Labovë e Kryqit (Labovë of the Cross) is a settlement in Southern Albania, which has taken the name of its Dormition of the Theotokos Church. It consists of two neighbourhoods: Labovë e Poshtme (Lower Labovë) and Labovë e Sipërme (Upper Labovë). To distinguish it from other places named Labovë, the village is known by two names Labovë e Kryqit, in reference to a nearby old Byzantine church and Labovë e Libohovës (Labovë of Libohovë).Pashkët në Labovë të Kryqit, Gazeta Shqip, 12 April 2015. "Një vend që për shkak të historisë mistike, të larmishme dhe të lavdishme, njihet me disa emra; Labovë e Poshtme dhe Labovë e Sipërme (emërtimi i dy pjesëve të të njëjtit vendbanim), Labovë e Kryqit (emërtim që lidhet me praninë e një kishe të vjetër bizantine dhe të një kryqi që tani është zhdukur dhe Labovë e Libohovës (për ta dalluar nga Labova e Vangjel Zhapës që ndodhet në Odrie në veri të Lunxhërisë." It is part of the Qendër Libohovë subdivision of the Libohovë municipality, in Gjirokastër County, southern Albania.
Name Afanasy Selishchev (1931), derived Labovë from the Slavic hleb’ meaning bread and Xhelal Ylli (1997) states that is not semantically possible. The suffix -ov-a is a Slavic formation. The root word of the toponym might denote the following: a Lab, an inhabitant of Labëria, the proto-Slavic *lap’ for "leaf", or Bulgarian words for plants like lop (petasites), lopen (verbascum), lopuh (arctium tomentosum). The proto-Slavic reflex a in the placename became o in Slavic, while in Albanian its a, with an Albanian sound change of p to b. If the toponym is derived from Lab, Ylli suggests it would mean the incoming Slavs encountered the earlier residents there, the Labs.
Demographics In the interwar period Nicholas Hammond passed through the area and described Labovë as a place of mixed speech (Albanian and Greek), with Albanian as the mother tongue. "Whereas Libohovë and the villages north of it are Albanian in speech, those of the plateau form the most easterly pocket of Greek speech in North Epirus. Between Libohovë and the plateau the two hamlets of Labovë (115 houses) are of mixed speech, the mother tongue being Albanian." In fieldwork done by Leonidas Kallivretakis in 1992, Labovë e Kryqit had an exclusive Albanian Orthodox population.
Attractions The Byzantine-era Albanian Orthodox Dormition of the Theotokos Church A Hellenistic fortified site of ancient Chaonia is located in Labovë.
Notable people Vasileios of Dryinoupolis, bishop and politician
References