Qestorat Explained

Type:	v
Official Name:	Qestorat
Other Name:	Aromanian; Arumanian; Macedo-Romanian: Chiãsturat
County:	Gjirokastër
Municipality:	Gjirokastër
Municunit:	Lunxhëri
Coordinates:	40.1175°N 20.1997°W

Qestorat (Aromanian; Arumanian; Macedo-Romanian: Chiãsturat or Aromanian; Arumanian; Macedo-Romanian: Chiãsturata) is a community of the former Lunxhëri municipality in the Gjirokastër County, southern Albania. At the 2015 local government reform it became part of the municipality Gjirokastër.^[1]

From 1874 to 1891 the village was home to the Greek Zographeion College, educational facilities that included primary and secondary male, female schools and a teacher's academy and operated with the personal costs of the local benefactor Christakis Zografos.^[2] Today this institution houses the museum of Lunxhëri.^[3]

Name

Its name contains the Albanian suffix -at, widely used to form toponyms from personal names and surnames.^[4]

Demographics

In the Ottoman register of 1520 for the Sanjak of Avlona, Qestorat (Isharat)^[5] was attested as a village in the timar under the authority of Ali from Damas. The village had a total of 71 households. The anthroponymy attested overwhelmingly belonged to the Albanian onomastic sphere, characterised by personal names such as Bardh, Deda, Gjin,Gjon, Kola, Leka and others.^[6]

Today the village of Qestorat is inhabited by an Aromanian majority, with a minority of Orthodox Albanians and Muslim Albanians.^[7] The Aromanian presence in Qestorat dates to the communist era.^{[8] [9]}

Notable people

• Koto Hoxhi, Albanian Rilindas and teacher of Pandeli Sotiri and Petro Nini Luarasi
• Christakis Zografos, Greek banker and benefactor

Notes and References

1. Web site: Law nr. 115/2014 . sq . 6371. 25 February 2022 .
2. Sakellariou M. V.. Epirus, 4000 years of Greek history and civilization Ekdotikē Athēnōn, 1997., p. 308
3. Gilles de Rapper. Better than Muslims, not as Good as Greeks: Emigration as experienced and imagined by the Albanian Christians of Lunxhëri The New Albanian Migration. Brighton-Portland, Sussex Academic Press (2005), p. 15
4. Book: Dhrimo, Ali . Për shqipen dhe shqiptarët . Infbotues . Për shqipen dhe shqiptarët . v. 2 . 2008 . 978-99956-720-0-3 . 425.
5. Demiraj. Shaban. Shaban Demiraj. La situation ethnique-linguistique des habitants de Dropulli et de Vurgu au cours des siecles. Studia Albanica. Academy of Sciences of Albania. 0585-5047. 1. 2008. 83.
6. Duka . Ferit . La Realite Ethnique De Dropull Dans Les Sources Historiques Du XVI Siecle . Studia Albanica . 1990 . 2 . 25–26 .
7. Kallivretakis, Leonidas (1995). "Η ελληνική κοινότητα της Αλβανίας υπό το πρίσμα της ιστορικής γεωγραφίας και δημογραφίας [The Greek Community of Albania in terms of historical geography and demography]." In Nikolakopoulos, Ilias, Kouloubis Theodoros A. & Thanos M. Veremis (eds). Ο Ελληνισμός της Αλβανίας [The Greeks of Albania]. University of Athens. p. 51. "ΑΧ Αλβανοί Ορθόδοξοι Χριστιανοί, AM Αλβανοί Μουσουλμάνοι, Β Βλάχοι"; Αλβανοί Ορθόδοξοι Χριστιανοί"; p.57. "QESTORATI ΚΕΣΤΟΡΑΤΙ 330 Β + αχ/αμ"
8. Book: Kahl, Thede. Thede Kahl. Ethnizität und räumliche Verbreitung der Aromunen in Südosteuropa. 1999. Universität Münster: Institut für Geographie der Westfälischen Wilhelms. 3-9803935-7-7. p. 133. R. Rrămăn (Aromunen mit der Eigenbezeichnung Rrămăn = Farscheroten, Arvanitovlachen)"; p. 146. "Qestorat... einige familie R; zu kommunischtischer Zeit angesiedelte aromunische Bevölkerungsgruppen aus südostalbanischen Gebirgen und aus Greichenland."
9. Book: De Rapper, Gilles. Better than Muslims, Not as Good as Greeks: Emigration as Experienced and Imagined by the Albanian Christians of Lunxhëri. King. Russell. Mai. Nicola. Schwandner-Sievers. Stephanie. The New Albanian Migration. 2005. Brighton-Portland. Sussex Academic. 9781903900789. p. 7.