Gjirokastra is located in southern Albania on the hills of Mali i Gjer련Broad Mountain) on the eastern side of the Drino valley. Known by many as the City of Stone, Gjirokastra is a developing centre for cultural heritage tourism. It comprises hundreds of Ottoman-style tower houses with distinctive stone roofs, wooden balconies and whitewashed stone walls. The best time to visit the city is in spring and autumn when the sky, the houses and the sun merge together. Gjirokastra was added to the World Heritage Site list in 2005. Because of its well-preserved status as representative of an almost-extinct way of life, Gjirokastra has been designated a “museum city.”
The modern city of Gjirokastra comprises the old town, a fortress (the original focus of the settlement), the Ottoman districts situated on the ridges leading away from the fortress and the new town on the valley floor where most modern buildings and the university complex are concentrated. The traditional quarters of the city radiate around the fortress.
How to get to Gjirokastra
Gjirokastra can be reached by air via Rinas Airport near the capital city Tirana by taking the national road Rinas-Durr쳭 Fier- Ballsh-Gjirokast철(232 km). You also can land in one of the three seaports of Durr쳬 Vlora and Saranda. After getting off the ferry at Durr쳬 you can take the national road Durr쳭Fier-Ballsh Gjirokast철(202 km). If going by Vlora seaport, you should take the road via Vlor뭠Fier Ballsh-Gjirokast철(114 km). If you arrive at Saranda seaport take the national road to Gjirokastra (56 km). If you travel by your car from north and central Albania, the shortest road is the one via Fier-Ballsh. If you come from Greece you can cross the border at Kakavia, Tri Urat (P쳭et) or Bota Pass (Konispol). Gjirokastra can be reached also by public transportation lines (buses or vans) from Tirana, Vlora, Kor衬 Tepelena and Saranda. It has also regular lines wit Greek cities including Thessalonica and Athens.
History
Gjirokastra is an ancient city with traces of human habitation dating back to the 1st century BC. The city was probably founded some time in the 12th century AD around a fortress on the hillside. Under the rule of the Byzantine Empire, it developed into a major commercial centre known as Argyropolis (Silver City).
The city was part of the Byzantine Despotate of Epirus in the 14th century before passing to the Ottoman Empire in 1417. The 17th century brought about improvement and the town became a major trading centre with a flourishing Bazaar where embroidery, felt, silk and its feta cheese (which is famous even today) were traded. The city was captured in 1811 by the Albanian-born Ali Pasha Tepelena, who strengthened the castle. In 1800-1830, Gjirokastra thrived with the construction of blocks of houses which now have great architectural value. In the late 19th century, when the city was the capital of the sandjak of Gjirokastra in the Ioannina vilayet, it became a centre of resistance to Turkish rule.
Gjirokastra was the birthplace of former dictator Enver Hoxha who awarded it the status of “museum city” in 1961 which meant that rich architectural and cultural heritage of the city was protected by law. Gjirokastra’s other famous son is the writer Ismail Kadare, who set is novel Chronicle in Stone in his home town.
Sights
The Bazaar
The crossroad at Bazaar near the “ȥr誺 Topulli” square, called Qafa e Pazarit from the locals is the center of the old city. A typical Ottoman commercial quarter of the 17th-18th centuries, the Bazaar is found in a relatively good condition. It used to be the economic and financial heart of the entire Drino Valley. Here visitors will be able to see the shops and trading skills of the locals and sit at some very interesting small cafes for a Turkish coffee and home-made rakia. Vistors can try here also Gjirokastra’s typical breakfast: pilaf with pa衠and a bowel of ewe’s yogurt. Pa衠is a soup made with lamb entrails, or cattle head meat. The Bazaar is the crossing point to five main cobble streets leading to up to the Castle, the upper old quarters of Gjirokastra, the Seven Springs of the Bath, the New Metropolitan Church and to the Obelisk of Education.
Castle of Gjirokastra
The splendidly gloomy castle is the city’s dominant feature. There are two gates into the fortress: one at the end of the ridge and the other in the middle of its northern flank. Built from the 8th century AD onwards, this giant ship, as called by the Turkish traveler Evliya ȥlebi during his visit in 1670, was used as a prison by King Zogu, then the Nazis and then by the communists until 1971 when it became a museum. The view from the castle is breathtaking. It offers spectacular views of the Drino valley and surrounding mountains
The castle houses also the Museum of Armaments inaugurated in 1971. It has a rich collection of weapons from both World Wars. There are also some characteristic weapons from the Ottoman period, including daggers, yataghans and pistols. At the far end, there is an unusual model of a very old Italian tank. In the fortress square is exhibited a 1957 US military jet which was captured by the communists during the Cold War.
The Ethnographic Museum
The ethnographic museum is situated in the Palorto Quarter, which is the best preserved district in the old town of Gjirokastra. The Ethnographic Museum stands on the site of the home of Enver Hoxha, communist dictator of Albania from 1944 to 1985. The museum building was constructed in 1966 after the original house was destroyed by fire. The reconstruction was designed as a model traditional Gjirokastra house with many classic features known to have been copied from particular houses around the city. From 1966 to 1991 the building served as the Anti-Fascist Museum. In 1991 the exhibits from the previous Ethnographic Museum were moved into this space. The house has four floors, all of which are open to the public. The rooms are arranged as they would have actually been used and are decorated with numerous household items, folk costumes and cultural artifacts typical of a wealthy Gjirokastra family.
The Old Quarters of Gjirokastra
The quarters of Gjirokastra were extended outside the citadel walls, surrounding it. Gjirokastra’s quarters are famous for their houses. The Gjirokastra house is one of the most distinguished styles of the Albanian house, which is represented in three variations. The exterior appearance combines the sternness it projects with the gracefulness of its windows, its lobby, the small columns that hold the wide shelters, sometimes with paintings on them.
The Old Bazaar and Hamzurat quarters, located on two crests parallel to each other, are the places where the characteristic Gjirokastra houses were built the most. Here are to be found several magnificent houses such as Dino ȩ谳 house, the typical house of Reiz Malile, the Totos, ȵ誳, Bozgos, Roqis, Stavros’s Inn, and the Seven Springs of Me誴e.
The Palorto and Manalat quarters have monumental collections of houses with their characteristic dimensions and walls of uniform blocks. Palorto can be considered as the most complete neighbourhood and the richest one in architectural, urban and civic traditional elements of Gjirokastra. The house, where the communist leader Enver Hoxha was born, now the Ethnographic museum, the house of the famous writer Ismail Kadare and other well-known families are found in this neighbourhood.
Houses of the Dunavat quarter are decorously conjugated with their sites, and in the Cfaka quarters the shapes of the buildings are in harmony with the greenery. In Dunavat is the museum house of the brothers Bajo and ȥr誺 Topulli.
Gjirokastra Surroundings
The archaeological site of Antigonea is an ancient settlement of the Chaonians to the south of Gjirokastra, near the village of Saraqinisht. The city was founded by King Pyrrhus of Epirus at the beginning of the 3rd century BC and was provided with a strong defensive wall, 4,000 m long, with 13 towers and three entrances. It took its name for the honour of his wife called Antigonea. Around the middle of the 2nd century BC, the town was conquered by a Roman army, plundered and sacked. There is a small three-aisled church of the early Christian period (6th century) with a colourful mosaic floor.
