Voskopoja, One of the Most Important Hearths of Balkan Illuminist Ideas

Abstract

The thriving city of Voskopoja was in the middle of the eighteenth century one of the most important centres of Illuminist ideas in the Balkans. As a commercial and cultural center, it was until the end of this century an important habitat for civilisation. The importance of the history of this place is connected with the history and culture of all peoples living in and around Voskopoja as the Vlachs, Albanians, Greeks, Bulgarians and Macedonians.The development of education and culture in this region came under the influence of the Western European Illuminist movement. This movement marked in Voskopoja an important step in the context of the rule of feudalism and compared with the mysticism and medieval Aristotelian scholasticism which had ruled until then in the Church of the East. In this town was formed the "New Academy", whose director was Teodor Anastas Kavalioti (1718-1789), one of the most prominent thinkers of the postbizantine era in the Balkans. Another important evidence of the development of this country was the printing house of Voskopoja (1731-1769), known especially for the legends of saints that were published there.

DOI: 10.5901/jesr.2014.v4n3p229