# Delvinaki

Delvinaki (Greek: Δελβινάκι) is a former municipality in the Ioannina regional unit, Epirus, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform, it is part of the municipality Pogoni, of which it is a municipal unit. The municipal unit has an area of 255.8 km$^2$, the community 54.8 km$^2$. In 2021 its population was 538 for the village and 1,609 for the municipal unit. Delvinaki is part of the traditional area of Pogoni.
Delvinaki lies along the GR-22/E853 road, which links Kalpaki with the Albanian border. The border crossing Kakavia is west of town.

## Subdivisions

The municipal unit of Delvinaki is subdivided into the following communities (constituent villages in brackets):
* Agia Marina
* Argyrochori
* Charavgi
* Delvinaki
* Farangi (formerly Gouveri)
* Kastani
* Kerasovo
* Kryoneri
* Ktismata (Ktismata, Neochori)
* Limni
* Mavropoulo (Mavropoulo, Zavrocho, Chrysodouli)
* Oreino Xirovaltou (Oreino, Xirovaltos)
* Peristeri
* Pontikates
* Stratinista
* Teriachi (Teriachi, Stavrodromi)
* Vissani

## Population

| Year | Village population | Municipal unit population |
| 1981 | 884 | - |
| 1991 | 922 | - |
| 2001 | 751 | 2,933 |
| 2011 | 772 | 2,540 |
| 2021 | 538 | 1,609 |

## Etymology

According to linguist Konstantinos Oikonomou, Delvinaki is a Greek formation and derives from the toponym Delvino, with the Greek diminutive suffix ‑aki added to it; probably in order to differentiate it from the neighboring settlement of Delvinë. Furthermore, Oikonomou and Phaedon Malingoudis presented Delvino as deriving from the Slavic noun dьlva (Proto-Slavic *dьly) 'cauldron, pot', which is used in toponyms to denote a 'valley' or 'basin', and the Slavic suffix ‑ьnъ; the ь of the first syllable, denoting /ĭ/, was rendered as /e/ in Greek. Compare to the toponym Δηλίβινον, first attested in 996 northeast of Polygyros (Chalkidiki) in Greece, Delvino in southern Albania, as well as Delvino (Blagoevgrad Province) and Delvino (Kardzhali Province) in Bulgaria.
According to historians Konstantinos Vakalopoulos and Nikos Yfantis, Delvinaki derives from Albanian and means 'place of vineyards'.

## History

From the 14th century to the beginning of Ottoman rule, Delvinaki was among the thriving settlements of the region together with nearby Dipalitsa, Kastaniani and Polytsiani. During the first decades of the 14th century, Albanians settled in the Pogoni region; their presence is evidenced through some place names, such as Gouveri (from gouva 'small pit') and Roumpates. The town was an important commercial centre during the Ottoman period. The church of the Dormition of the Theotokos in Delvinaki was erected in 1619. In the late 17th century, Ottoman traveler Evliya Çelebi passed through Delvinaki observing that it was a "prosperous" town on the border of the district of Pogoni, "inhabited by infidels all Albanians"; it contained 400 houses, 6000 fertile vineyards, 40-50 shops, 10 churches and 3 inns. Çelebi also noted that Delvinaki was a hass (revenue estate) of an Ottoman admiral and administered by a voivode with the settlement being "exempt from taxation and state interference." Those Albanian villagers who settled in the southern part of Pogoni were gradually assimilated by the Greek element. British traveler John Hobhouse noted in early 19th century that Delvinaki consisted of 300 dwellings inhabited by Greeks.
Delvinaki joined Greece after the Balkan Wars of 1913.

## Culture

Delvinaki is home to Greek polyphonic singing and has a reach music tradition in the wider Pogoni region. It is one of the two main centres of folk music of Pogoni, the other being Parakalamos. An annual festival of polyphonic singing is held in August.

## Notable people

* Petroloukas Chalkias, musician.
* Hatzimichalis Dalianis, hero of the Greek War of Independence.
* Evangelos Psimmas, (1905–1962), bishop of Ermoupoli.
* Konstantinos Iroklis Vasiadis, (1821–1890), scholar.