Voskopoja, lost city in south eastern Albania

Voskopoja (or Voskopojë when in a sentence with a preposition as in "to", "in" or "from Voskopoja) is now a small village, 21 km west of Korça in southeastern Albania. In the 18th century, it was known as Moscopole, a major Balkan city and cultural and commercial center of the Aromanian people, also known as Vlachs. At its peak, in the 1760s, it is claimed that it had a population of over 60,000 and was the second most important city of the Balkans in regard to population and prosperity, surpassed only by Constantinople; it had the first printing press in the Balkans, banks, a University and 70 churches. It acted as a business entrepot between Venice and Constantinople. The language spoken here was Aromanian, also known as Macedo-Romanian or Vlach, an Eastern Romance language, centered mainly in Macedonia. There were also Greek merchants; Greek was used in commercial contracts and the Aromanian language was written in the Greek alphabet.

The wealth of the city aroused the jealousy of the Turkish beys in the surrounding areas and between 1769 and 1789 various military expiditions were mounted against the city. Many Christians were murdered or expelled and their houses burnt down. The town declined rapidly as Korça grew as the regional capital. It suffered further serious damage to its buildings during vicious inter-communal fighting in the region during the Balkan wars in 1911-12, in the conflicts over control of Korça during and after the First World War and most of all in the battles between the Axis troops and partisans in 1943-44. As a result it is now a small village and centre of pastoral agriculture, largely inhabited by Vlach shepherds.

There are still reminders of the old days, with well-paved streets running between farm buildings. Only five Orthodox churches survive in poorly maintained state. Most churches resemble barns from the outside: in the Ottoman days churches were tolerated here as long as they didn't look too much like churches from the outside. The best preserved of these is the Church of Shenkolle, built in 1721, in the centre of the village, and the only one that can be visited if the caretaker with the key can be found. It has icons and frescos, in great need of restoration. St. Nicholas church, built in 1721-22 is one of the largest, with remarkable fresco paintings and St. Michael's, on the north west side is locked up and empty, but an idea of its former glory can be seen through a hole in the wall. In 2002, they were put on the World Monuments Fund's Watch List of 100 Most Endangered Sites.

	Church of Shenkolle	Church caretaker	Gallery, Church of Shenkolle	Outer gallery
	Fresco, outer gallery	Damaged frescoes	Shenkolle Church paintings	Church of St Michael
	Interior St Michael's Church	Church of St Nicholas	St Nicholas Church	Monastery, Voskopoja

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