The area of the municipality is
coextensive with the former Kolonjë District, one of the 36
districts of Albania, which were dissolved in July 2000 and replaced by 12
counties.
Location
Kolonjë is located in south-east Albania and its capital is
Ersekë. Other towns in this district include
Leskovik to the south. It is bounded by
Korçë to the north and
Greece to the east, including the regional units of
Kastoria and
Ioannina. The town of Ersekë is located at the foot of mount
Gramos, Albania's fourth-highest mountain with a peak at 2,525 m above sea level.
History
During the Middle Ages a region under the name Koloneia (
Greek: Κολωνεία) is located in the mountain region south of
Korçë (southeast Albania) and north of
Konitsa and
Kastoria (northwestern Greece) at the west slopes of
Grammos mountain range.[4] A Byzantine military garrison under the same name was built west of Grammos.[5][6]
In a text by
Emperor John VI Kantakouzenos (r. 1347-1354) whose 'History' covers the years 1320-1356, there is mention of local
Albanians; “While the emperor was spending about eight days in Achrida (
Ohrid), the Albanian nomads living in the region of Deabolis (Devoll) appeared before him, as well as those from Koloneia (
Kolonja) and those from the vicinity of Ohrid.” This meeting was estimated to have taken place at around February 1328.[10]
One source says that one of the two main waves of Albanian movements coming from the north entered Kolonjë in the 14th century, with the wave also affecting the neighboring
Dangëllia region.[11] The name Kolonja is related to the
Roman period of the area.[12]
^Theocharidēs, Geōrgios Iōannou (1980).
History of Macedonia during the Middle Ages (285-1354) (in Greek). Hetaireia Makedonikōn Spoudōn. p. 307. Κολώνια ωνομάσθη η περιοχή των υψωμάτων νοτίως της Κορυτσάς και μεταξύ Κορυτσάς και Κονίτσης εις τους δυτικούς πρόποδας του Γράμμου, της οποίας το σπουδαιότερον κέντρον είναι σήμερον η Ερσέκα της Αλβανίας.