The Mosaic of Arapaj

To be seen only with special permit.

The caves of Puci and Husi

Is located in Boga village in Albanian Alps. The cave is 5 km long in form of a labyrinth with different stores. It is one of the biggest and interesting caves in Europe. Near it there is another cave of Husi which makes almost a system of caves. Near the cave is the village of Boga.
A road from Shkodra to Koplik and further to the village of Boga should be followed. The cave is rich with carstic forms such as stalactites, stalagmites etc. This area is frequented by different speleologist and adventurous tourists.
 

Gallery “Eduard Lear”

Info Telefon: +355 32 32 027

open each day

National Ethnographic museum Berat (ex: The Museum of Ethnography)

Info Telefon: +355 32 32224

Tues-Sun: 9°°-13°° and 15°°-18°° h.
From May to September, visiting hours are: 8.00-13.00; 16.00 – 19.00 h.

"This museum was inaugurated in 1979. it includes Berat region and southern Albania folk ethnographic culture. The museum is placed in a three-century two storey building, typical for Berat area.
The ground floor has a hall with an imitated medieval street with traditional shops on both sides. The antiquity pavilion and objects used to process olives are placed in this hall.
In the second floor, there is an open balcony to receive guests. The archive, the loom, the village sitting room, the kitchen and the city sitting room come in a row in this floor. Many original massive and functional objects of our folk culture area on the outside space of the museum.
" (Picture and text: Albanian Tourism)

 

National Museum ''Onufri'' (ex: The Museum of Iconography ''Onufri'')

Info Telefon: +355 32 32 248

8.00-16.00, closed at Mondays
From May to September, visiting hours are: 8.00-13.00; 16.00-19.00 h

"The National Museum Onufri is located in the center of the inhabited quarter in Berat medieval castle. This museum contains a rich iconografic collection and some religious service items. It is organised in Virgin Mary cathedral, built in 1797 on the foundation of an older church with the same name.
It bears the name odf the most remarkable albanian painter, Onufri, who left a very rich fund of iconographic creation.
This museum complex of the main nave, the altar area, and a serious of auxiliary one-storey rooms in the north and two storey ones in the west. The construction is distinguished for its high altitude, representing an important version of the cult architecture in the period from the 13 th to the 19 th century.
The museum has three main halls, where the best works of the above mentioned and others authors are displayed.
Apart from the icons exhibited in the museum, the icon placed in the golden church iconostasis, made by the painter Joan Cetiri, comprise a particular series.
Some textile and metal objects are displayed in glass cases, which give evidence of a very high level handicraft tradition of Berat region." (Picture and text: Albanian Tourism)
 

The Castle of Gjirokastra with Museum of Weapons

"The historic town of Gjirokastra, in the Drinos river valley in southern Albania, is a rare example of a well-preserved Ottoman town, built by farmers of large estate. The 13th-century citadel provides the focal point of the town with its typical tower houses (Turkish kule). Characteristic of the Balkan region, Gjirokastra contains a series of outstanding examples of kule, a type of building which crystallized in the 17th century. But Gjirokastra also features some more elaborate examples from the early 19th century. The kule has a tall basement, a first floor for use in the cold season, and a second floor for the warm season. Interiors feature rich decorative details and painted floral patterns, particularly in the zones reserved for the reception of visitors. The town also retains a bazaar, an 18th-century mosque and two churches of the same period.

Justification for Inscription

Criterion (iii): The old city of Gjirokastra is an exceptional testimony to a long-lasting, and almost disappeared society and life-style, influenced by the culture and tradition of Islam in the Ottoman period.

Criterion (iv): The historic town of Gjirokastra is a rare example of a well-preserved Ottoman town, built by farmers of large estates, around the 13th-century citadel. The architecture is characterized by the construction of a type of tower house (Turkish ‘kule’), of which Gjirokastra represents a series of outstanding examples. " (UNESCO)

Gjirokastra (Argirokastron) is firstly mentioned in the historical recourses in 1336 as a citadel and as a town. During the second half of the XIV century was a property of the aristocratic family of Zeneviseve. For the importance of the town speaks even the declaring of the Turkish empires as a main center of the Albanian Sanxhak, which includes in 1431 the territories from Cameria in the south up to the river Mat in the north. The citadel is the origin of this town. From this castle have come out first the bazaar and later, the neighborhoods of the town, a process that has taken a long period of time, starting from the second half of the XIV century. The actual view of the castle is from the period of Ali Pasha Tepelena who has rebuilt it during 1812-13, time in which was built even the system of utilities for bringing and distributing water 7 km long. The majority of the buildings of the historical center preserved up to our days belong to the XVII-XIX century. In the town are well preserved except the houses and the bazaar a number of engineering and cult monuments.

 

The Ethnographical Museum

Info Telefon: 355 846 2460

National Park of The valley of Valbona - Lugina e Valbones

It has a surface of about 8.000 hectares and is situated 25-30 km in northwest of the city of Bajram Curri. It expands among high mountains and shows off a fantastic complexion of colors in every season, thus giving the image of a valley full of labyrinths and surprises. Its scientific, tourist and health recovering values are combined with a bio-diversity of national and international importance. Its rocky and attractive peaks, the sides covered with wood, the flow of brooks and river Valbona, viewed from above, create the image of a giant and marvelous crater as a small panorama of natural beauty.
The nature of this park is full of varieties suitable for tourism, fishing, relaxation, amusing and mountain climbing as well as winter sports. In the inner part of the Park there are a lot of grottos and caves. The most eminent is the Cave of Dragobia, where lay the remains of Bajram Curri, a national hero.

 

National Park of The pine of Divjaka - Pisha e Divjakes

With a surface of about 1.250 hectares it is situated 5 km far from Divjaka and about 40 km from the center of the city of Lushnja. At the same time this park is a part of the complex called Lagoon of Karavastaja, an area since 1994 under the protection of the International Convention of Ramsar. The park is one of the most important ecosystems of the entire Albania.
A typical representative of the ecosystem is the curl pelican (pelicanus crispus), and about 6,4% of its entire population nests in the Lagoon. Karavastaja is the furthest western point of nesting of this sort of bird in Europe.
In this Park there are a lot of possibilities for developing eco-tourism, blue- tourism, sportive hunting, bird watching, fishing etc.
 

The Archaeological Museum of Apolonia - Fier Archaeological Museum

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollonia_...

the Institute of Archaeology. Tirana

It was founded in 1958 in the monastery's surroundings, which is within the territory of the ancient town and was reconstructed on 1985. It gives a broad information on the all aspects of life of this town, which together with the monuments discovered in the center of the town give a complete understanding if its historical development.