Until 1860, the village had a Slavonic population and a church of Sveti Ǵorǵi (Saint George).[5] The village became inhabited by Muslim Albanians, numbering some 155 in 1900 and the expelled Slavonic population went to live in Medovo[5] (modern Mileon). At the time, Vineni was moved to a higher location due to bad climatic conditions.[5]
The 1920 Greek census recorded 202 people in the village, and 202 inhabitants (36 families) were Muslim in 1923.[6] The Albanian village population was present until 1926 and were replaced with prosfiges (Greek refugees),[5] due to the Greek–Turkish population exchange. In Vineni, Greek refugee families were from Asia Minor (18) and four others from an unidentified location in 1926.[6] The 1928 Greek census recorded 173 village inhabitants.[6] In 1928, the refugee families numbered 24 (97 people).[6] During the Greek Civil War, the Greek refugee population fled to nearby Karyes and later other prosfiges (Greek refugees) were brought to repopulate the village.[5]
By the 1950s, the Greek government assisted a group of nomadic transhumant Aromanians (known as the Arvanitovlachs) originating from Thessaly, to settle in depopulated villages of the Prespa region like Pyli.[7][8] Aromanians are the only inhabitants of the village.[7]
Pyli had 137 inhabitants in 1981.[9] In fieldwork done by anthropologist Riki Van Boeschoten in late 1993, Pyli was populated by Aromanians.[9] The Aromanian language was spoken in the village by people over 30 in public and private settings.[9] Children understood the language, but mostly did not use it.[9]
