Margariti


Margariti is a village and a former municipality in Thesprotia, Epirus, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Igoumenitsa, of which it is a municipal unit. The municipal unit has an area of 149.223 km2. Population 2,491.

Names

Margariti was named after the white flower Margarita which is known to grow in vast amounts in the region around the valley of Margariti. Margariti is known as Margëlliç in Albanian and as Margliç in Ottoman Turkish.

History

In February 1913, Margariti was taken by the Greek army and joined Greece following the Treaty of London. During that period all village elders of the region gathered and declared that they would resist the incorporation of the area into Greece. At that time the town had a mixed population of Greeks and Cham Albanians until the final expulsion as a result of the Cham collaboration with the Nazi occupation forces. Almost all Cham Albanian monuments of Margariti were destroyed during World War II. Population movements to the town that occurred from the middle of the 19th century weakened the Muslim elite and led to the gradual Hellenization of former Albanian-majority towns in the area such as Margariti in the 1920s. During the interwar period, Margariti was among the important towns of the Cham Albanian community located in the coastal region of the Greek part of Chameria and a centre of the Albanian speaking area.

Province

The province of Margariti was one of the provinces of the Thesprotia Prefecture. Its territory corresponded with that of the current municipal units Margariti and Perdika. It was abolished in 2006.

Notable residents