Once home to around 800 residents, the village, located at the foot of Mali i Thatë (Dry Mountain), is now inhabited by only about 30 people. Most residents have emigrated abroad, while others have relocated to urban areas within Albania.
The lack of an accessible road has left the village isolated and has played a direct role in its gradual abandonment. Today, the village school has only one student.
“There used to be 700 to 800 residents here; now there are only about 38 to 40 of us left. The road is in very poor condition. If the road were improved, it would take only 15 minutes to get here. They started work on it as if they were doing it just for show. It saddens me because this area produces everything. Anyone who comes here can tell the difference, even in the taste of a simple egg. If the road is built, there is still hope. People would come back and cultivate the land,” said one resident.
A village blessed by nature with favorable conditions for agriculture and livestock farming is now facing the absence of its most important resource—its people.
For the remaining residents, hopes of restoring Peshkëpia’s former vitality are fading. They say that the lack of proper road infrastructure has driven people away year after year, despite the area’s strong potential for farming and animal husbandry.
According to locals, only the construction of a functional road can create opportunities for life to return to this well-known village, which once counted hundreds of residents and was among the most active communities in the region.