Alternate names: Vlora, Au'lon, Avlon, Avlona, Avlonya, Vallona, Valona, Vljora, Vlona, Vlonë, Vlorë. Hebrew: Avilona. 40°28' N 19°29' E, 62.2 miles SSW of Tiranë on the Adriatic coast north of Saranda. Vlorë or Vlora is the second largest port city of Albania, after Durrës, with a population of about 94,000 in 2008. History of the Jews of Albania. In the 16th century, Vlora was an important center for Sephardic Jewish refugees, who fled Spain and Portugal. Starting in 1850, Romaniot Jews from Yanina and Preveza settled in Valona and formed a small community. They identified the old synagogue and the old cemetery was returned to them. [July 2009]
CEMETERY: The cemetery was destroyed and a private residence was to be built on the site. In 1915 with the occupation of Valona by the Italians, the old synagogue became a military storage and later burned in the great fire of central Valona. In the cemetery only a few old gravestones can be identified. A tombstone was found about 1990. [January 2009]
Source: www.ttec.com/maimon/normand.htm. [date?]