Grnčari (Macedonian: Грнчари, Albanian: Gërçar, Turkish: Grınçar) is a village in the Resen Municipality of North Macedonia. Located just under 9 kilometres (5.6 mi) from the municipal centre of Resen,[1] the village has 417 residents.[2]
Grnčari Грнчари Gërçar Grınçar | |
|---|---|
Village | |
 Panoramic view of the village | |
  Grnčari Location within North Macedonia | |
| Coordinates: 41°01′06″N 21°03′12″E / 41.01833°N 21.05333°E | |
| Country |  North Macedonia |
| Region |  Pelagonia |
| Municipality |  Resen |
| Population (2021) | |
| • Total | 311 |
| Time zone | UTC+1 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+2 (CEST) |
| Area code | +389 |
| Car plates | RE |
Demographics
The village of Grnčari is inhabited by an Sunni Muslim Albanian speaking majority and Orthodox Macedonian minority.[3] A few Turkish speaking families are also present in Grnčari.[3] Sunni Albanians in Grnčari traditionally highlighted their religious identity over a linguistic one having closer economic and social relations with Turks and Macedonian Muslims in the region and being distant from Orthodox Macedonians.[3] Over time these differences have disappeared through intermarriage, closer communal and cultural relations with Bektashi and other Sunni Prespa Albanian communities in the region.[3]
In statistics gathered by Vasil Kanchov in 1900, the village of Grnčari was inhabited by 165 Bulgarian Christians and 300 Muslim Albanians.[4] In 1905 in statistics gathered by Dimitar Mishev Brancoff, Grnčari was inhabited by 120 Bulgarian Exarchists and 360 Muslim Albanians.[5] After World War Two, some Albanian settlements in Yugoslavia declared themselves as Turks due to the word being a generic term for Muslims or pressure by Yugoslav authorities to do so.[6][7] In the 2002 census, Albanians form a large ethnic majority in the village.[8]
| Ethnic group | census 1961 | census 1971 | census 1981 | census 1991 | census 1994 | census 2002 | census 2021 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | |
| Macedonians | 170 | 17.7 | 157 | 15.0 | 164 | 13.6 | 102 | 12.6 | 92 | 19.3 | 79 | 18.9 | 54 | 17.4 |
| Albanians | 194 | 20.2 | 838 | 79.9 | 963 | 79.9 | 354 | 43.8 | 362 | 76.1 | 326 | 78.2 | 230 | 74.0 |
| Turks | 597 | 62.1 | 49 | 4.8 | 61 | 5.1 | 43 | 5.3 | 22 | 4.6 | 11 | 2.6 | 4 | 1.3 |
| others | 1 | 0.1 | 5 | 0.5 | 17 | 1.4 | 309 | 38.2 | 0 | 0.0 | 1 | 0.2 | 1 | 0.3 |
| Persons for whom data are taken from administrative sources | 22 | 7.1 | ||||||||||||
| Total | 962 | 1,049 | 1,205 | 808 | 476 | 417 | 311 | |||||||
Sports
Local football club KF Lirija Gërçar play in the Macedonian Third League (Southwest Division).
Gallery
Fields of Grnčari, with Lake Prespa and Galičica mountains in the background
Architecture of Grnčari
View from Grnčari of the road toward Podmočani.
Local football ground of Grnčari football team
Mosque and Muslim cemetery of Grnčari
Tekke of Sali Baba, Grnčari
Church of St. Athanasius and Orthodox cemetery, Grnčari
St. Elijah Monastery, Grnčari (built 18th century)
Iconostasis of St. Elijah Monastery, Grnčari
Forest of Grnčari on the slopes of the Baba mountain range
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