Voskopoja is a village where culture, tradition and landscape harmoniously unify in order to encourage its permanent tourist values. The village is well known for its antique civilization, stunning landscapes, numerous churches and frescoes, personifying a precious cultural heritage. These artistic and architectonic values are rich in icons and wall paintings. They introduced the village to the tourists, which once upon a time was on the top list of the most important cities on the Peninsula.
Director Koçi, said that: “There are four icons in our Museum’s fund, two of which have the authorship of Constantine Joeromonak and the rest of David Selenica. Iconographer Kostandin Jeromonaku painted “The Rise of the Cross” and “The Meeting of the Apostles”, which belonged to the church of St. Mary in Voskopoja.
David Selenica painted “The entrance of Saint Mary in the Temple” and “Transfiguration”, belonging to St. Koll’s Church in Voskopoja. In the pavilion of post-Bizantine icons (National Historical Museum) there is an icon from an anonymous author. It is named “The Four Evangelicals”, with inventory number 3654, which belongs to the monastery of Saint Prodhrom in Voskopoja.
There are many objects, in our Museum’s fund, made of silver and gold: icon covers, corona, gospel lids, chalice, communion spoon, crosses, censers, etc. This technique has been an inherent part of our culture and tradition. During our research work on cataloging and inventorying objects found in National Historical Museum’s funds, we managed to identify a silver cross which belongs to the church of St. Mary in Elbasan. The silver cross represents on both sides iconographic scenes, which were engraved by Janko Voskopojari in 1748″.
Mrs. Vojsava Kumbulla said that according to Hahn, “Voskopoja was built in 1338, after the crusades ended. This resulted in the destruction of many cities and Voskopoja may have taken the place of one of the destroyed cities. The rise of Voskopoja, according to Hahn, is attributed to King Peter, who belonged to the great family of Muzakaj.” We may ask…: How come the city developed so much, while in the 16th century it was an agricultural and livestock population?
This may explain their destiny. Tradition says that fate smiles to the bravest. The story of their destiny begins when the Turks attacked Constantinople (Istanbul). During that time, the Genoese merchants felt threatened by the Turks, and migrated to Voskopoja, making the people of Voskopoja familiar with their art of trade. On the other hand, it was a convenient place for trade, as it was located between Albania, Epirus, Macedonia, and near the Egnantia road.
