From the 13th century it was a small settlement called Episkopi (Greek: Επισκοπή, "bishopric").
The modern town dates from the 1480s, when Iljaz Hoxha, during the reign of Ottoman Sultan Bayezid II, developed Korçë after becoming its administrator and building a mosque bearing his name.
Korçë was a sandjak of the Manastir Vilayet in the Ottoman Empire as Görice.

The city started to flourish when the nearby town of Moscopole was raided by the Muslim Albanian troops of Ali Pasha at 1788.
Korçë grew as part of its population came from nearby Moscopole.
Greek sources (Liakos and Aravandinos) have noted of the Korçë Aromanian populations' origins that in addition to many being from Moscopole, others settled during a time of calm and were from the village of Shalës, Kolonjë and established the market district of Korçë known as Varosh.
Aromanians from the Arvanitovlach subgroup that in the early 19th century arrived to the Korçë area played a significant role in establishing the Korçë Christian urban class.
In Psalidas' work Geography from 1830 noted that in the district of Varosh in Korçë, 100 Aromanian families lived there.

According to French diplomat François Pouqueville there were 1,300 families living in the city in 1805 with two thirds of them being Christian.
Korçë went from having a population of 8,200 (1875) to 18,000 (1905) and of those 14,000 were regarded as Greek and the rest as Albanian.
Of those considered as Greek in Korçë, this was because they adhered to Orthodox Christianity, but Michael Palairet argues that most were Aromanians (Vlachs).
Other sources however have characterized the population as primarily ethnic Albanian in the early 20th century, while others as Greek.
Greek was the language of the elite and the majority of the Aromanian population engaged in commerce, crafts and international trade becoming one of the wealthiest communities in Epirus and Macedonia.
Albanians of Korçë engaged mostly in stockbreeding, agriculture and were poor.
The inhabitants of the city spoke both Albanian and Greek.

Korçë's cultural isolation was reduced due to Greek schools, the first one being founded in the city at 1724.
Subsequently, Muslim Albanian revolutionary intellectuals from the city emerged in the 1840s that wanted to preserve a Muslim Albania within a reformed Ottoman state.
Due to increasing Hellenisation by the 1870s, those sentiments became replaced with the concept of an Albanian nation based on linguistic and cultural factors through struggle against a collapsing Ottoman Empire.
During the late Ottoman era, Orthodox Albanians involved in the Albanian National Awakening came mainly from Korçë and its surrounding areas.
On the other hand, the city council of Korçë, known as demogerontia (Greek: Δημογεροντία), and the metropolitan bishop of the city who identified as Greeks sent a secret memorandum to the foreign office department of Greece suggesting various ways to tackle activities by Albanian nationalists.
In 1885, Jovan Cico Kosturi became the founder of a committee called the Albanian Cultural Society, along with co-founders Thimi Marko and Orhan Pojani, but the formation of the organization was suppressed by both the Ottoman and Orthodox Church authorities, so it went underground and carried on its activities as the Secret Committee of Korça (Albanian: Komiteti i Fshehtë i Korçës), and two years later, in March 1887, with the help of the Frashëri brothers, the Secret Committee set up the first Albanian school.

In the late Ottoman period, inhabitants from Korçë and surrounding areas emigrated abroad for economic opportunities, often by the Orthodox community who mainly as qualified craftsmen went to Romania, Greece and Bulgaria while Muslims went to Istanbul performing mainly menial labour work.
Late nineteenth century Albanian migration to the United States consisted mainly of Orthodox Albanians from Korçë and surrounding areas who went to work there, save money and intending to eventually return home.
From the 13th century it was a small settlement called Episkopi (Greek: Επισκοπή, "bishopric"). The modern town dates from the 1480s, when Iljaz Hoxha, during the reign of Ottoman Sultan Bayezid II, developed Korçë after becoming its administrator and building a mosque bearing his name. Korçë was a sandjak of the Manastir Vilayet in the Ottoman Empire as Görice.
The city started to flourish when the nearby town of Moscopole was raided by the Muslim Albanian troops of Ali Pasha at 1788. Korçë grew as part of its population came from nearby Moscopole. Greek sources (Liakos and Aravandinos) have noted of the Korçë Aromanian populations' origins that in addition to many being from Moscopole, others settled during a time of calm and were from the village of Shalës, Kolonjë and established the market district of Korçë known as Varosh. Aromanians from the Arvanitovlach subgroup that in the early 19th century arrived to the Korçë area played a significant role in establishing the Korçë Christian urban class. In Psalidas' work Geography from 1830 noted that in the district of Varosh in Korçë, 100 Aromanian families lived there.
According to French diplomat François Pouqueville there were 1,300 families living in the city in 1805 with two thirds of them being Christian. Korçë went from having a population of 8,200 (1875) to 18,000 (1905) and of those 14,000 were regarded as Greek and the rest as Albanian. Of those considered as Greek in Korçë, this was because they adhered to Orthodox Christianity, but Michael Palairet argues that most were Aromanians (Vlachs). Other sources however have characterized the population as primarily ethnic Albanian in the early 20th century, while others as Greek. Greek was the language of the elite and the majority of the Aromanian population engaged in commerce, crafts and international trade becoming one of the wealthiest communities in Epirus and Macedonia. Albanians of Korçë engaged mostly in stockbreeding, agriculture and were poor. The inhabitants of the city spoke both Albanian and Greek.
Korçë's cultural isolation was reduced due to Greek schools, the first one being founded in the city at 1724. Subsequently, Muslim Albanian revolutionary intellectuals from the city emerged in the 1840s that wanted to preserve a Muslim Albania within a reformed Ottoman state. Due to increasing Hellenisation by the 1870s, those sentiments became replaced with the concept of an Albanian nation based on linguistic and cultural factors through struggle against a collapsing Ottoman Empire. During the late Ottoman era, Orthodox Albanians involved in the Albanian National Awakening came mainly from Korçë and its surrounding areas. On the other hand, the city council of Korçë, known as demogerontia (Greek: Δημογεροντία), and the metropolitan bishop of the city who identified as Greeks sent a secret memorandum to the foreign office department of Greece suggesting various ways to tackle activities by Albanian nationalists. In 1885, Jovan Cico Kosturi became the founder of a committee called the Albanian Cultural Society, along with co-founders Thimi Marko and Orhan Pojani, but the formation of the organization was suppressed by both the Ottoman and Orthodox Church authorities, so it went underground and carried on its activities as the Secret Committee of Korça (Albanian: Komiteti i Fshehtë i Korçës), and two years later, in March 1887, with the help of the Frashëri brothers, the Secret Committee set up the first Albanian school.
In the late Ottoman period, inhabitants from Korçë and surrounding areas emigrated abroad for economic opportunities, often by the Orthodox community who mainly as qualified craftsmen went to Romania, Greece and Bulgaria while Muslims went to Istanbul performing mainly menial labour work. Late nineteenth century Albanian migration to the United States consisted mainly of Orthodox Albanians from Korçë and surrounding areas who went to work there, save money and intending to eventually return home.
Korçë