Gjirokastra (Gjirokastër)

Gjirokastra dates back to 1336 when it was part of the Byzantine Empire. A UNESCO world heritage site, it is a superb example of an Ottoman town built on a hill with Gjirokastra Fortress, at the top.

From the15th century picturesque Ottoman houses were built, perched on the hillside, with narrow streets winding their way to the castle. Although the city's walls were built in the third century and the city itself was first mentioned in the 12th century, the majority of the existing buildings date from the 17th and 18th centuries.

Typical houses consist of a tall stone block structure which can be up to five stories high. There are external and internal staircases that surround the house. It is thought that this design developed from fortified country houses typical in southern Albania. At the bottom of the town there is a maze of narrow streets called “The Bazaar’. Originally the workshops of artisans, many of them have now been converted to shops selling bits and pieces to tourists.

A growing number of old houses have now been converted to boutique hotels and guest houses but the town is not yet overrun by tourists and still has loads of authentic charm. Locally, the town is famous for being the birthplace of former Albanian communist leader Enver Hoxha, and author Ismail Kadare and the place where the Gjirokastra National Folklore Festival is held every five years.

In 1418, the city was taken by the Ottomans and it became the seat of the Ottoman administration. From then onwards the overwhelmingly Christian city of the 16th century became overwhelmingly Muslim by the 19th century, due to converts within the city and an influx of Muslim converts from the surrounding countryside making it a major religious centre for Bektashi Sufism.

Taken by the Greek army during the Balkan Wars of 1912–13 it was eventually incorporated into the newly independent state of Albania in 1913. This proved highly unpopular with the local Greek population, who rebelled and after several months of guerrilla warfare, the short-lived Autonomous Republic of Northern Epirus was established in 1914 with Gjirokastra as its capital. It was finally awarded to Albania in 1921. In more recent years, the city witnessed anti-government protests that led to the Albanian civil war of 1997.
Along with Muslim and Orthodox Albanians, it has a substantial Greek minority along with a considerable Aromanian community.