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Popular Things To Do | Miscellaneous Things To Do Tips | All Tips (55) This picture shows the castle from the north (from Pllake district), with the clock tower showing. In this district, the houses seem to have been built later than in Dunavat and are not so typically Balkanic. However, they are ideally situated in a frame of vegetation. Leave a Comment |
After walking around among old houses and in narrow streets, the next thing to do in Gjirokaster is the visit of the castle. Being the highest point of the town, the castle offers some scenic views over Drinos valley and is the best point to have a panorama of the city itself.
The fortress is named 'castle of princess Argjiro', so the name of the town Gjirokastra, castle of Argjiro. Princess Argjiro, the legend says, killed herself when she saw that Turk army had entered in the castle.
Inside the castle there is a modest museum where different weapons are exposed. I saw many galleries still waiting to be discovered. I asked the staff why they do not dig to discover all the tunnels and they answered that there were not funds for that work. My idea is that there is an undiscovered world down there.
Castle of Gjirokaster is also famous as the traditional stage of the National Folk Festival. Leave a Comment |
Beyond Qafa e pazarit, the street that goes straight goes down at first and leads to Partizani and Varosh districts. It is still the Bazar and the houses on both sides looks almost alike those on the first leg, closer to Çerçiz Topulli square, but not so well maintained. Leave a Comment |
The photo shows the landscape when arriving near Gjirokastra. In late May, the countryside is very green, with brooms in full bloom and a few houses scattered among the luxurious vegetation. A heavenly landscape! Leave a Comment |
Sadly I didn't actually get to visit this mosque while I was in Gjirokastra, but I got a good view of it from the Memedheu ABC Monument. I could also hear the Muezzin calling people to prayer from the minaret, which sounded beautiful. |
When you arrive in the square of Gjirokastra, by the main hotel, stop for a moment to see the sculpture of two teenage girls. The young pair were hanged by the Nazis, for a crime I sadly can't remember the nature of (anyone who can jog my memory?); one of the girls was the aunt of one of the Albanian archaeologists I was working with. Directions: Main square, opposite the large hotel. |
'Qafa e pazarit' is the most preserved and beautiful point of the old city. It is a crossroad of narrow stone alleys, once the center of the bazaar, it's still full of shops, lovely part of the city. The rough translation in English should be 'neck of bazaar'.
I'll add the right picture later. Leave a Comment |
I had read that there was a historic mosque in Gjirokaster and wanted to see it, which led to a bit of a disagreement with the driver, who was anxious to go to Sarandë. After reassuring him that I wasn't Muslim (he seemed suspicious that I wanted to go to the mosque) and that I just wanted to take pictures, he agreed to stop in the centre of the town to allow me to photograph it. Like the other buildings in the centre of Gjirokaster, the mosque has the characteristic dark grey stones of the surrounding hills. It doesn't appear that the mosque is open for use or for visitors, so you'll have to be content with simply photographing it and the surrounding buildings from the outside. I think that the building beside the mosque is the medrese (or madrasa in Arabic, a religious school) but I'm not certain. Leave a Comment Directions: City centre |
I was in Gjirokaster on a Sunday, so I don't know if the city is more lively during the weekdays. Nevertheless, things were pretty sleepy in the historic area and there were only a few people sitting out front of a café or what my driver kept calling "police" (?). The city is built on a very steep mountain side and you can get great pictures of the town houses and streets snaking up the side of the mountain with everything is that eerie dark grey stone that dots the mountain sides all through southern Albania. Leave a Comment Directions: city centre |
Inside the castle at Gjirokaster is a small museum that recounts the history of the citadel, its use during the Hoxha régime and, most importantly, the years of combined German, Greek and Italian occupation during the war. Of course, everything was in Albanian and the driver insisted I didn't want to see the museum, but there are some artillery pieces on display that make the inside quite impressive. Many of these peices are the remnants of the equipment of the occupying forces during the war, although legend has it that there is also an American spy plane that was shot down near Gjirokaster on display as well. The only other tourists were Albanian, so I'm not quite sure that the museum is equipped for English speakers. Nevertheless, its a nice opportunity to get some shots of old artillery pieces in a rather atmospheric setting. Leave a Comment Directions: The castle |
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on August 19, 2007
Gjirokaster
on March 31, 2005
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on July 9, 2007
