Dhërmi is one of the nine villages of the Himara region/municipality, in Albania. The village lies 42 kilometers south of the city of Vlorë (the capital of the Prefecture) and about the same distance north of the southern city of Sarandë. The village is built on a slope of the Ceraunian Mountains, at approximately 200 meters in altitude. The mountains descend to the southwest into the Ionian coast and Corfu in the distance to the south. Nearby is the village of Palasë. The inhabitants of Dhërmi speak a variant of the Himariote dialect, characterized by archaic features not retained in standard Greek. Recently, the coastal area has seen a boom in the construction of accommodation facilities, such as wooden villa complexes. In addition, it is considered by the Albanian youth as a nightlife destination.

Spille

Spille is a small wooden peg used to control the flow of air into, and carbon dioxide out of, a cask of ale.

Cask ale is served without externally supplied carbon dioxide or nitrogen. The idea that it is served “flat” with no bubbles at all, though, is a misconception; properly conditioned cask ale contains bubbles of carbon dioxide generated by the natural action of the yeast living in the beer while it is transported and stored^. In fact, the yeast will actually produce more carbon dioxide than is required, and it is for this reason that the cask is vented through the spile hole in the shive.

Two kinds of spile are available. Initially, “soft” or porous spiles are used, made of open-grained softwood, bamboo, or harder wood with cuts in. These allow the excess gas to escape. Once the cellarman judges this process to be complete, a hard spile is inserted which does not allow any more gas out of the cask. These are made of harder wood (usually still technically “softwood”, but denser and more solid than soft spiles). Plastic pegs intended for sealing shives are occasionally used as hard spiles.

During service, the spile must be removed to allow air in to replace the beer drawn off. Once the spile is reinserted enough gas will come out of solution to replace what was lost, but the amount of carbon dioxide available in the system – free or dissolved – is limited, so it is important that the spile is kept in as much as possible. This is one of several reasons for real ale’s short shelf-life once a cask is opened – if too much carbon dioxide is lost, the beer will be flat. Typically, the beer will be good only for two to four days this short life is why it is important that a pub serving real ale have sufficient turnover for casks to be emptied while still at their best.

 

 

Borshi

The region which Borshi is located was part of the Chaonia of the ancient region of Epirus. The castle remained in use in Roman times and was refortified by the Emperor Justinian in the sixth century. Nothing is known of the settlement in the Byzantine era, until it is mentioned as Sopotos in 1258 when it was part of theDespotate of Epirus tha grew out of the failing Byzantine empire. Borsh then went through a period of considerable turmoil, changing hands several times between the Despotate of Epirus and Norman crusades invaders before being taken by the Turks in 1431.

Fifty years later it was captured by Albanians led by Skenderbeg, but was retaken by the Turks only eleven years later and heavily refortified. On June 10, 1570 the castle of Sopot was taken by James Celsi, Proveditor of the Venetian navy, who left after leaving in charge the Greek commander of Nauplion, Emmanuel Mormoris. This also triggered part of the nearby Himariotes to submit to Venetian rule. The next year the Ottoman army recaptured it and took Mormori as a prisoner.

The fortress was renovated again by Ali Pash Tepelena, and it is these fortifications that visitors can view by taking the half hour walk up to the ‘castle rock’ the limestone mount clearly visible above the old village. During Ali pasha’s reign there were 700 houses at Borsh, and below the castle mount you can see a ruined mosque and madrese (a Muslim theological school), both of which were damaged in Ali Pasha’s wars but survived, only to be destroyed by fighting after 1912 when the Turks left the region.

Between 1912 and 1914 serious inter-ethnic conflict took place between Greeks and Albanians, and significant portion of the old village was destroyed, however some fine buildings remain. Modern Borsh was built after that, but became seriously depopulated, first due to malaria, and following severe reprisal killings by Germans in WW2 however, depopulation was balanced by an influx of refugees from Vlora, fleeing into partisan territory from the city which was heavily contested until late in the war.

 Ksamil

 

Ksamil  is a municipality in the riviera of Southern Albania built in 1966, and part of Butrint National Park.The coastal village is located south of the city of Sarandë off the road to Butrint and is part of District of Sarandë.

Ksamil is one of the most frequented coastal resorts by both domestic and foreign tourists. Ksamil Beach and Albania’s Jonian Coast further north was included in the Guardian’s 20 of the best bargain beach holidays for 2013

The main attractions are the nearby Ksamil Islands, where fresh seafoodrestaurants are located and which can be easily reached by boat. The mainland beach is small but clean.

During communism, the area became well known for the production of olive oil, lemons, and tangerines. In 2010, national authorities demolished over 200 illegal structures that violated the town’s master plan and the integrity of Butrint National Park. Some remains from the demolished buildings have yet to be removed by authorities.

 

Palase

Palasë is a village close to the Llogara National Park in the Albanian Riviera. It is located in the municipality of Himarë (13 kilometres from the town), in the District of Vlorë, Albania. The inhabitants of Palasë speak mainly a variant of the Himariote Greek dialect, and partly the Tosk Albanian dialect.

On January 4, 48 BCE during his pursuit of Pompey, Julius Caesar lands in Palaeste (modern Palase). Until the 1750s Himarë was composed of more than 50 villages, but by the end of the 1780s it comprised only 16, situated by the seashore from Saranda to Palasë . Later on, with Ali Pasha‘s defeat, the region of Himara shrunk to only seven villages. In September 1916, the provinces of Himarë and Tepelenë became part of the Vlorë prefecture and were placed under the control of the Italian armed forces. The city of Himarë became the official capital of the region and was responsible for the administration of the traditionally Orthodox coastal villages of Palasë, Dhërmi, Kudhës, Qeparo, Vuno and Iljas . However each village retained its own identity, despite falling under the municipality of Himarë.

Qeparo

 

Qeparo is a seaside village on the Albanian Riviera in Himarë municipality, District of Vlorë, Albania. It is divided in two parts – the old and new villages.

According to 19th century topographer William Martin Leake, the original name of the village was Kiepero or Kiparos, which derives from the Greek word kipos, meaning garden.

In antiquity, the area of Qeparo, like the rest of the Himara region, was inhabited by the Greek tribe of the Chaonians.

During the period of the Balkan Wars, the inhabitants of Greek-speaking villages in the region, such as Qeparo, fought against Albanian speaking-villages, who fought on the side of the Ottoman Empire.The village has an Orthodox Church dedicated toSaint Demetrius, dated 1760, one of the nine churches in Albania dedicated to that saint.

 

Himara

Himara  is a municipality along the Albanian Riviera in southern Albania and part of the District of Vlorë. Apart from the town of Himarë, the region consists of 7 other villages  :Dhërmi, Pilur, Kudhës, Qeparo, Vuno, Iljas,and Palasë.

The region of Himarë is predominantly populated by an ethnic Greek community. The Himara region is a strip approximately 20 km long by 5 km wide, bounded by the 2000 metre high Llogara mountains to the northeast (known in antiquity and in the local Greek dialect as the Ceraunian mountains  and the Ionian Sea to the southwest.

There are long white sandy beaches and the few hills close to the sea are terraced and planted with olive and citrus trees.The villages of Himarë are perched up high on the spurs of the Ceraunian range in positions which offered natural defences against the nearby Lab Albanians during the Ottoman era.