Tomorr

It reaches an elevation of 2,416 metres (7,927 ft) above sea level at the Çuka e Partizanit, which is the highest peak in central Albania.

[5] Many endangered species are free to roam and live in this area such as bears (Ursus arctos), wolf (Canis lupus), and birds of prey.

[7] Mount Tomorr is associated with Baba Tomor and Zojz by Albanian folk beliefs, with Abbas Ali by Bektashis and with Virgin Mary by Christians.

[13] Vibius Sequester (4th or 5th century AD) records the mountain with the name Tomarus, and locates it in the Roman province of Macedonia, near Apollonia.

John VI Kantakouzenos mentions that the Albanians in those areas rebelled despite the privileges which Andronikos III Palaiologos had given them a few years earlier.

The edifice at the top of the southern peak of Tomorr—a small round twelve-sided shrine encircled by a stone wall—is said to have been built or rebuilt during these years.

[24] In 1908-1909 a two-room stone dervishia was built some 100 metres (330 ft) below the tyrbe, but according to the account of British journalist Joseph Swire who visited the place in 1930 it was burned by Greek armed groups in spring of 1914.

A new tekke (Albanian: teqe/teqja) was founded and built in 1916 on the Kulmaku Mountain by Dervish Iljaz Vërzhezha, on the southeastern part of the Tomorr range, just below the old dervishia.

[26] There is also the oral tradition about the existence of the Church of Saint Marie there;[27] however, the site lacks concrete evidence of any ancient pre-Muslim shrine.

Under the pretext that the armed forces needed the mountain peak as a strategic military place, both the tyrbe and tekke were destroyed in 1967.

[35] In another Bektashi legend, Haji Bektash once saw Christian pilgrims ascend Mount Tomorr on August 15, the feast day of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary.

Haji Bektash then threw the arm bone up onto the peak of Mount Tomorr, thus turning the mountain into the second sacred grave (türbe) of Abbas ibn Ali.

[35] The cult of Mount Tomorr can be found in the Rilindja period of Albanian literature where authors such as Konstantin Kristoforidhi, Naim bey Frashëri, Andon Zako Çajupi, Asdreni, Hilë Mosi, and Ndre Mjeda devoted their works of prose and poetry to Father Tomor.

[34][36] As an example, Naim Frashëri wrote the following poem in his 1890 poetry book Luletë e verësë ("Summer Flowers"):[35][37] Abas Aliu zu’ Tomorë, Erdhi afër nesh, Shqipëria s’mbet e gjorë, Se Zoti e desh.

Moreover, it is anthropomorphized and considered a deity itself, envisioned in the legendary figure of Baba Tomor, an old giant with a long flowing white beard and four female eagles hovering above him and perching on his snow-covered slopes.

She spends her days with her sister, the Sea Beauty, E Bukura e Detit, but when evening comes, the wind, faithful servant of Baba Tomor, carries her back up the mountainside to him.

While Baba Tomor was dallying in bed with the Earthy Beauty one day, Shpirag took advantage of the moment and advanced to take over Berat.

Shrine ( tyrbe ) of Abbas ibn Ali at the top of the southern peak of Tomorr
Tyrbe on top of the southern peak of Tomorr. The Abbas Ali shrine is included in the List of Cultural Monuments of Albania. [ 29 ]
Tomorr from the air. Eastern side with Tomorrica river in front.
Forests of Tomorr
Bektashi tekke on the peak
Osum river and Tomorr in the background