Dardhë

Dardha is a community in the former municipality of Drenovë in the Korçë County, Albania. At the 2015 local government reform it became part of the municipality Korçë. and a well known ski area of Albania since the 1920s. In 2012, the first ever ski tow in Albania was opened at Bigell Ski Resort near Dardhë.

Dardhë is populated by an Orthodox Albanian population and an Aromanian minority of a few families who were previously nomadic before settling in the village after 1950. Much of the Orthodox Albanian population has moved away to Albanian cities such as Korçë and Tiranë or migrated to the United States of America.

• 

• 

• 

History

The town of Dardhë was first founded by a group of Orthodox Albanians fleeing into the mountains to avoid Ottoman administration. During Ottoman rule Dardhë, unlike villages located in the Grammos mountains, did not undergo any serious collapse or destruction.

A Greek school was founded in the village in 1810 by Ikonomou Isidoros, while at the beginning of the 20th century Greek education was flourishing with the establishment of additional schools: a girls’ school (1901-1902) and a middle level school. In the school season of 1901-1902 a total of 150 pupils attended the Greek schools, which were sponsored by the local community fund, as well as the local Orthodox Church. The first Albanian school opened in 1917, with the initiative of Leonidha Çika, starting with initially 20 pupils, and with financing from the Vatra, which will sponsor the new school in 1924 that is still in place today.

Dardha has historically suffered from heavy emigration. Many families of the area would become the first Albanian community in USA, and Romania as well. People from Dardha have been immense contributors to Albanian American organizations. Sotir Peçi, Josif Pani, Gjergj Konda etc. would start the society “Besa-Besë”, “Kombi” newspaper, and the unification of the Albanian American societies into a single federation, Vatra, with Sotir Peçi as one of the initial founders. Current Prime Minister Edi Rama has some family roots in Dardhë. In the past years, it has become a destination mainly for internal tourism by rich Albanians, creating jobs for Dardhë residents.