Grabovë e Sipërme (also: Grabova;
Aromanian: Greãva,[1]Grabuva) is a
village in
Albania inhabited by
Aromanians.[2][3] The village is located in the former municipality of
Lenie. At the 2015 local government reform it became part of the municipality
Gramsh.[4]
History
Grabova was a medieval town created in the 10th century.
Aromanians have left Grabova on several occasions, although the village has never been completely deserted. The first wave of depopulation took place in the 17th century, when Grabova shared the fate of
Moscopole and during the inter-war period, starting with 1931, many of Grabovars emigrated to
Elbasan and
Lushnjë. In 1933, 15 families from the village emigrated to
Romania; they initially settled in
Southern Dobruja and then, in 1940, in the village of
Nisipari,
Constanța County, from where they moved to the larger nearby towns (
Medgidia,
Ovidiu,
Constanta). Another important immigration began in 1950, when communist authorities used the craftsmen from Grabova to build the industrial units in Korçë, Pogradec, Gramsh, Elbasan, and Tirana.[2]
In the 18th century the
Grabovë Church was built in the village. Owing to its past the town has another 18th century church: the church of Saint Paraskeva (
Aromanian: Stãvinere) built in 1718, and the school of Simon Baba.[1]