Photos: David Paul Appell unless otherwise noted
Well, well, Sqipëria is back in the news these days - and not just because it´s become somewhat fashionable as a destination in recent years. I´d been intrigued by this very singular country for many years, since a freelance editing gig for a major U.S. travel guidebook publisher, which in 1993 handed me an assignment to work on its next Eastern Europe edition – with a very small section on this quirky little land of 2.75 million in the Balkans on the Adriatic Sea north of Greece as well as bordering Kosovo (which is also ethnic Albanian), Montenegro, and North Macedona. And a mighty short section it was, with almost no detail beyond a general physical and historical description. The reason for that, of course, was that it had spent 41 years of the 20th century locked grimly away under the brutal and totalitarian Commuist dictatorship of Enver Hoxha, which started out in 1944 as Stalinist, then by the 1960s had evolved into something akin to Maoist thanks to the influence of its only remaining world ally, China.
How times have changed since Hoxha´s successor Ramiz Alia left office in 1992 and the first democratic elections were held. These days Albania is "having a moment," as media wags like to say, as more and more travelers in Europe and beyond are discovering its picture-postcard historic cities and towns, pristine nature, and especially luminous beaches - and all at bargain rates. Since this past May, the country has even been making international headlines of late thanks to anti-protests, dubbed the "Flamingo Revolution," against the Socialist Party primer minister Edi Rama, who has been in office for 14 years now. At first, the issue was the Socialists´ brazen attempts to ram through a resort-development project on pristine Sazan island, Albania´s largest, located on the southern Ionian Sea coast near the city of Vlorë, which would unacceptably damage the environment and endanger wildlife famously including flamingos (hence the protests have been dubbed the "Flamingo Revolution"). Along the way, it´s also raising questions about corruption and lack of transparency that have led the European Union to put in doubt Albania´s fervently desired admission to the union. (And if all that weren´t enough, the whole controversy has become especially high-profile because the developers are led by Jared Kushner, the corrupt, brazen som-in-law of the also corrupt, brazen current President of the United States.) I happen to think that Rama and his party have mostly done great things for the country, so I´m all the more disappointed by their getting into bed with the sleazeballs and doggedly insisting on pushing this corrupt, destructive boondoggle - as well as their dismaying disdain for protesters who are only seeking accountability and better government; they´ve even adopted the nonsenical but disturbingly familiar tactic of branding the protests as driven by "Antifa."
But be that all as it may, Albania remains a destination that´s remarkable as well as very easily traversable - it´s about the size of the state of Hawaii (and some ⅖ larger than Wales), and you could drive from its southern to northern border in just eight hours. Its sites and sights range from medieval old towns to ancient ruins, reflecting a history that stretches back to the region´s original settlement by Indo-European Illyrian tribes (from one of which, the Albanoi, the country takes its name in various languages besides Albanian itself), then its absorption into the Roman and later Byzantine and Ottoman empires; the Ottomans ruled here from 1479 to 1912, during which most of the population converted to Islam (although these days the vast majority are secular or nonpracticing after nearly a half century of official atheism under Hoxha, and those who do practice are very much of a moderate, non-fundamentalist stripe). And during the 20th century, before it was occupied by Benito Mussolini´s Italy then Nazi Germany, from 1928 to 1939 it was a monarchy under the ruthless, dictatorial King Zog (for six years before that that he was prime minister, then president, and by the way was freakishly tall at 6´9"); as you can intuit, for the most part not a happy history. As for its unique ethnic identity, the impenetrable Albanian language is Indo-European but unlike any other on the continent (a bit more on that at the end of this post), and its non-Slavic culture is shaped by kinship, honor, hospitality, and a distinctive folklore.
And so if I may, allow me to tell you a bit about what I saw and experienced during a weeklong visit with my husband and friends; our trip was in late March, so in our itinerary we didn´t include the coast and beach destinations such as Dhërmi, Himara, and Ksamil, nor did we have time to explore spectacular natural sites like Valbona Valley and Theth national parks reflecting a varied landscape ranging from soaring peaks to fertile lowland plains. Instead, our focus was more cultural/historical, concentrating on capital Tiranë (Tirana) along with four smaller towns/cities:
Flying into the country´s international airport was one of our most seamless arrival experiences ever; TIA is small but modern and very manageable - we even made it through border control just by plunking our U.S. passports on a scanner - although it did end up taking a bit of time to secure local SIM cards for our phones. The 11-mile taxi ride into the city center, though, was another story; under ideal conditions it takes 20 to 25 minutes, but late-afternoon rush-hour traffic turned ours into an hourlong slog. All that was forgotten, though, once we started exploring this central inland city of some 608,000. Founded under the Ottomans in 1614, Tirana was pretty much nowheresville until 1920, when it was established as the capital (in part because it´s fairly centrally located within the country), and while there are no grand monuments, you can spend a very nice two, even three days here. Very walkable (we never once needed a taxi), the city has as its hub is Skanderbeg Square (top), named after the national hero Gjergj Kastrioti (aka Skanderbeg), revered for revolting - utimately unsuceesfully - against the Ottomans in the 15th century (that´s ol´ Skandy on a horse in the photo at the top, part of a 36-foot-tall statue installed in 1968).
Other major sites around the square start with the Et´hem Bey Mosque (interior above and exterior at left behind us in the photo at the top), finished around 1820, it sports unusual exterior and portico frescos of landscapes, trees, waterfalls, and bridges) and adjacent clock tower. On the other side is the 45-year-old National Museum with its huge, heroic-proletarian-Communist-style mural The Albanian People, home to exhibits laying out the history of this land from antiquity through the Hoxha era (entitled "Communist Terror," plus a separate section devoted to Mother Teresa, who was Albanian though born in Kosovo; the museum is, however, closed for renovation until 2028, though the mural is still visible. The National Palace of Culture is also fro this era, and is home to the National Theater of Opera and Ballet, while a newer Communist relic, from 1979, is the Tirana International Hotel, which has been updated for the 21st century. Meanwhile, the Bank of Albania and the Tirana City Hall go back somewhat further, to rationalist Italian redesign of the square in 1937-38.
it starts with the Pyramid of Tirana, a ten-to-15-minute walk south of Skanderbeg Square, built in 1988 as a mausoleum for Hoxha and ended up being used for a series of other things before falling into disrepair (some wanted it torn down as a relic of the dictatorship) and finally being rehabilitated in 2023. Today it´s home to tech and entertainment studios as well as conference and workshop facilities, along with a s mattering of bars and restaurants. We climbed its sloping steps (I didn´t count how many, but estimates vary between 100 and 150; there´s also an elevator) and got a bit of a view around the downtown area.
Tirana has a castle, too - well, the remains of one. Most of the Byzantine-era Fortress of Justinian - dating back to before 1300 - is gone, with the exception of a vince covered, 20-foot-high Ottoman-era wall. Inside is an "old bazaar" pedestrian street lined with retaurants and (mostly tourist oriented) shops.
Another unique fixture on the cityscape is its concrete bunkers. From 1967 to 1986, some 175,000 of them were built across the country by the paranoid Hoxha régima, ranging from simple little pillboxes (top left, above) to elaborate underground command centers. Many are simply mouldering, but others have been turned into bars, cafés, and even tourist accommodations. In Tirana, two of the command centers have been turned into museums, and we visited one, built in 1982 and now called Bunk´Art 2 (also above), which beyond the original installations has plenty to say about about that era, its abuses, and its surveillance.
Other notable relics of the dictatorship can be found in Blloku, a part of town a five minute walk away from Bunk' Art 2 and which was home to a number of homes and institutions associated with the dictatorship, such as Villa 51 (above), the former residence of dictator Enver Hozha, which as now an artists´ center open to visitors only during events.
One spot visitors can freely enter every day is the five-year-old Muzeu Gjethi (House of Leaves Museum, so called because of the climbing plant on its facade), the villa that became the headquarters of Albania´s secret police from 1944 to 1991. With exhibits built around hundreds of artifacts, it tells the chilling story of the Hoxha régime´s suffocating surveillance of its population.
Blloku also is home to restaurants and nightspots, such as the eatery Era, with a fantastic menu of Albanian specialties; Radio Bar, a cool little watering hole just up the street; and Sky Club 360 (above at top) a lounge bar revolving (with adjoining restaurant), on the 18th-floor of the highrise Sky Hotel.
We were struck, too, by the many new eye-catching buildings in town (among the 500 building projects the Edi Rama government has commissioned from and reknowned international "starchitect" firms the last few years), including one (at top right) designed by a Dutch first MVRDB and whose silhouette is meant to evoke the head of Skanbergeg). Incidentally, now they too are mired in controversy thanks to the way they were rammed through by the government with minimal transparency and regard for local preservation and other conditions.
Simon Dux
Finally, it´s worth mentioning a day trip to 113-square-mile Dajti Mountain National Park, with marvelous hiking, whose peak (crowned by a restaurant with, as you can imagine, sweeping views) is reachable via cable car, the Dajti Ekspress.
For more about Tirana on Tripatini, click here.
Krujë*
Having wound up our stay in the capital, our group of four picked up a Citröen Aircross and cruised into the hills an hour or so northwest of Tirana to this small city (pop. around 51,000), Inhabited by the ancient Illyrian tribe of the Albanoi, in 1190 Krujë became the capital of the first Albanian state, called the Prinicpality of Arbanon (though it retained its independence for just 16 years), then later the Kingdom of Albania (1272-1392). These days the modern town lies below the old quarter up in the hills, which essentially consists of a small medieval bazaar, with a cobblestone street flanked by period houses (all of them occupied by souvenir shops), and at the upper end of it Skanderbeg´s ruined kalaja (fortress, dating back to the 5th of 6th century); what little remains of the 14th-century Ottoman Fethiye Mosque; and the 60-year-old national Skanderbeg Museum of history and ethnography (interior shot above right) alongside them, and in turn alongside that is the old-school looking Kroi restaurant, where we didn´t have lunch but did have coffee and a nice slice of cake. In one of those shops, by the way, I spent 5,000 leks (at the time 50 eures/21USD/46GBP) for a now treasured memento: a small which porcelain bust of dear old dictator Enver. It´s funny - the thing is riddled with cracks, because this is one of those things that "patriotic" Albanians back then felt obliged to ostentate at home, but once the SOB was gone most smashed these suckers to smithereens. This owner, however, belated must´ve realized he could make a buck (or a lek) of this selling to tourists, and so went through the incredible painstaking work of pieceing this sucker back togehter. For that I figures he deserved the five grand lol.
Albania´s fourth largest city (pop. 96,000) was our next stop, just under two hours´ drive north from Krujë. With origins dating back to the Illyrian tribes of the 4th century BCE (and known for its arts and culture), the architecture of its historical downtown is mostly from the Ottoman late 19th and early 20th centuries (the early years of Albanian independence), with a few building dating as far back as the 18th. It´s no exactly dense with "sights" to see, but is more about strolling and taking it all in, especially along downtown´s main pedestrian hub, Rruga Kolë Idromeno, lined with cafés, restaurants, and shops housed behind pastel façades, balconies, and arcades reflecting an appealing blend of Ottoman and Central European influences, as well as a handful from the period when the Republic of Venice across the Adriatic extended its influence to the city then known as Scutari, from 1396 to 1479. The main landmark, the Ebu Bekr Mosque (Great Mosque), looks traditional but was actually built in the 1990s relatively soon after the fall of the dictatorship. and it´s certainly worth a peek. Even more worth a visit, on Bulevardi Skënderbeu iseveral blocks off the main drag, is Vendi i Dëshmisë dhe Kujtesës (the Site of Witness and Memory Museum); this former Franciscan college was turned by the régime into a bleak and grim prison and interrogration center, and you can see the prison cells and rooms ducomenting more than 40 years of repression The other two are a short drive out of town: the 18th-century Ottoman Ura e Mesit (Mesi Bridge), and especially Kalaja e Rozafës (Rozafa Castle), a hilltop fortress with ancient origins and medieval fortifications. Its ramparts offer panoramic views over the city, the surrounding mountains, and the confluence of the Buna and Drin rivers.
By the way, one definite recommendation for a splendid and atmospherically set traditional feast here is Tradita (above), housed in a traditional Ottoman merchant housed built in 1634 (and which offers an atmospheric place to stay, as well), also several blocks of Rruga Kolä Idromeno.
Gjirokastër/Gjirokastra*
Another day, another destination! And this town of around 23,000 - dubbed "the city of stone" - located in a mountain valley down south was in many was our favorite one. A 4½-hour drive from Shkodër (it´s just under four from Tirana), the intensely atmospheric feel of its old quarter makes its UNESCO World Heritage Site designation feel amply deserved. With its origins in the early 14th century under Byzantine rulers it was conquered by the Ottomans in in 1418 and ruled by them as their Albanian capital until it became part of the early-20th-century Kingdom of Albania. Under Hoxha it became an industrial and commercial center but was also designated a "museum city."
Up on the hillside, Gjirokastër´s UNESCO World Heritage core is medieval Qafa e Pazarit (Old Bazaar, above), with sloping cobblestone streets these days lined with tourist-oriented restaurants, shops, and lodgings (we stayed in an excellent one, with 18 traditionally furnished rooms, called Hotel Argjiro, had a tasty Albanian repast at Furra (also a charming small hotel), and drinks at cozy, funky Bar Bukowski, named after).
In the upper reaches of the bazaar, mostly in the Palorto Quarter, are a number of 18th- and 19th-century kullë (manorial townhouses of wealthy merchant and landowner families), of which about a half dozen are restored open to visitors. We visited one of the finest, Shtëpia Skenduli (top two photos above), built in 1823 and especially notable for its massive stone foundations, projecting upper stories supported by wooden beams, and unusual combination of internal and external staircases, richly decorated reception rooms, and carved wooden ceilings. Also up here is the town´s Ethnographic Museum (bottom two photos above), in a reconstruction of a kullë, which besides the typical reception rooms also has displays of traditional dress and other aspects of local culture and lifestyle (and fun fact: it was built in 1966 as an "anti-fascist museum" and on the site of the birth home of none other than Enver Hoxha, born here in 1908; I´d assumed, that as with the likes of Stalin, Nicolae Ceaușescu, Josef Broz Tito, and Mao Zedong, Hoxha´s birth home would´ve been transformed into a museum and shrine to him, but the original house was destroyed by fire).
ShkelzenRexha, David Paul Appell
And perched just above the bazaar is the complex of theKalaja e Gjirokastrës (Gjirokastër Castle), which dates back to before the 12th century and was extensively added to in the early 19th. You can wander around the indoor and outdoor spaces, check out the military museum, which focuses largely on the Communist resistance to the Nazis), and naturally the views from up here are pretty sweeping (the photo of the town from the first Gjirokastër collage above was taken from here).
Here in Gjirokastër, too, there´s a Communist-era bunker complex, and one that´s probably second only to those of Tirana´s. Why? Because as noted above, it´s Dear Leader Hoxha´s home town, so they pulled out all the stops. Extending 2,635 feet into the hill at the foot of the castle, the 59-room Cold War Tunnel was desgined to accommodate local and national government ministers and party elites in the case of a nuclear attack (a lot of the original furniture was looted during the fall of the dictatorship but others remain).
And by the way, did you know there are classical ruins in Albania, too? On the drive down here from Shkodër we stopped at Appollonia, about an hour and a half away, which is the ruin of a city founded as a Greek colony around 600 BCE, then later became a Roman polis until its decline and eventual abandonment around 400 CE. There are a few low-lying ruins here, including a couple of temples, an odeon (a smallish, ancient music venue, to the right in the bottom photo above), a nymphaeum (monument to classical nymphs), and main remaining structure, Apollonia´s municipal building, the Monument of Agonothetes (top photo above), built in the 2nd century BCE. There´s also a small archaeological museum here, which despite being looted after the fall of the dictatorship still has a few interesting pieces.
UNESCO, Geoff Wong
There´s a more impressive and important classical site - UNESCO World Heritage, in fact, which we unfortunately couldn´t get to in our time alloted. Located in the south about an hour and a half from Gjirokastër and 4½ from Tirana, Butrint National Park is comprised of ruins of, again, Greek and later Roman Buthrotum dates back to the 10th century BCE, became Bouthrotos during the Byantine period, and Butrinto under the Venetians, remaining densely populated till at least the 13th century and finally abandoned later during the Middle Ages. Here, too, there´s a visitor center and archaeological museum.
Berat
Our last stop on this trip, also down south, a 2½-hour drive from Gjirokaster and just under two from Tirana, the charming "Town of a Thousand Windows" (pop. around 62,000) is known for being home to Albania´s other UNESCO World Heritage town (sharing that status with Gjirokastër) thanks to two features: the multitude of Ottoman houses (and their "thousand windows" in its old Mangalem quarter (above), the traditionally, equally picturesque but more residential feeling Gorica neighborhood across the Osum River (connected by the handsome 18th-century Gorica Bridge as well as a more modern bridge) and the medieval castle district 214 feet up on the hill that looms above. Roaming the sloping cobblestone streets of these riverside districts is a bit like traveling back in time, despite the tourist lodgings and (fortunately not too tacky) shops which now inhabit a number of the houses, at least in Mangalem.
We actually stayed up near the Kalala e Beratit (Berat Castle), in one of the just five rooms of the charming little family run, traditionally furnished Hotel Restaurant Klea - owned by Leonidha and Boralda (who does much of the cooking) and run by their son Ksenofon and daughter, the eponymous Klea; their hearty and extremely flavorful Albanian home cooking is absolutely top notch, too). The castle complex has its origins in the fortifications built by Illyrians before 200 BCE, and what we see today dates mostly from the 13th century. Roaming its grounds is another experience in time travel, as well as popping into several of its little mosques and Orthodox Christian churches; one of the latter, the Dormition Cathedral (sounds more gradiose then it is), is home to the Onufri National Iconographic Museum, specializing in Byzantine icons and art, and displaying some 175 examples; though I´m not religious, there´s just something about these kinds of images that deeply fascinates me. Apart from visiting the Citadel itself, we were enchanted by roaming the narrow cobblestone lanes (which become if anything more magical lamplit after dark.
And as for the Vaunted Beaches...
Our trip fell in March, way before beach season, so didn´t visit the aspect of Albania which has captured the interest of many: thriving resorts and beautiful beaches of this country´s Ionian Sea coast which more than a few have likened to the Maldives (a gross exaggeration, like too much of the hype we see online these days). That´s for another trip, then, but in the meantime, for Tripatini coverage of the "Albanian Riviera," including strands like Dhërmi, Dhraleos, Gjipe, and Ksamil, click here.
Leeturtle, David Paul Appell
Plus a Word About the Tasty Local Eats
Albanian cuisine is hearty, rustic, and Mediterranean-influenced, blending Balkan, Ottoman Turkish, Greek, and Italian traditions. Expect grilled meats, fresh vegetables, savory pastries, local cheeses, olive oil, and aromatic herbs. Top dishes include the national dish tavë kosi (tender lamb baked in a creamy yogurt-and-egg sauce, with a lightly golden crust); byrek, flaky, savory filo pastry filled with spinach, cheese, meat, or onions, and fërgesë, a rich, comforting mix of peppers, tomatoes, and soft cheese, often served bubbling hot with crusty bread. It was all so delicious, I´m amazed and disappointed to have never heard of any Albanian restaurants outside the country (I´m sure there must be, just not in any places I know of).
And Finally, Another Word About Language
Shqip is a unique branch of the Indo-European language family, written with Roman lettering and unrelated closely to any other modern language except for more recent loan words like muze/muzeu, hotel, restorant, and universitet). And for visitors, here´s a handful of essential Albanian words and phrases:
Hello - përshëndetje (pronounced "per-shen-DET-yeh")*
Hi (informal) - tung ("toong")
Goodbye - mirupafshim ("meer-oo-PAHF-sheem")
Please - ju lutem ("yoo LOO-tem")
Thank you - faleminderit ("fah-leh-meen-DEH-reet) - if you can manage to remember only one, make it this one.
Yes - po ("poh")
No - jo ("yoh")
Good morning - mirëmëngjes ("meer-uh-MUHN-jes")*
Good evening - mirëmbrëma ("meer-uh-MBRUH-ma")*
Excuse me/sorry - më falni ("muh FAHL-nee")*
Cheers! - gëzuar! ("guh-ZOO-ar!")*
For more information about visiting this fascinating country, check out AlbanianTourist.com,
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