Kišava, (, ) is a village in the municipality of Bitola, North Macedonia. It used to be part of the former municipality of Bistrica.

thumb|Photograph of the entrance to the village of Këshavë (Kišava), showing the main sign reading "Mirë Se Vini Në Këshavë" ("Welcome to Këshavë"). 2025

Geography

Kišava is a mountainous village, close to the border with Greece.

History

In Ottoman documents, Kišava between the 17th and 18th centuries is listed as a Christian village.

From 1963 onward, Albanians from Kišava migrated to Dandenong, a south-eastern Melbourne suburb in Victoria, Australia.

As of the 2021 census, Kišava had 185 residents with the following ethnic composition:

  • Albanians 169
  • Persons for whom data are taken from administrative sources 16

According to the 2002 census, the village had a total of 308 inhabitants.

  • Albanians 307
  • Macedonians 1

Culture

As Albanian Tosks, the speech and customs of Kišava villagers differs from nearby villages Ostrec and Zlokuḱani who are Ghegs (northern Albanians). The village has a primary school.

In 2019, some members of the Kišava diaspora from Dandenong organised an ongoing annual festival Takimet e Keshavës (Kišava gathering) in Kišava, and is attended by the diaspora during their summer holidays in the village.

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File:Fshati Këshavë 3.jpg|Kišava village

File:Fshati Këshavë 8.jpg|Traditional architecture of Kišava

File:Fshati Këshavë 7.jpg|Road in Kišava

File:Fshati Këshavë 5.jpg|Primary school in Kišava

File:Fshati Këshavë 9.jpg|Houses in Kišava

File:Xhamia e Këshavës 4.jpg|Mosque of Kišava

File:Fshati Këshavë 22.jpg|Fields of Kišava toward the Baba mountain range

File:Fshati Këshavë 15.jpg|Fields of Kišava

File:Fshati Këshavë 17.jpg|Horses grazing on Kišava mountain slope

File:Fshati Këshavë 16.jpg|Horse grazing in Kišava field

File:Fshati Këshavë 24.jpg|Kišava village

</gallery>

References