Pustec

File:Church of Saint Michael 05.jpg

Pustec is located on the southwestern shore of Lake Prespa and is the nearest village to the island of Maligrad. It sits at an elevation of {{convert|861|m|ft}} above sea level.{{cite web|url=http://al.geoview.info/liqenas,782500|title=Liqenas|publisher=Geoview.info|accessdate=17 May 2014}} To the northeast, along the lake, lies Shulin, while in the southeast is the village of Leska.

Pustec and the surrounding region lie within the Prespa National Park.

The village of Pustec was mentioned in the Slepche Beadroll from the 16th century.Гергова, Иванка. Поменици от Македония в български сбирки, София, 2006, с. 29.

The {{Lang|fr|La Macédoine et sa Population Chrétienne}} survey by Dimitar Mishev (D. Brancoff) from 1905 shows that the inhabitants of the village of Pustec ({{langx|bg|Пустец}})сп. "Македонски преглед", Македонски научен институт, год. ХХХ, 2007, бр. № 3. Бело, Раки. Селищни имена в Мала Преспа - Албания. стр. 133 - 138.Olga M. Mladenova, Definiteness in Bulgarian: Modelling the Processes of Language Change, Walter de Gruyter, 2008, {{ISBN|3110198894}}, p. 393.Mangalakova, Tanya (2004). Ethnic Bulgarians in Mala Prespa and Golo Brdo. Sofia; International Centre for Minority Studies and Intercultural Relations (IMIR).Tashev, S. Bulgarians in Albania. The Long Path to Recognition. Orbel, Sofia – Toronto, 2020. pp. 202-209, ISBN 978-954-496-138-1. were in the bosom of the Bulgarian Exarchate. There were 400 Bulgarian Exarchists in the village.[http://anemi.lib.uoc.gr/php/pdf_pager.php?filename=%2Fvar%2Fwww%2Fanemi-portal%2Fmetadata%2F6%2F9%2F5%2Fattached-metadata-5d3c137498cf87397083652dec9dfdac_1242889374%2F154547_w.pdf&rec=&do=&width=1031&height=728&pagestart=1&maxpage=141&lang=en&pageno=89&pagenotop=89&pagenobottom=88 D.M.Brancoff. "La Macédoine et sa Population Chrétienne". Paris, 1905, p.170-171] {{in lang|fr}}

The French linguist André Mazon in his study on Slavic folklore in Albania from 1936 noted Pustec as a Bulgarian village in the region of Mala Prespa.[http://damj.manu.edu.mk/pdf/0009%20Andre%20Mazon.pdf Mazon, André. Documents, contes et chansons slaves de l’Albanie du Sud, Paris, 1936, p.3] {{in lang|fr}}

In 1939, on behalf of 70 Bulgarian houses in Pustec, Todor Postalov signed a request by the local Bulgarians to the Bulgarian tsaritsa Giovanna requesting her intervention for the protection of the Bulgarian people in Albania – at that time an Italian protectorate.Елдъров, Светозар. Българите в Албания 1913-1939. Изследване и документи, София, 2000, стр. 324-326.{{in lang|bg}}

In 1973, the official name of the village was changed to Liqenas by the Albanian government. In 2013, however, the original Slavic name, Pustec, was once again made official by the Albanian government.[http://www.dw.de/%D0%BF%D1%83%D1%81%D1%82%D0%B5%D1%86-%D0%BF%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B5%D1%9C%D0%B5-%D0%BD%D0%B5-%D0%B5-%D0%BB%D0%B8%D1%9C%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%B0%D1%81/a-16681710?maca=maz-rss-maz-pol_makedonija_timemk-4727-xml-mrss Pustec poveke ne e Liqenas]

File:Chapel in Pustec, Albania 04.jpg

The majority of the population are ethnic Macedonians.

File:Almk sign.JPG (top) and Macedonian (bottom)]]

The village of Pustec is situated near two centuries'-old rock churches. The first, Saint Michael the Archangel, is situated on the Lake Prespa shore. Its oldest frescoes date from the 12th century. The other, St Nicholas, contains only fragments of its original frescoes.{{cite book|title=Пештерните цркви во Охридско-Преспанскиот регион (Р. Македонија, Р. Албанија, Р. Грција)|last=Angeličin-Žura|first=Goce|publisher=В: „Ниш и Византија IV: зборник радова“; Симпозиум „Ниш и Византија IV“, Зборник радова IV, Ниш, 3–5 юни 2005|location=Ниш|pages=397|url=http://www.ni.rs/byzantium/doc/zbornik4/PDF-IV/Zure.pdf|accessdate=4 May 2014|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20111006154644/http://www.ni.rs/byzantium/doc/zbornik4/PDF-IV/Zure.pdf|archivedate=6 October 2011|df=dmy-all}} Pustec is home to an ethnographic museum, established by Spase Trpo in 2023.{{cite news |url=https://www.folshqip.al/e-vecante-mesuesi-i-historise-krijon-muzeun-etnografik-ne-pustec/ |title=E veçantë, mësuesi i historisë krijon muzeun etnografik në Pustec |publisher=Fol Shqip }}{{cite news |title=Еуроњуз Албанија: Спасе Терпо од Пустец со свои сили изгради музеј, го направи она што со години власта не успеа |url=https://skopskoeho.mk/euronjuz-albanija-spase-terpo-od-pustec-so-svoi-sili-izgradi-muzej-go-napravi-ona-shto-so-godini-vlasta-ne-uspea/ |publisher=Skopsko Eho |date=13 March 2023 }}

• Trajan Gjorgjiovski, partisan{{cite news|url=http://makedonium.net/?p=1190&lang=sq|title=Ta Pastrojmë Prespën Në Një Ditë|date=30 November 2013|publisher=Makedonium|language=Albanian|accessdate=17 May 2014}}
• Mitre Kolevski, partisan
• Edmond Temelko, mayor of Pustec Municipality and president of the Macedonian Party

{{Wikivoyage|Pustec}}

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Category:Populated places in Pustec Municipality

Category:Villages in Korçë County

Category:Macedonian communities in Albania