and still stands today as a major tourist attraction. Ali Pasha's rule over Himarë lasted about 20 years until it was abruptly terminated by his murder at the hands of the Ottoman agents. Himarë subsequently reverted to its status quo ante of an enclave surrounded by Ottoman territory. To emphasize the region's special status, the terms that the Himariotes had reached with Suleiman the Magnificent were inscribed on bronze tablets at the request of their leaders, who wanted to record the agreement on a durable medium. These tablets are preserved to this day in the Topkapi palace museum in Istanbul. When the Greek War of Independence (1821–1830) broke out, the people of Himarë rose in revolt. The local uprising failed, but many Himariotes, veterans of the Russian and French Army, joined the revolutionary forces in today southern Greece, where they played a significant role in the struggle. In 1854, during the Crimean War, a major local rebellion broke out, with Himarë being one of the first towns that joined it. Although the newly founded Greek state tried tacitly to support it, the rebellion was suppressed by Ottoman forces after a few months. The Himariotes were continuously held suspicious of supporting the expansionist plans of Greece in the region, especially during the era of the Albanian national awakening. The leader of Albanian independence, Eqrem Vlora, wrote at the turn of the 19th century that among Himariotes there were only 3,000 who had always been Greek-speaking. According to him, they were of a single Greek line of descent, regardless how old it was. In 1913, the French journalist Rene Puaux was impressed by the strong Greek feeling of the Himariotes. Modern During the First Balkan War, on 18 November 1912, the town revolted under the Greek Gendarmerie officer and Himarë native Spyros Spyromilios and expelled the Ottoman forcesBadlands, borderlands: a history of Northern Epirus/Southern Albania by Tom Winnifrith,2002,, page 129 in order to join Greece. In March 1914, the "Protocol of Corfu" was signed, which established the Autonomous Republic of Northern Epirus, of which Himarë formed a part, though the Autonomous Republic itself formally remained part of the newly formed Albanian state. However, in the Panepirotic assembly in Delvinë, that aimed at the ratifications of the terms of the Protocol by the Northern Epirote representatives, the delegates of Himarë abstained, insisting that only union with Greece would be a viable solution. During