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Lezha, Alessio in Italian, is now a small town of less than 20,000 inhabitants, 39 km south to Shkodėr and 77 km north to Tirana.
Lezha is overhanged by a fortress (first photo) which is a part of a chain of fortresses used by Skėnderbeg to communicate fast at long distance. From the fortress of Lezha, a beacon lit on Rozafa castle in Shkodėr,45 km as the crow flies, can easily be seen. Then a beacon lit on Lezha fortress can be seen from Kruja castle ((54 km). Further south, other citadels such as Petrela could receive the signal and transmit it.
The fisherman shown on the second picture uses a kalimerre. This kind of fishing is used from Ulcinj, in the south of Montenegro to Saranda, in the south of Albania.
For more, visit my Rrethi i Lezhes page based upon my 1988 visit and my Lezhe page, based on my 2007 visit.
The third picture shows a highly polluting and dangerous plant that was working in 1988. It does not seem to work anymore in 2007. Leave a Comment
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Durrėsi is the main harbor for Albania, only 39 km from the capital Tirana. It has close to 100,000 inhabitants and is the second largest city in Albania, after Tirana.
The amphitheater left by the Roman is only partly unearthed but is worth the visit (first photo)
A small paleochristian church with an early Christian Crypt with a rare wall mosaic, shown here (photo) is situated in the Western part of the amphitheater.
For more, visit my Rrheti i Durrėsi page for my 1988 visit and myDurrėsi page for my 2007 visit. Leave a Comment
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 skanderbeg square. by cachaseiro
it is a quite small city and most places are within walking distance.
skanderbeg square is the center of tirana and it is a very nice place to hang out and watch the albanian way of life. Leave a Comment
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Shkodra, a city of 90,000 inhabitants stands at the northern end of Albania, on Liqeni I Shkodres (Lake Skadar or Shkodra Lake), 116 km from Tirana, 15 km from the Montenegrin border and 27 km from Ulcinj/Ulqin, as the crow flies.
The first photo shows the monument for Isa Boletini a major figure of Albanian resistance against Ottoman Empire and Serbia & Montenegro. He was Kosovo representative in the first Assembly of Albania in 1912.
The second photo shows Rozafa castle, mainly built under the Venetians, though its history starts since the Illyrian times. There is about the building of the castle a legend about walling a living person, Rozafa, in the wall to allow the completion of the castle.
The third photo, shot in 2005, shows a building in bad condition that would require a lot of repairs.
Would you believe that the fourth photo was also taken in Shkodra in 2005 and not very far from the other ones? There are in the center of the city several buildings of this type, for offices that have been very recently built. That shows clearly that the country is running fast to improve its economical situation.
For more, visit my Shkodrar page. This page was built both 1988, 2005 and 2007 photos and I have tried to show how the city has at the same time changed and remained the same between these two dates. Leave a Comment
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 my bicycle up against one of
the bunkers. by cachaseiro
enver hoxha was sure that the west was planning an invasion of albania and spend large amounts of money building bunkers.
they did serve one good purpose though.
the young albanians often used them to have sex in.
quite practical if you still live at home with your parents.
today they stand as an odd remain of the communist era in albania. Leave a Comment Directions: scatterd all over albania.
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Kruja is an old Illyrian settlement. It was later the seat of the first Albanian feudal state. It was later again the stronghold of Skėnderbeg, Albanias national hero.
The first photo shows the medieval bazaar and Skėnderbegs castle.
The second photo shows a beautiful large house. It is too large to be a private house and I wonder if that could not be a monastery with tombstones at the foot of the front.
The third photo was taken from the summit of the tower and shows a bird's eye view on what remains of the inner part of the citadel and of various houses with their inner yards.
For more, visit my Rrethi i Krujes page based upon my 1988 visit and my Kruja page, based on my 2007 visit.
My Fushe-Krujės page gives a glimpse on a neighboring small town with special features. Leave a Comment
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 skhoder. by cachaseiro
i have to admit it was a bit of a ramshackle place, but i still enjoed my 2 days there. Leave a Comment
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Vlora, 61,300 inhabitants, is the second largest port of Albania after Durrėsi. It is also a fishing port and holiday resort. It is also the starting point for the coastal road to Saranda, along the Albanian Riviera. It stands mid distance between Tirana and Saranda.
It was Sultan Suleiman the Magnificient, when he was in Vlora in 1542 to prepare his naval expedition against Italy, who ordered the famous architect Sinan to design and build Xhamia e Muradi (Muradi Mosque) (first photo).
The main square of Vlora is called Sheshi i Flamurit (Flag square). In the center of the square stands a monument depicts an anonymous flag holder, while below are depicted distinguished figures of the movement for the independence of Albania, including Ismail Qemali and Isa Boletini.
For more, visit my Rrethi i Vlores page based upon my 1988 visit and my Vlora page, based on my 2007 visit. Leave a Comment
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 Korēa, the first school
teaching in Albanian by JLBG, 2 more photos
The first school teaching in Albanian was opened in 1887 in this house (first photo) whilst the city was part of the Ottoman Empire. Before that, all the teaching was given in Turk.
The inhabitants of Korēa are proud that their city is the "mother" of Albanian education.. Today, this building lodges the city museum.
Our second Albanian guide, an engineer in forestry lead us to a place where we should see deers. We stayed quiet for less than ten minutes and we saw a first one, walking across the path. Then another one, and another one again. We saw, altogether a dozen of deers but they always stayed at some distance and you will have to enlarge the photo (second photo) to see one properly.
Korēa has long been well known for its rugs and carpets. The third photo shows the style of those carpets.
For more, visit my Korca page, built after my 1988 visit (no recent visit). Leave a Comment
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With an estimated 700,000 inhabitants in 2000, Tirana is by far the largest city of Albania. It is the administrative, cultural, economic, and industrial center of the Republic of Albania. It stands mid distance between the areas where the Gueg is spoken, in the North and where the Tosk dialect is spoken in the south and does not belong to any of these areas. It is an intermediate between the Adriatic shore and the mountainous inland through the Qafa e Krabs valley and the Shkumbin river it is easily connected with the inner parts of the Balkan peninsula.
Tiranė was founded in 1614 by Sulejman Pasha Bargjini of Muleti who built a mosque, a hammam, a bakery, and several shops. Until it became the capital of the country in 1920, it remained a small town like any other ones. However, as it stands in a vast plain, that allows easy building.
The center of Tirana is the huge Skänderbeg square (first photo).
Tirana Historical museum (second photo) is in a nicely looking modern building with a huge mosaic on top of the entrance which represents the people of Albania, workers and fighters walking towards better futures.
Etham bey Mosque (third photo) stands at the south-eastern corner of Skėnderbeg square. It is one of the few really old buildings in Tirana and because of its historical value was not destroyed when Enver Hoxha decided that religion did not exist anymore. It was built in the18th.
The fourth photo shows a show of the National troupe in the Culture Palace on Skanderbėg square.
The fifth photo shows Hotel Tirana, also on Skanderbėg square.
For more, visit my Tirana page based only on my 1988 visit as I have not yet been recently to Tirana. Leave a Comment
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