Margariti
Encyclopedia
Margariti is a village and a former municipality in Thesprotia
Thesprotia
Thesprotia is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the Epirus region. Its capital is the town of Igoumenitsa. It is named after the Thesprotians, an ancient Greek tribe that inhabited the region in antiquity.-History:...

, Epirus
Epirus (periphery)
Epirus , formally the Epirus Region , is a geographical and administrative region in northwestern Greece. It borders the regions of West Macedonia and Thessaly to the east, West Greece to the south, the Ionian Sea and the Ionian Islands to the west and the country of Albania to the north. The...

, Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....

. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Igoumenitsa
Igoumenitsa
Igoumenitsa , is a coastal city in northwestern Greece. It is the capital of the regional unit Thesprotia. Its original ancient name used to be Titani....

, of which it is a municipal unit. Population 3,032 (2001).

History

In February 1913, Margariti was taken by the Greek army and joined Greece following the Treaty of Lodon. 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
Greeks
The Greeks, also known as the Hellenes , are a nation and ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighboring regions. They also form a significant diaspora, with Greek communities established around the world....

 and Cham Albanians
Cham Albanians
Cham Albanians, or Chams , are a sub-group of Albanians who originally resided in the coastal region of Epirus in northwestern Greece, an area known among Albanians as Chameria. The Chams have their own peculiar cultural identity, which is a mixture of Albanian and Greek influences as well as many...

 until the final expulsion as a result of the Cham collaboration
Axis-Cham Albanian collaboration
During the Axis occupation of Greece between 1941 and 1944, large parts of the Albanian minority in the Thesprotia prefecture in Epirus, northwestern Greece, known as Chams collaborated with the occupation forces. Fascist Italian as well as Nazi German propaganda promised that the region would be...

 with the Nazi occupation forces. Almost all Cham Albanian monuments of Margariti were destroyed during WWII.

Notable residents

  • Hamdi Çami
    Hamdi Çami
    Miralay Hamdi Bey, Hamdi Baba, also known as "Kambur Hamdi" and Hamdi Bey was an Ottoman officer and politician of Albanian origin. Hamdi Bey was a colonel of the Ottoman army and later a deputy of the Ottoman parliament....

    , deputy of Preveza
    Preveza
    Preveza is a town in the region of Epirus, northwestern Greece, located at the mouth of the Ambracian Gulf. It is the capital of the regional unit of Preveza, which is part of the region of Epirus. An immersed tunnel, completed in 2002 which runs between Preveza and Actium, connects the town...

     in the Ottoman Parliament
  • Jakup Veseli
    Jakup Veseli
    Jakup Veseli was a leading figure in the Albanian independence movement one of the signatories of Albanian Declaration of Independence, representing the region of Çamëria....

    , representative of Chameria
    Chameria
    Chameria is a term used today mostly by Albanians for parts of the coastal region of Epirus in southern Albania and northwestern Greece It was also used by Greeks till the mid of 20th century and is frequently found in Greek literature. Today it is obsolete in Greek, surviving mainly in Greek folk...

     in Vlora Congress, signatory of Albanian Declaration of Independence
    Albanian Declaration of Independence
    The Albanian Declaration of Independence is the declaration of independence of the Albanian Vilayet from the Ottoman Empire. Albania was proclaimed independent in Vlorë on November 28, 1912.-Background:...

    .
  • Konstantinos Zakas (1916-1986) Greek Army
    Hellenic Army
    The Hellenic Army , formed in 1828, is the land force of Greece.The motto of the Hellenic Army is , "Freedom Stems from Valor", from Thucydides's History of the Peloponnesian War...

    General.
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