Plikati


Plikati is a village in the municipal unit of Mastorochoria, Ioannina regional unit, Greece. It is one of the northernmost villages in Epirus. In 2011 its population was 70. The village is situated at the foot of the Grammos mountains, at 1,240 m elevation, close to the Albanian border. Plikati is 3 km north of Gorgopotamos, 8 km west of Aetomilitsa, 9 km southeast of Ersekë and 28 km north of Konitsa. Plikati has traditionally been populated by an Arvanite population and it is the only village today in Konitsa municipaility where Albanian is still spoken. A Vlach minority has also been present in the village.

Population

History

Plikati is an old village, with a church dating from the 16th century. It is one of the villages of the Epirus region in Greece which are inhabited by Arvanites. Its people are sometimes called Arvanites, although the Albanian dialect they speak is different from that of Arvanitika-speakers of southern Greece and much closer to Tosk Albanian. Due to overpopulation, poverty and raids by Muslim Albanians from the nearby Kolonjë region in the 19th century, many of its inhabitants moved away and founded new villages in the area around Florina and Larissa.