Bularat

Bularat (Greek: Βουλιαράτες; romanized Vouliarátes) is a village in Gjirokastër County, southern Albania.[1] At the 2015 local government reform it became part of the municipality of Dropull.[2] It is inhabited solely by Greeks.[3] It is located just 6 km away from the Greco-Albanian border.

Bularat Vouliarates
Settlement
Bularat
Coordinates: 39°54′22″N 20°17′37″E
Country	Albania
County	Gjirokastër
Municipality	Dropull
Elevation	350 m (1,150 ft)
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
Vehicle registration	GJ
Website	www.vouliarati.altervista.org

History

Archeological findings (clay objects) discovered in 1979 prove that the village has been continuously inhabited since the 3rd century BC. The village has a 16th century Orthodox church, St. Athanasios.[4] A battle occurred near the village during the Greco-Italian War, which resulted in a Greek victory with 15 casualties and 130 wounded (on the Greek side).[5] Following the capture of the village and its surroundings by Greek forces, a temporary hospital was established to heal wounded soldiers, of whom 60 eventually died however. A military graveyard was also erected, for casualties of other nearby battles. This is still open to the public today.[6][4]

The first school was established in the 1700s. It was repaired in 1830 by donations from wealthy Georgios Kouremenos, the name of which was found on an inscription of a slab. In 1905, a girls-only school was established from expenses of architect Vasilakos Kouremenos. In 1935, Albanian authorities temporarily closed the school, resulting in reactions from locals, following clashes with the Albanian gendarmerie on 17 June.[7]

In 1993, Albanian authorities arrested the mayor of the village due to offence caused by waving of Greek flags in the village during annual celebrations commemorating Greece's entry to World War II.[8]

Demographics

According to the local newspaper, Το Γραφικό Βουλιαράτι, the village had 1,308 inhabitants in 1912. According to a 1995 research, the village had 833 inhabitants, all of which were ethnically Greeks.[3] Since 1990, many locals have migrated to Greece or other countries, making the permanent population of the village less than 400. Despite this, the population doubles in Easter, Summer and Christmas as most people return to their village to celebrate or have holidays with their families.

Notable individuals

• Vasileios Kouremenos (el), architect and professor of the National Technical University of Athens

References

1. "Location of Bularat".
2. "Law nr. 115/2014" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-09-24. Retrieved 2019-07-24.
3. 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 Greek). Εκδόσεις Σιδέρης. p. 58. Retrieved 2 February 2015.
4. Αγαθοκλής Παναγούλιας, Πεσόντες του 40, Η δοξολογία, 30 October 2016.
5. 1 Δεκεμβρίου 1940: Η φονική μάχη στο ύψωμα Αγίου Αθανασίου στους Βουλιαράτες Αργυροκάστρου [1 December 1940: The deadly fight on the hill of St. Athanasios in Vouliarates of Argyrokastro]. 1/12/2013. ellogosar.
6. «Ιστορικό κοιμητήριο» το νεκροταφείο των Ελλήνων πεσόντων 1940-41 στις Βουλιαράτες [«Historical graveyard» the graveyard of the Greek soldiers 1940-1941 in Vouliarates], 21/12/2017, left.gr
7. Hellenic Army General Staff, The struggle for Northern Epirus, 9789607897404, p. 386: The Greeks openen the schools by forces and ... as the village of Vouliarates... 17 July 1935.
8. Central and South-Eastern Europe 2003, By Imogen Bell, p. 72.

Bibliography

• Γεώργιος Γ. Καλυβόπουλος, Χρήστος Γ. Καλυβόπουλος, «Μπουλιαράτι Δερόπολη». Ιστορία - Λαϊκός Πολιτισμός, Athens 1975
• Αγαθοκλής Πρ. Παναγούλιας, Όσοι δε γύρισαν από το μέτωπο: Αναφορά στους πεσόντες του Ελληνικού στρατού που φιλοξενεί το στρατιωτικό νεκροταφείο Βουλιαρατίου, έκδοση: Αγαθοκλής Πρ. Παναγούλιας, Athens 2002
• Σύνδεσμος Συνταξιούχων Ελληνοδάσκαλων Εθνικής Ελληνικής Μειονότητας Νομού Αργυροκάστρου, Τα Πανάρχαια ελληνικά χωριά του Νομού Αργυροκάστρου, Ioannina 2009

External links

• Different views of Voularati