Çarçovë


Çarçovë is a village, a municipal unit and a former municipality in the Gjirokastër County, southern Albania. At the 2015 local government reform it became a subdivision of the municipality Përmet. The population at the 2011 census was 918. The municipal unit consists of the villages Çarçovë, Vllaho-Psilloterë, Biovizhdë, Zhepë, Draçovë, Iliar-Munushtir, Strëmbec, Pëllumbar and Kanikol. The town of Çarçovë also has Greek and Aromanian communities.
Two villages in the former municipality of Çarçovë are predominantly Greek speaking, in particular: Biovizhdë and Vllaho-Psilloterë. 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. Some Biovizhdë Aromanians have migrated to Albanian cities. In Vllaho-Psilloterë, three Muslim Albanian families used to live there with a single member from one family still remaining in the early 2010s. Some Greek speakers also exist in the nearby villages of Zhepë and Draçovë. The destroyed village of Mesarë located on the Albanian-Greek border was inhabited by Muslim Albanians.