Bolena Village

The village of Bolen is located on the western side of Mount Çipini, in Vlora. Although a small village, Bolena has a story to tell and people to remember. Otherwise it is called "God of the Sun". The top of the Çipini mountain reaches up to 1676 m in height. Bolena is one of the most beloved places of Ali Pasha Tepelena, where he also spent his adolescence. When the enemies were chasing him to kill him he was rescued by a shepherd from Bolena, and raised as his own son.

The oldest settlement in this area is Ceria.It is located where the Smokthina River merges with the Shushica River to the northwest of Bolena. The ruins of an old settlement from the Bronze Age, which dates back to about 4000 years ago, may be seen on the eastern side of Bolena, at the feet of Kendrevica mountain.The Illyrian tribe of the Kaons lived in the territory of Kurvelesh, while to the north of it in the Shushica river valley was the other Illyrian tribe of the Amants. There were significant consequences from the Roman invasion that began in 168 BC, and it's likely that fortified towns like Ceria and Nivica were entirely destroyed by the Romans.The village of Bolen has always faced fierce wars and the Bolenas have always fought with great bravery. Thus, in the summer of 1913, the Greek army, after fierce battles with the villages of upper Kurveles, arrived in the mountains of Bolena. The Greeks encountered a strong resistance from the Bolenas.The fiercest battles were on June 7-8, 1913, at the Ndreu pass and at the Trush pit. The Greeks used heavy artillery and caused many casualties. A telegram that Vienna sends to Athens on February 11, 1914 says: Last week the Greeks bombarded the never-occupied village of Bolena, located in Kurvelesh.Even during the Second World War and the involvement of this village in the war, Martyrs of the Fatherland, 54 boys and girls of this village, fell in the battle of Drashovica on November 24, 1943.
The genesis in the history of Bolenas has always been expressed by the symbiosis of will-iron spirit, which constitutes the pride of this country. They bring to the creative consciousness the possibilities and deeds of the past.