Pustec

Geography

Pustec is located on the southwestern shore of Lake Prespa and is the nearest village to the island of Maligrad. It sits at an elevation of 861 m above sea level. To the northeast, along the lake, lies Shulin, while in the southeast is the village of Leska.

Pustec and the surrounding region lie within the Prespa National Park.

History

The village of Pustec was mentioned in the Slepche Beadroll from the 16th century.

The La Macédoine et sa Population Chrétienne survey by Dimitar Mishev (D. Brancoff) from 1905 shows that the inhabitants of the village of Pustec () were in the bosom of the Bulgarian Exarchate. There were 400 Bulgarian Exarchists in the village.

The French linguist André Mazon in his study on Slavic folklore in Albania from 1936 noted Pustec as a Bulgarian village in the region of Mala Prespa.

In 1939, on behalf of 70 Bulgarian houses in Pustec, Todor Postalov signed a request by the local Bulgarians to the Bulgarian tsaritsa Giovanna requesting her intervention for the protection of the Bulgarian people in Albania – at that time an Italian protectorate.

In 1973, the official name of the village was changed to Liqenas by the Albanian government. In 2013, however, the original Slavic name, Pustec, was once again made official by the Albanian government.

Demographics

The majority of the population are ethnic Macedonians.

Culture

The village of Pustec is situated near two centuries'-old rock churches. The first, Saint Michael the Archangel, is situated on the Lake Prespa shore. Its oldest frescoes date from the 12th century. The other, St Nicholas, contains only fragments of its original frescoes. Pustec is home to an ethnographic museum, established by Spase Trpo in 2023.

People from Pustec

• Trajan Gjorgjiovski, partisan
• Mitre Kolevski, partisan
• Edmond Temelko, mayor of Pustec Municipality and president of the Macedonian Party

References

References

1. "Law nr. 115/2014".
2. Naumovski, Jaklina. (25 January 2014). "Minorités en Albanie : les Macédoniens craignent la réorganisation territoriale du pays". Balkan Courriers.
3. "Liqenas". Geoview.info.
4. Гергова, Иванка. Поменици от Македония в български сбирки, София, 2006, с. 29.
5. сп. "Македонски преглед", Македонски научен институт, год. ХХХ, 2007, бр. № 3. Бело, Раки. Селищни имена в Мала Преспа - Албания. стр. 133 - 138.
6. Olga M. Mladenova, Definiteness in Bulgarian: Modelling the Processes of Language Change, Walter de Gruyter, 2008, {{ISBN. 3110198894, p. 393.
7. Mangalakova, Tanya (2004). Ethnic Bulgarians in Mala Prespa and Golo Brdo. Sofia; International Centre for Minority Studies and Intercultural Relations (IMIR).
8. Tashev, S. Bulgarians in Albania. The Long Path to Recognition. Orbel, Sofia – Toronto, 2020. pp. 202-209, ISBN 978-954-496-138-1.
9. fr
10. [http://damj.manu.edu.mk/pdf/0009%20Andre%20Mazon.pdf Mazon, André. Documents, contes et chansons slaves de l’Albanie du Sud, Paris, 1936, p.3] {{in lang. fr
11. Елдъров, Светозар. Българите в Албания 1913-1939. Изследване и документи, София, 2000, стр. 324-326.{{in lang. bg
12. [http://www.dw.de/%D0%BF%D1%83%D1%81%D1%82%D0%B5%D1%86-%D0%BF%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B5%D1%9C%D0%B5-%D0%BD%D0%B5-%D0%B5-%D0%BB%D0%B8%D1%9C%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%B0%D1%81/a-16681710?maca=maz-rss-maz-pol_makedonija_timemk-4727-xml-mrss Pustec poveke ne e Liqenas]
13. Angeličin-Žura, Goce. "Пештерните цркви во Охридско-Преспанскиот регион (Р. Македонија, Р. Албанија, Р. Грција)". В: „Ниш и Византија IV: зборник радова“; Симпозиум „Ниш и Византија IV“, Зборник радова IV, Ниш, 3–5 юни 2005.
14. "E veçantë, mësuesi i historisë krijon muzeun etnografik në Pustec". Fol Shqip.
15. (13 March 2023). "Еуроњуз Албанија: Спасе Терпо од Пустец со свои сили изгради музеј, го направи она што со години власта не успеа". Skopsko Eho.
16. (30 November 2013). "Ta Pastrojmë Prespën Në Një Ditë". Makedonium.