlora area by foreign powers. Koleka organised the Vlora War, in which other local Himariots took part.

After the region was incorporated into Albania in the 1920s, the people of Vuno maintained their Greek school. In 1934–36, they demanded the continuation of Greek education in their village. However, the Albanian state authorities eventually rejected their request.

During the Greco-Italian War on December, 1940, the Italians successfully repelled a Greek attack on Bënçë, Vuno and Bolenë. On 15 January 1941, the Italians again repelled a Greek attack on Vuno, while the Greeks launched an attack on the Dishnicë region. A military cemetery commemorating the fallen Greek soldiers is maintained at Scutara.

During the Second World War, several locals joined the Albanian National Liberation Army as guerrilla fighters. Three of them, Zaho Koka, Kozma Nushi and Llambro Andoni, were posthumously awarded the title of People's Hero of Albania. The village monument bears the names of several participants, including Arqile Vjero, Amali Andoni, Eftihi Baka, Foto Goxho, Herkole Koleka, Irakli Thani, Llambro Sheti, Kleomen A. Ndrenika, Niqita Andoni, Naço Koço, Pano Dhimegjoka, Pilo Varfi, Stefo Cura and Thoma Simo. Vuno was also the central region where Greek Himariotes were organised into the Albanian National Liberation Army.

During the civil unrest in Albania in 1997, an armed group set up a roadblock between Himarë and Vuno.

During his fieldwork, anthropologist V. Nitsiakos (2010) observed that the community is proud of its strong Orthodox Christian identity. They also have friendly feelings towards Greece, and their pro-Greek attitude may be linked to the provision of employment opportunities in Greece. In addition, members of the community receive Greek pensions as Hellenes even though they never refer to themselves as Greeks and use the terms North Epirote or Orthodox without denying their true Albanian national identity, as it is the case with a lot of Orthodox Albanians.

Architecture and churches
The village has several churches, but they are currently not in use due to the absence of priests.

One of the churches, located on Jali Beach, dates back to the 14th century and is built in the Venetian style. Two other churches, the Church of St Spyridon (Kisha e Shën Spiridhonit) (1778) and the Church of St Mary (1783), are relatively well preserved. According to local legend, the inhabitants of the village came from the city of Shkodër and moved to Vuno, where they built the church of St Mary. The church, which was originally Catholic, is still well preserved in a prominent location in the village known as Scutara. The name Scutara may reflect the Byzantine military traditions of the Pronoia, which were well known in the area. The church was later converted into an Orthodox Church.

Attractions
During the summer months, the beaches of Vuno and Himara are the main tourist attractions of the municipality. The beach of Jaliskari (or Jali), located between Vuno and Dhërmi, has become a popular summer resort, attracting tourists from all over the world.

Identity and language
Vuno is a village inhabited by Albanian Orthodox Christians who are proud of their strong religious identity. The local dialect of the Albanian language spoken in Vuno is the southern Tosk dialect, specifically a sub-dialect of Labërisht, which is composed of non-unified language groups. The older population of the village are monolingual Albanian speakers, while some of the younger generation also speak Greek due to migration to Greece.

Notable people

 * Dhimitër Anagnosti, Albanian cineast, and former Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports
 * Odhise Grillo, Albanian writer
 * Zaho Koka, member of Albanian Albanian National Liberation Movement
 * Spiro Jorgo (Gogo) Koleka (1879 or 1880–1940) prominent Albanian politician and activist
 * Spiro Koleka, (1908 – 2001) Albanian communist politician and a partisan
 * Anastas Kondo, Albanian writer
 * Sofokli Lazri, counselor of Enver Hoxha and writer
 * Robert Ndrenika, Albanian actor
 * Gogo Nushi, Albanian political figure and World War II hero
 * Athanasios Pipis (−1821), revolutionary of the Greek War of Independence
 * Leandro Zoto, Albanian politician and former mayor of Tirana