Himarë (; , Chimara or Χειμάρρα, Cheimarra) is a municipality and region in Vlorë County, southern Albania. The municipality has a total area of and consists of the administrative units of Himarë, Horë-Vranisht and Lukovë. It lies between the Ceraunian Mountains and the Albanian Ionian Sea Coast and is part of the Albanian Riviera. The traditionally perceived borders of the Himarë region gradually shrank during the Ottoman period, being reduced to the town of Himarë and the villages of the coastline (Bregdet in Albanian), generally including only Palasë, Dhërmi, Pilur, Kudhës, Vuno, Iljas and Qeparo.
The municipal unit of Himarë is predominantly populated by an ethnic Greek community. The local population is bilingual in Greek and Albanian. In particular the town of Himarë and the villages of Dhërmi and Palasa, which together account for the bulk of the population of the municipal unit of Himarë, are mainly populated by a Greek population. The villages of Iljas, Lukovë, Kudhës, Pilur and Vuno are inhabited by an Albanian population, while Qeparo is inhabited by both Albanians and Greeks. In the 2011 census, in the former municipality of Horë-Vranisht 83% declared themselves as Albanians and the rest didn't provide a reply. In the former Lukovë municipality the population is Albanian (94%) with a small Greek minority (6%).
Geography
The Himarë region is a strip approximately 20 km long by 5 km wide, covering a total of 132.13 km2, and bounded by the 2000-metre-high Ceraunian mountains to the northeast 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 traditionally perceived borders of the Himarë region gradually shrank during the Ottoman period, being reduced only to the town of Himarë and the villages on the coastline (Bregdet in Albanian).
History
Antiquity
In antiquity the region was inhabited by the Greek tribe of the Chaonians. The Chaonians were one of the three principal Greek-speaking tribes of Epirus, along with the Thesprotians and the Molossians. The town of Himarë is believed to have been founded as Chimaira (Χίμαιρα) by the Chaonians as a trading outpost on the Chaonian shore. However, another theory suggests that it comes from Greek χείμαρρος (cheimarros), meaning "torrent". An oracular lamella from the Οracle of Dodona, dated to the first half of the 4th century BCE and written in the Doric Greek dialect, has the inscription , which translates as "regarding the settlement by the inhabitants of Himarë, [they submit the question] should (or can) they settle here?".
In classical antiquity, Himarë was part of the Kingdom of Epirus under the rule of the Molossian Aeacid dynasty, which included King Pyrrhus of Epirus. When the region was conquered by the Roman Republic in the 2nd century BCE, its settlements were badly damaged and some were destroyed by the Roman General Aemilius Paulus.
Middle Ages
Himarë and the rest of the southern Balkans passed into the hands of the Byzantine Empire following the fall of Rome, but like the rest of the region it became the frequent target of various attackers including the Goths, Avars, Slavs, Bulgars, Saracens and Normans. Himarë is mentioned in Procopius of Caesarea's Buildings (544) as Chimaeriae, being part of Old Epirus and that a new fortress was built in its location. In 614, the Slavic tribe of the Baiounetai invaded the area and controlled a region from Himarë to Margariti called "Vagenetia".