The Village of the Alder People
Elshani is a village in the Republic of Macedonia, located approximately 10 km south of the City of Ohrid. It is spread across the western slopes of Galicica National Park, and 0.1 - 2 km from the shore of Lake Ohrid. The main part of the village is located at 850 - 950 meters above sea level, while the new satellite settlement of Elesec rises directly from the shores of Lake Ohrid, at 700 meters.
Population
Elshani has 680 inhabitants living in the village all year around. In summer days there are approximately 400 more temporary inhabitants staying in their holiday (second) homes, built in the vicinity of the lake.
Cultural Background (Ethnicity & Religion)
All of Elshani's inhabitants are ethnic Macedonians, and Macedonian is their mother tongue.
For centuries, Orthodox Christianity has been the traditional religion, and the dating of the oldest church in the village goes back as far as 1408 AD. There are two temples in the village: The Cathedral Church of St. Elijah (restored in 1859; painted in 1944) and St. Mina's (built in 1994). The chapel of St. Petka from 1947 is shared with the neighboring town of Peshtani.
VISIT THE VILLAGE OF ELSHANI
Elshani is a wonderfull base for mountain walks and rock climbing in the Galicica National Park. On the other hand, the wide network of paths, narrow village streets and local low traffic roads are ideal for use as walking, jogging or cycling trails by all levels of ability and age groups.
Regular bus service operates from the City of Ohrid to Elshani, 13 times throughout the day. More buses run to the neighboring Town of Peshtani, and they are always stopping on the outskirts of Elshani.
Accommodation can be found in 30 family homes with nearly 200 beds in total, all through the year and at different locations, down by the lake or up in the mountain. Also by the lakeside is the Elesec Camping Site, which is well structured, but operating during the summer period only.
For more information, please go to the Tourism in Elshani page!
History
- Early 13th century: first written record on Elshani under Byzantine rule
- 1395: Elshani is under Ottoman rule
- 1408: the church of St. Elijah (re)built
- 1582: Elshani has 177 inhabitants (34 households and 5 singles; one family and one single man are Muslim, all other are Orthodox Christian)
- 19th century: Elshani has about 250 inhabitants
- 1903: the villagers take active role in the Macedonian Ilinden Uprising against the Ottomans, and Nikola Mitrev Ezerski of Elshani nominated Chief Commander of the so called Lake District.
- 1912: end of Ottoman rule; during the First Balkan War Elshani is occupied by Serbs who impose recruitment on local men and 13 of them killed on battlefield
- 1915-1918: the time of Bulgarian military occupation during World War I
- 1918: Elshani under the rule of the new Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (later renamed into Kingdom of Yugoslavia)
- 1941: Italian fascist occupation
- 1943: Bulgarian occupation; many of the local men join the antifascist guerilla movement - seven of them killed in fight
- 1944: end of the Bulgarian rule and Elshani is now in the (Socialist) Republic of Macedonia, which at that time is one of the six republics of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia; the village makes the biggest progress in its centuries old history, when roads, water supply, electricity and telephony for very first time were introduced
- 1991: Elshani is now one of the prosperous villages in the independent Republic of Macedonia
Economy
Most of the local people find employment in hotels by the lakeside, or in the Ohrid factories, although, there are still some more traditional activities: each family has its own vineyard and a garden, animals are still kept, and traditional production of wine and rakija (brandy) is still practiced.
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