Moscopole

Moscopole (Albanian: Voskopojë, Aromanian: Moscopole, Moscopolea, Greek: Μοσχόπολις/Βοσκόπολις Moschopolis or Voskopolis, Macedonian: Москополе, Moskopole, Serbian: Москопоље, Moskopolje, Italian: Moscopoli) was a cultural and commercial center of the Aromanians, and now a small village in Korçë County, modern southeastern Albania. At the 2015 local government reform it became a subdivision of the municipality Korçë. The population at the 2011 census was 1,058. At its peak, in the mid 18th century, it hosted the first printing press in the Balkans outside Istanbul, educational institutions and numerous churches and became a leading center of Greek culture.

Historians have attributed the decline of the city to a series of raids by Muslim Albanian bandits, that almost destroyed the town in 1769 following the participation of the residents in the preparations for the Orlov Revolt in 1770, and culminated with the abandoning and destruction of Moscopole in 1788. Moscopole, once a prosperous city, was reduced to a small village by Ali Pasha. According to another opinion, the city's decline was mainly due to the relocation of the trade routes in central and eastern Europe following the aforementioned raids. Today Moscopole, known as Voskopojë, is a small mountain village, and along with a few other local settlements is considered a holy place by local Orthodox Christians. It was one of the original homelands of the Aromanian diaspora.