Tiranais the capital of Albania, and the biggest city of the country. Still it is a small and compact place that is best explored on foot. Its architecture bears considerable influence of Italian as well as Turkish monuments, lying as it does exactly between Rome and Istanbul. The Skënderberg Square is a huge open space in the centre of the city while Mt. Dajti, at 5,030 ft, towers over the eastern side. Tirana is dotted by many museums. Hotels online in Tirana
Durres is one of the most important harbour towns of Albania, and quite an important industrial center as well.
The city was founded in the 7-th century BC and has been conquered by many invading armies. Although most of these left a few traces in the old town of Durres, the main attraction is the excellent beach near the town.
In the center you will find quite a good Archeological Museum, a Museum of History, and the house of Aleksander Moisiu's family
which has been turned into a museum, also you will find the Roman baths and the magnificent amfitheater right behind the mosque. Hotels online in Durres
The 2400 year old town of Berat is located in southcentral Albania. It is one of the oldest and most beautiful towns of Albania. As you can see from the pictures, it is no wonder that Berat is also known as "the town of a thousand windows, also the Museum City"
Berat is a good base for exploring the region. The Monastery of Ardenica is not too far and the important archeological site of Apolonia can also be visited in a day. Hotels online in Berat
Vlorais proclaimed a hero city. It is an old city, where important events in the struggles for freedom and independence have taken place. In ancient times the city was known under the name of Aulon. At the beginning it was only a port. Aulon was famous for its olive groves and vineyards.
After the fall of Apollonia and Orichum, it became the principal port of Illyria. In the fifth century Aulon was the centre of diocese. The emigrations of barbarians damaged it badly and brought the withdrawal of the city deeper in land.
During the Middle Ages the city was fused into one with the fortress of Kanina, which is situated a few kilometres to the south east.
In 1081 Vlora was seized by the Normans and the German Hohenstaufens, and in 1272 incorporated into the kingdom of Arberia. In the fourteenth century, Byzantine armies visited it again, the Serbs as well as the feudal lords of the Balshas from north Albania.
At the fourteenth century, as it has passed to the Balshas, it became an important trading and handicraft centre noted apart from wines and salt, for its swords, its ships and its silk.
The invading Turks took it in 1417, and Sultan Sulejman - The Magnificent - built a fortress by the sea in 1531, which is believed to have been designed by the Albanian architect - Sinan.
By the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, Vlora had again become an important economic centre and port. it was taken by Ali Pasha Tepelena in 1812.
It was in Vlora that an Assembly was convened, which proclaimed Albania as an independent state, forming the first national government headed by Ismail Qemali on the 28th of November, 1912. At this time Vlora became the capital of the country. The government remained there until January, l914.
Vlora was occupied by the Italian troops in 1914 during the first World War, but they were driven from the main land in 1920, by a volunteer army. Reoccupied by Italians in 1939, and by the Germans in 1943. Vlora was liberated in October l5, l944.
Today Vlora has a population of 61,300. Vlora is Albania's second largest port, it is also a fishing port and holiday resort. Hotels online in Vlora
Saranda is a city in southern Albania on the coast of the Caspian sea resorts.Saranda can be reached easily from the Greek island of Corfu by ferry. The town is a good base for exploring the most beautiful part of the Albanian coast - a strip also known as the Albanian riviera.
Butrint is also a good excursion. You can visit the museum city, Gjirokaster. It is about 2 hours by bus. The city center of Saranda has been scarred by communist architecture but since the fall of communism many small shops and bars have sprung up which
give the city a very nice Mediterranean feel. Not far from the resort of Saranda lie the impressive ruins of Butrint. Ignored for many years, rambling creepers hid ancient masonry and buildings so effectively that a Roman Theatre and Baptistery have only recently been discovered. Hotels online in Saranda
Shkodra is a very old city (about 2400 years) that has managed to keep characteristic appearance, with narrow streets with tall stone walls on both sides, and tall gates, although a large part of it has been transformed after World War II, with straight wide streets and tall residential and public buildings. The city expanded with several new quarters, and the industrial zone was built north of the city. Needless to say that these quarters are of little interest to the visitor.
The main sights of the twon are the Castle (Rozafa), the Turkish Bath (hamam), the Mosque of Plumbi, and many old houses with an appearance characteristic the region. The city lies next to the lake and the residents use the beach of Shiroka for recreation. Hotels online in Shkodra
On the top of the hill overlooking Pogradec there is an ancient Illyrian fortress believed to have been known as Encheleana. In the Middle Ages this fortress was reconstructed and the place was renamed by the Bulgarians, who invaded Southeastern Albania at this time. ( Pogradec, Pod Grad - the place beneath the fortress ). During the Eighteenth century under Turkish occupation, the town became an administrative centre, but was largely destroyed ruing the World War I, again during the Italian-Greek War of 1940-1941 and twice during the National Liberation War (1941-1944);
however a number of characteristic houses have been preserved as cultural monuments. Pogradec has a population of 15,000 inhabitants. It is a centre of the food industry, noted for its canned fruits, vegetables and dairy products. There are also factories producing furniture, tobacco and knitwear. Pogradec has an excellent bathing beach and has a great future as a tourist centre. The environment offers an alpine like scenery of rare beauty. The lofty mountains of Kamja and Guri i Topit stand over it like a crown Hotels online in Pogradec
Gjirokastra is a picturesque museum town in southern Albania. Gjirokastra is like an Albanian eagle perched om the mountain side with a mighty citadel for its head.
The fortress surveys the Drino Valley above the three and four-storey houses clinging to the slopes.Both buildings and streets are made of the same white-and-black stone.
Gjirokastra´s population is around 40,000 and one of the biggest cities of southern Albania. The name Gjirokastra comes from Illyrian Argyres Tribe which inhabited these parts of Europe.
Gjirokastra was well established by the 13th century, but the arrival of the Turks in 1417 brought on a decline.
By the 17th century Gjirokastra was thriving again with a flourishing bazar where embroidery,felt,silk and the still-famous white cheese were traded.
Ali Pasha Tepelena took the town in the early 19th century and strengthened the citadel. Today all new buildings must conform to a historical preservation plan . Hotels online in Gjirokastra
Korce, orKorca city (1989 pop. 63,623), capital of Korce dist., SE Albania, near the Greek border. Located in an agricultural region, it is a commercial and industrial center producing foodstuffs, rugs, and knitwear. Lignite deposits are mined nearby. KorCE is the seat of a Greek Orthodox metropolitan. Known in 1280, it was destroyed (1440) by the Turks but developed again after the 16th cent. Ever since Albania gained independence in the Balkan Wars, KorCE has been claimed by Greece. Greek troops occupied it in 1912–13 during
the Balkan Wars and again early in World War I. From 1916 to 1920 it was occupied and administered by the French, and in World War II it was held (Nov., 1940–Apr., 1941) by the Greeks. KorCE has a large 15th-century mosque and several modern government buildings. It is a good place for exploring this hilly region. Hotels online in Korça
