VIDEO/ Explore Voskopoja: Where history, nature, and faith come together

Voskopoja is one of Albania's most picturesque mountain villages. Surrounded by expansive pine forests, the village enjoys a cool, refreshing atmosphere and lush greenery in the summer. In winter, it transforms into a peaceful winter wonderland, blanketed in snow.

The village is also renowned for its churches and monasteries, which are key to its cultural heritage. Notable churches such as St. Nicholas, St. Paraskevi, and St. Podhromi, along with five others scattered across the area, contribute to Voskopoja's distinctive charm.

Situated just 18 km from Korçë at an altitude of 1,160 meters, Voskopoja was once the cultural, commercial, and political center of the Aromanian people, an ethnic group native to the southern Balkans who have traditionally lived in central and southern Albania, southwestern Bulgaria, northern and central Greece, and North Macedonia.

The town's decline is largely attributed to a series of attacks by Muslim Albanian bandits. In 1769, Voskopoja was almost destroyed after the Aromanians participated in a Greek rebellion supported by the Russian Empire. Further raids led to the village's abandonment in 1788.

Once a thriving center of Aromanian culture, Voskopoja was reduced to a small village, partly due to the destruction caused by Ali Pasha Tepelena. Another contributing factor to its decline was the redirection of trade routes across Central and Eastern Europe, a consequence of these raids.

Today, Voskopoja is a quiet mountain village and an important religious site for Orthodox Christians. It was once the heart of the Aromanian diaspora.