Gjirokastra Castle is one of the most popular tourist destinations all over Albania. It is a huge, panoramic castle overlooking the entire valley below, where the river Drina flows. On the top there is the Weapons Museum, which houses guns of World War II, traditional weapons and conventional weapons, which cover a long historical period. Must-thing to do is a walk in the city, among the houses, the Byzantine church of St.Michael Archangel, the Mosque, the bazaar and the beautiful courtyards.
Gjirokastra is one of the important cultural and tourist centers of South Albania. Because of its unique architectural and historical values, from 2005 Gjirokastra is part of UNESCO World heritage sites. The Castle is the largest building of the historic center of Gjirokastra. It was built on a large boulder with rock that resembles a huge ship. Within it there are galleries, covered with barrel vaults that occupy the central part of the fortification. According to historians, the castle had their origins in the fifth century AD, but according to the UNESCO this castle need archaeological studies to correctly verify his history. The characteristic bazaar is another great thing to visit, next to the inhabited part of the city. The museums are the National Weapons Museum at the castle, the Ethnographic Museum, historic houses such as Zekate House(1812), Skendulate, Angone, Babameto and Kabilate. Valuable building is also the architectural complex in the historic districts “the Vjeter Pazar”, “Partizani”, “Dunavat” and “Hazmurat”.Besides the buildings in Ottoman style, really interesting are the buildings in the historical center of Gjirokastra in the Italian XIX century style, like the hotel “Royal”, the former “Banco di Napoli”, the former shopping center Ziga, the High School, Villa “Kokalari” and Villa “Papavangjeli”. National Folk Festival: Gjirokastra is the home of an internationally famous festival of traditional Albanian folk culture. It takes place in the autumn of every forth year. The first festival took place in 1968 and it has since become the symbol of Albanian national folk culture. Held in the open air in Gjirokastra’s castle, it features the best of the Albanian folk traditions, including music, dancing, arts and crafts, and costumes. Over 1000 Albanian singers and dancers from Albania, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, Italy, Germany, Switzerland and the United States performed in the last National Folk festival from September 29 to October 5, 2004. The next is expected to be scheduled for the autumn of 2009. For further details or for exact dates please contact the Tourist Information Centre.
