Albania

Albania, a place carved between the mountain and the sea; a bridge between East and West; a port on the Adriatic and Ionian; once an arena of great battles; a place of stratification of different cultures; where on the ruins of a temple rises a church, and on the ruins of a church rises a mosque; Albania, an amazing country, where every step is marked by cultural heritage.

There are about 2300 cultural monuments in the Albanian territory. They are scattered throughout Albania, from North to South; ruins of ancient cities, bridges, dwellings, churches, mosques, synagogues, fortresses built on top of mountains and rare field castles…, which capture all the periods through which the history of mankind has passed, from its infancy until today. You can find everything in a territory of only 28,000 square kilometres.

Among them we have ancient and inhabited cities, included in the world heritage list, under the protection of UNESCO. We have the ancient city of Butrint, this wonder of nature and the hand of man, which legends say was founded by Helen after she left Troy on fire. An extraordinary city surrounded by waters, under the protection of UNESCO since 1992.

To continue with Gjirokastra and Berat, two cities-museums where life flourishes among cultural heritage, stone streets and characteristic houses, churches filled with saints painted by Onufri, Shpataraku, Zografi and Çetiri; with mosques covered with stone slabs and embroidered with ornaments… And all these wrapped in the long iso polyphony, this pearl, part of the intangible heritage of all mankind.

But these are just a part of a fantastic mosaic, where among others shine the Archaeological Park of Apollonia with the odeon, the Temple of the Agonites, the Library or the Monastery of St. Mary; to continue with Bylis as the throne of the gods over the Vjosa valley and further in Durrës, in the ancient Dyrrah, where the amphitheater, one of the largest of its time, awaits you, to climb Kruja, the city of Skanderbeg, or in Lezha and higher in Shkodra at Rozafati, the castle that according to legend has been built on a woman’s body, whose breast still drips milk for her son, which she left in the cradle…

Surrounded by mysticism and the tangible there is no way we can not be proud of this legacy that has reached us to this day; equally responsible to share this wealth not only with the world, but above all the younger generations, who must learn where they come from to build the future. Therefore, as never before, it has been invested in cultural heritage, in restoration, conservation, promotion and now for their revitalisation, so that these monuments are not just skeletons or traces of the past, but living tourist destinations, to tell about history, traditions, culture, but also serve as a sustainable economic resource for local communities.

With the vision towards the future, we rely heavily on our roots, because the future is in the origin.