Another Amazing UNESCO World Heritage City

On walk to Castle
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July 25, 2008

Gjirokastra

(Amber)

After finally tracking down a ticket, we were soon on a bus to Gjirokastra, a small and historic town in the south of Albania. Deemed a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2005, it's an ancient town built on steep mountain slopes with winding cobbled streets. A huge castle overlooks the town.

Castle
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Life is slow, sleepy, and peaceful. The busiest beings here are the hundreds and hundreds of bumble bees. Our room, the owner of which refused to accept payment for doing our laundry and bought us coffee in the bazaar, overlooks Old Town and looks across at the castle and the gorgeous mountains.

We spent our time in Gjirokastra walking on the steep streets, touring the castle, and just enjoying the pace of life far removed from anything, anywhere.

(Matt)

The hill country between Tirana and Gjirokastra was very green with lots of cornfields and donkeys wearing uncomfortable-looking square, wooden saddles. About half way to Gjirokastra, we started seeing old rusty oil derricks sprouting out of the ground.

Coffee with hostel owner
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We also noticed that all buildings that were under construction had a doll, or scarecrow, or some kind of kid's stuffed animal hanging from the rebar sticking out of the concrete. It was little creepy, but I assume it was to ward off bad omens from the buildings...or something. It was uniform in Albania.

The town of Gjirokastra, Albania, "the City of Stone," is a UNESCO World Heritage Site because of its historic buildings built around the second largest castle in the Balkans.

Our first task was, of course, to climb up to tour the castle, which overlooks the town and the Drinos Valley. The views from the top are amazing. It also allows you to see the unique stone shingles on the Old Town buildings, being 1 or 2 inches thick and solid stone. Built first in the 13th century and rebuilt between 1811 and 1812, the castle was used in the 20th century as a prison and torture facility by the Nazis and the communists until 1971, when it became a museum.

Chicken
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After exploring the castle, which has a cafe and the remnants of a 1957 U.S. military spy plane on top, we walked down and had lunch at a restaurant in the Old Bazaar in Old Town.

After having coffee with the owner of our hotel, we walked around the historic part of town on the upper side of the valley and looked at the famous Ottoman-style buildings that made Gjirokastra a UNESCO site. The buildings are called Ottoman tower houses and belonged to wealthy merchants and landowners. Many date from the 17th century, but the finest examples date from the 19th century. All are built on a steep hill with polished and slippery cobbles lining the narrow streets. The design of these buildings reflects the turbulent history of the region, where security was the primary concern of the residents.

Old Town
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We also walked down to the new town at the bottom on the hill, built starting in the 1970's in the typical Balkan-style. We had a cheap whole chicken down there and found the bus stop.

Gjirokastra was really nice, and I hope that the designation of UNESCO World Heritage Site helps the local people to preserve and rebuild some of the old tower houses, as many have fallen into serious disrepair. We could see whole roofs falling in from the castle.

(Amber)

The "new town" scene at the bottom of the hill is much different than the time-warped "old town" on the mountainside. "New town" boasts hip and scantily clad, cell phone-obsessed youngsters with highlighted and gelled hair, ice cream shops, dress stores, and cafes. It's hopping. We had yet another rotisserie chicken there and then hiked up the steep streets to our hotel...and back in time to Old Town.

Old Town
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