Country Albania Administrative Unit Himarë Vehicle registration VL Area code 0393 | County Vlorë Time zone CET (UTC+1) Website www.himara.gov.al Postal code 9425 Municipal unit Himara | |
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Himarë (definite Albanian form: Himara) is a bilingual town in Southern Albania along the Albanian Riviera and part of the Vlorë County. It is the largest settlement and seat of the municipality of Himarë. Both the town and municipality are populated by an ethnic Greek community.
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Map of Himar%C3%AB, Albania
History
In antiquity the region was inhabited by the Greek tribe of the Chaonians. The town of Himarë is believed to have been founded as Χίμαιρα, (Chimaira, hence the name Himara) by the Chaonians as a trading outpost on the Chaonian shore. However, another theory according to the name suggest that comes from Greek χείμαρρος (cheimarros), meaning "torrent".
The town of Himara during the 16th-18th centuries was ecclesiastically under the jurisdiction of Rome, and some of its inhabitants were Catholics of the Eastern rite.