FOUR HISTORIC CITIES

IN THE WESTERN BALKANS

Stephan Doempke, Anduela Lulo Caca and Sadi Petrela (eds.)

FOUR HISTORIC CITIES

IN THE WESTERN BALKANS

Values and Challenges

This book introduces four historic cities of European and even global significance:
Gjirokastra, Ioannina, Ohrid and Prizren. Not only are they and their region the
southwestern Balkans still almost unknown to the rest of Europe, but their inhabitants themselves, due to the course of history, have known little about each
other for many decades.
The book for the first time puts the urban and cultural heritage, as well as the
management problems, of the four cities into a common context, and introduces
the present-day knowledge about them to an international audience. First and
foremost, however, it aims to strengthen the awareness that the cities of this region, essentially shaped by the Byzantine and Ottoman Empires, are part of Our
Common European Heritage, which to preserve and maintain therefore is a task
for all of Europe.

This publication has been

produced under the Project
European Values in Heritage,
funded by the European Commission
European Commission

FOUR HISTORIC CITIES IN THE WESTERN BALKANS

Values and Challenges

FOUR HISTORIC CITIES

IN THE WESTERN BALKANS
Values and Challenges
Stephan Doempke,
Anduela Lulo Caca
and Sadi Petrela (eds.)
published by the
Gjirokastra Conservation
and Development Organisation
in cooperation with
Academy for Training
and Technical Assistance
EGNATIA EPIRUS Foundation
Macedonian Artisan Trade Association

Tirana 2012

List of Contents

Preface ....................................................................................................... 7
Sadi Petrela

The EVAH Project and the Network

of Historic City Centers of Southeast Europe ..................................... 9
Stephan Doempke

The Historic Fabric of Balkan Towns:

Space, Power, Culture and Society ....................................................... 17
Maximilian Hartmuth

Gjirokastra The City of Stone ............................................................. 25

Stephan Doempke
(with Oliver Gilkes, Sadi Petrela, Emin Riza and Elenita Roshi)
Introduction .................................................................................... 25
History .............................................................................................. 27
The Historic Town ......................................................................... 33
The Castle ....................................................................................... 35
The Bazaar ...................................................................................... 41
Religious Buildings ........................................................................ 45
The Residential Quarters ............................................................. 50
Management .................................................................................. 70
Ioannina The City of Arts and Letters ............................................... 75
Varvara N. Papadopoulou
Introduction ..................................................................................... 75
History .............................................................................................. 76
City Monuments ............................................................................. 81

 The Castle ................................................................................. 81

The Christian Monuments of the City ................................ 87
The Muslim Monuments of the City ................................... 90
Buildings of Architectural and Historical Interest ............. 91
Museums ................................................................................... 92
The Islet ...................................................................................... 93
Management Issues - Vassilis Birbos ............................................ 100

Prizren The City of Filigree .................................................................. 109

Bariu Zenelaj
Introduction ..................................................................................... 109
Kosovo and Prizren ........................................................................ 111
Cultural Heritage Monuments ..................................................... 117
Management Challenges in the Historic Center ..................... 143
Ohrid The City of Centuries ................................................................. 147
Goran Patchev
Introduction ...................................................................................... 147
Historical Importance ..................................................................... 150
What Famous Persons Say About Ohrid ................................... 157
Important Archeological and Architectural Monuments ........ 159
Ohrid Handicrafts ............................................................................ 178
Management .................................................................................... 184
Bibliography ..................................................................................... 191

The Authors ................................................................................................. 192

Photo and Map Credits ............................................................................. 194
The EVAH Partners ..................................................................................... 196
Useful Addresses ........................................................................................ 198

Doempke, Stephan; Lulo, Anduela; Petrela, Sadi (eds.)

Four historic cities in Western Balkans - Values and Challenges
200 pages, with photos and graphics and maps
Published by the Gjirokastra Conservation and Development Organisation in cooperation with the Academy for Training and Technical Assistance, EGNATIA EPIRUS
Foundation and Macedonian Artisan Trade Association
Tirana 2012
NE: Doempke, Stephan
1. Historic Cities 2. Cultural Heritage 3. Gjirokastra 4. Ioannina 5. Ohrid 6. Prizren
7. World Heritage 8. Arts and Crafts 9. Southeast Europe 10. European Values 11.
European Commission 12. Civil Society Initiative

Gjirokastra Conservation and Development Organization 2012

This work with all its parts is protected by copyright. Any use beyond the strict limits of the applicable copyright law without the consent of the publisher is inadmissible and punishable. This
refers especially to reproduction of figures and/or text in print or xerography, translations, microforms and the data storage and processing in electronical systems.
The designations employed and the presentation of the material in this publication do not imply
the expression of any opinions whatsoever on the part of the publishers concerning the legal
status of any country or territory or of its authorities, or concerning the frontiers of any country
or territory.
The copyright for each article, photo and other illustration remains with its respective author.
Authors are responsible for the choice and the presentation of the facts contained in this book
and for the opinions expressed therein, which are not necessarily those of the editors, and do
not commit them.
No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the
publishers except for the quotation of brief passages for the purposes of review.

This publication has been produced with the assistance of the European Union. The contents of this
publication are the sole responsibility of the Gjirokastra Conservation and Development Organization and can in no way be taken to reflect the views of the European Union.
Editorial Staff:
Vesna Avramovska, Clara Puech, Kalliopi Rekata, Bariu Zenelaj, Erkan Zerdari.
Translations:
Language Solutions L.t.d.
Design and layout: Xhoan Guga, Delta Print Studio
Printed by: Gent Grafik
Acknowledgements
This book was made possible by a grant from Directorate General XI of the European Commission
under its Civil Society Facility. Our sincere thanks go to Henk Visser, Suzan Arslan and Genc
Pasko from the European Commission for their always positive attitude, constructive advise and
cooperative spirit, for their continuing encouragement, ready support and friendly cooperation.
We are greatly indebted, first and foremost to the authors of the texts, photos, maps and figures,
for their cooperation in the compilation of the materials for this book, to Lejla Hadzic, Albert Kasi,
Kreshnik Merxhani, Elena Nasto, Enkeleida Roze, for their manifold advise and support in putting
this book together, and to Katherine Kyes and Goran Todorovski for proofreading.
Stephan Doempke, Anduela Lulo (Caca) and Sadi Petrela
on behalf of the Editorial Staff

Preface

The book Four Historic Cities of the Western Balkans Values and Challenges is an important component of the European Values in Heritage
Project (EVAH), financed by the European Union. Like the project, the
book is broken into four parts, one for each EVAH city: Gjirokastra, Ioannina, Ohrid, and Prizren. The book has clear unity and purpose; it aims to
create yet another communication bridge to the cities, showing the common values and the specifics of cultural heritage that these countries bring
to the European culture. The book shows cultural heritage as an identifying element, as a product of the common historic development and as a
component of European integration.
The same as EVAH, this publication sees Europe foremost as a cultural reality. The Western Balkans has relentless enthusiasm and hope for the invitation to join the European Union and the possibilities this integration would
provide. Unfortunately, this enthusiasm is not met with corresponding
efforts by management in cultural heritage and their familiarization with
the current European standards. This publication looks at cultural heritage
as a top development and integration opportunity, but unfortunately it is
not recognized as such and therefore is not managed as it should be. This
is the reason why cities with immense potential in the region often offer
very little in reality.
As in all the other project activities, the book was addressed to the public
and the decision makers on a local, national and regional level. It reaches
them in their own languages, in Albanian, in Greek, and in Macedonian
(spoken in FYROM). It addresses European decision makers with the aim
to help them better understand the potentials and possibilities, and even
the obstacles the management of cultural heritage face in our countries.
This is why the book is also published in English.
We hope that in this sense, the book will be a two-way bridge which not
only brings us closer to European realities but does the same in carrying
our realities to Europe.
Each of the four parts of the book were written in their native language
by the relevant partners and their collaborators: The Academy for Training
7

and Technical Assistance (ATTA) in Prizren, EGNATIA EPIRUS Foundation

(EEF) in Ioannina, The Macedonian Artisan Trade Association (MATA), and
the Organization for the Conservation and Development of Gjirokastra
(GCDO).
As a representative of GCDO1 (the lead organization of the EVAH project)
and co-editor of this book, I want to show my appreciation for the organizations and authors who, with a praiseworthy initiative and effort, took on
the responsibility for the content of their relevant texts. I also want to acknowledge them for their understanding in allowing some minor changes
in the initial texts, during the editing process, which have not at all altered
their content or form.
The book contains an introduction on the social and cultural structure
of the historic cities in the Balkans, written by Maximilian Hartmuth, as
well as a detailed description of the activities of the EVAH Project and of
the Network of Historic Cities of Southeast Europe, a organization which
EVAH established in participation with four civil society organizations; the
partners in the project.
Established after an excellent 2-year collaboration for the implementation of EVAH, the Network shows great promise in continuing. The book
FourHistoric Cities of the Western Balkans Values and Challenges,
along with the manual Integrated Management of Historic Cities, and
the documentary Walls and Bridges, which are the products of our joint
project, can serve as a great platform and instrument for further fruitful
collaborations in addition to what EVAH achieved: recognizing the possibilities offered by the management of cultural heritage as a basis of development and integration, setting forth an example and model of regional
collaboration.
On behalf of our partners I want to show my appreciation for the European Union which financed this publication and the entire EVAH project.
Sadi Petrela
Executive Director,
Gjirokastra Foundation
Gjirokastra Conservation and Development Organization (GCDO).
September 2012

1 GCDO has already taken on a new name and now it is called The Gjirokastra Foundation GF. The new name was not given to influence on the organizations goals and
objectives, but only to be better adapted with the new realities of its activities.
8

European Values in Heritage and

the Network of Historic City Centers
of Southeast Europe
by Stephan Doempke*

Cities and regions are significant players in the European context by

virtue of their cultural heritage, both non-material in the form of skills and
techniques, customs and usages and cuisine and material in the form of
buildings, natural and cultivated landscapes, works of art and appliances.
Historically, the heritage of independent, competing cities and regions is
older than that of nation states...
In many European cities and regions, the cultural heritage that is superficially
recognisable in characteristic style features packs a huge spectrum of
cultural difference into a tiny space. These historically integrated reminders
of cultural diversity can also help us to integrate todays cultural differences
and to assume ownership of them... Only if we continue to recognise
just how much migration and mobility have been responsible for the
historical integration, development and cultural character of Europe, and
how emphatically transcending both local limitations and the lure of
nationalism its cultural heritage is everywhere a hybrid heritage, a mix of
extremely varied social, ethnic and cultural ingredients from many sources,
will we achieve a proper understanding and interpretation of our own
heritage. For only then will that cultural heritage serve its true purpose:
that of integration and identification through the creation of clear, credible
self-images, in which the greatest possible number of Europes inhabitants
can see themselves reflected. (Cities and Regions. Their Cultural
Responsibility and How They Can Fulfil It. A Manual A Soul for Europe:
Berlin 2009)
However, the rapidly changing basic conditions of modern times (like e.g.
the fast-growing economic competition and accompanying development
pressure, climate change, demographic change, etc.) pose a big challenge
on the management of many historic urban areas, which can no longer
be handled by traditional mono-sectoral policies. The lack of multi-level
exchange with responsible managing authorites, and the lack of integrated
sustainable urban development policies which link the preservation of
cultural heritage with the socio-economic development of historic urban
landscape will eventually result in non-competitive urban areas with a low
amenity value for inhabitants and visitors alike. (www. urbact.eu/en/
projects/cultural-heritage-city-development/hero/our-project/)
9

These quotes from key documents relating to European historic city

centers state that the historic urban landscape cannot be merely seen
as an accumulation of significant monuments but rather needs to be
considered as a living organism and vital living space for its inhabitants.
They illustrate better than anything else the general purpose of a project
called European Values in Heritage (EVAH) and its relevance to the
Western Balkans. The book presented here is one of the outcomes of this
Project.
It would be extremely difficult to find anyone in the Western Balkans
who would not be convinced that they are part of Europe, both
historically and culturally, and therefore membership in the European
10

Union is considered to be a quasi-natural consequence. However, while

membership in the European Union is mostly seen as an opportunity for
economic development and ensuring the rule of law, the awareness that
the European Union is also a realm of shared cultural values (which are
actually their foundation), is much less marked.
As a result, the promotion of culture and heritage is not a high political
priority in most Western Balkan countries. Therefore, promoting Europe as
a cultural reality, and the understanding that common cultural values are at
the basis of the political and economic stability which make the European
Union such an attractive model, are of utmost importance in order to
prepare potential member states for accession to the European Union. The
objective of the EVAH Project was to make a substantial and sustainable
contribution to this effect.
The general deterioration of historic cities is a key problem related to
cultural heritage in all post-socialist countries. This problem has many
faces:
- Historic buildings, especially private vernacular houses, are not
restored or they are disfigured by inappropriate modern additions,
often without permission.
- Public urban structures such as pavements, squares, recreative spaces,
lighting, etc. are neglected, or modernizations are made without
proper recognition of authenticity, integrity or quality of the urban
context.
- Public services such as waste management and the regulation of
traffic are highly ineffective, notably contributing to the visual and
cultural disintegration of historic cities.
- Handcraft workshops and shops are missing in historic cities or find it
hard to survive because they are lacking an architectural environment
which would create a conducive atmosphere for their businesses.
The underlying root cause of these problems is a lack of knowledge,
awareness and capacities among both the general public and decisionmakers on national, regional and local levels. This lack of awareness is
evident in various ways:
Most importantly, decision-makers do not sufficiently appreciate the
importance of cultural heritage for development (economic development,
human development, social cohesion) and so they do not understand the
need for public investment in historic cities in order to promote business
development and tourism. In societies where cooperation has never been
strong, and under present-day conditions where the state faces two new
pillars of power private business and civil society the insight in the
need for cooperation among these three pillars is not yet well developed.
Many decision-makers are also not aware of the implications of the
existing legal framework for the restoration and revitalization of historic
cities and the promotion of handcrafts. Whereas often national legislation
efficiently protects individual cultural monuments, other related law such
as privatization law, inheritance law, tax law, planning and building law
11

impedes the restoration of private historic buildings and prevents interior

modernization which could help putting historic vernacular buildings to
new types of usage.
Because of a general lack of interest in cultural heritage, but also because
culture is not a chapter in the EU accession procedure, the details of many
European and international standards and traditions, and sometimes their
existence, are unknow to most decision-makers. Without the possibility
of international exposure, many of them may have never experienced
in person the reasonably good appearance of historic cities almost
everywhere in the European Union and thus have no possibility to realize
that behind this situation is a highly-elaborate body of conventions,
guidelines, recommendations and programmes which as a whole embody
the European principles and values concerning cultural heritage, explicitly
or implicitly.
A key aspect of this concerns the cultural values associated with
vernacular buildings and historic cities. Many decision-makers are unaware
of key concepts in historic city preservation, such as authenticity and
integrity, and lack knowledge how to transform them into practical
guidelines. Not only do many of them lack the aesthetic standards in
order to appreciate the need of clear guidelines for the design of houses,
public spaces and objects in historic cities which confirm with historic
style and appearance. Due to decades of an omni-powerful state and the
wide-spread popular resentment against the state nowadays, the newlywon freedom and rights of the individual and the prevailing mentality of
deregulation, decision-makers as well as house owners have difficulties
to accept the need for guidelines and enforcement where the common
goods are concerned, such as in historic cities.
As a result of this situation, some necessary measures needed for the
preservation and revitalization of historic cities and handcrafts remain
undone, such as the reform of relevant laws, their efficient enforcement,
and providing for a sufficient number of well-educated officials in the
field. The general population and private businesses are left without
an appropriate regulatory framework and even access to adequate
information, and the amount of public investment remains far behind of
what would be required.
Although tourism is an explicit priority of most governments in Western
Balkan countries, the level of active political effort for the establishment
of tourism-related businesses in historic cities does not correspond to the
stated priorities. In particular, artisans (and other cultural industries) - who
could play an essential role in the development of historic quarters miss
a proper understanding of their specific needs.
The EVAH Project was launched on 1 January 2011 under the Civil Society
Facility of the European Commission whose objective is to strengthen civil
society within a participative democracy environment and culture, and to
encourage the development of sustainable partnerships and networks of
civil society organisations in order to contribute towards their increased
12

involvement and ownership both within the Western Balkans and between
the region and the European Union.
In the EVAH Project, four partners cooperated from four countries whose
relationships in the recent past have been rather difficult: Albania, Greece,
Kosovo and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.
The Gjirokastra Conservation and Development Organization (GCDO),
the lead organization in the project, works towards the sustainable
development of Gjirokastra and its region through conserving its
historic buildings, fostering revitalization of the historic town, supporting
sustainable tourism and promoting handcrafts and traditional skills.
The Academy for Training and Technical Assistance (ATTA) was established
with the aim to empower Kosovo civil society to build and empower their
capacities.Their fields of intervention are capacity-building, community
development, European integration, harmonization of Kosovo and EU
public policies, public policy design and culture.
The EGNATIA EPIRUS Foundation (EEF) from Ioannina, Greece,
representing the partner from an EU country, promotes activities involving
advanced information technologies and telecommunication networks,
inter-border collaboration, the promotion and recording of the cultural
heritage, alternative eco-agro tourism initiatives and the support of the
crafts sector.
Finally, the Macedonian Artisan Trade Association (MATA) is a non-profit,
non-governmental organization aiming to foster the development of the
crafts sector in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and to achieve
tangible social changes and benefits for artisans by providing assistance in
advocacy, product development, market access and capacity-building.
The EVAH Project targeted primarily key decision-makers on national,
regional and local levels to be involved in its activities, while the final
beneficiaries were the residents and businesses, including artisans, with
selling points located in the four historic cities, an estimated number of
40,000 persons. More indirectly, the entire wider populations of these
cities, totalling about 275.000 people, were benefitting from the Project.
Throughout the project, reference was made to pertinent European
instruments, organizations, projects, networks and initiatives. In particular,
the Heritage as Opportunity (HerO) Project and A Soul for Europe, who
are highly significant in this context, contributed greatly to a dialogue with
EU counterparts.
Considering that the imbalance of economic development and the
preservation of the historic urban fabric often results in either economic
stagnancy or the loss of cultural heritage, the Hero Project aimed to
develop integrated and innovative management strategiesfor historic
urban landscapes. Itsmain objective was facilitating the right balance
between the preservation of built cultural heritage and the sustainable,
13

future-proof socio-economic development of historictowns in order to

strengthen their attractiveness and competitiveness.
A Soul for Europe is an initiative of European citizens who promote the
power of culture in all fields of politics for the European integration, trying
to build Europe through integrating national histories, value systems, world
views and intercultural dialogue. Supported by the European Parliament,
A Soul for Europe is building new communication paths and innovative
co-operation models between civil society and the European institutions,
national governments and other authorities.
By publicising and explaining these European instruments, both the general
public within the EU and the Western Balkans became better aware of
the role that the EU plays in safeguarding and enhancing cultural diversity,
and the project contributed to promoting the principles and values of the
European Union and enhancing regional cooperation.
In order to ensure the greatest possible effectiveness of the Project, at its
beginning surveys were conducted among the decision-makers in order
to gauge their level of knowledge and awareness about various aspects
related to cultural heritage, and an IT Network Platform was established
as a communication tool for the partners and associates as well as with
the general public, decision-makers and interested NGOs. It was linked
to other existing culture-related online platforms, such as European
Heritage Network, HISTORICENTRES_NET, Epoch Network and
CultureWatchEurope.
Through its 23-months duration, the Project organized four practical
workshops about themes which bore a direct relevance to the work of
the decision-makers, such as Cultural Heritage as a Motor for Economic
Development, Maintaining Knowledge: Arts and Crafts and the
Revitalization of Historic Cities, EU Instruments for the Safeguarding of
Cultural Heritage and European Values in the Management Guidelines
for Historic Cities.
Each workshop was attended by about 50 participants from the partnering
countries, representatives of the Partners and the Associates, in particular
the ministries in charge of cultural heritage and of urban planning, state
agencies in charge of cultural heritage, standing commissions of the
national parliaments in charge of cultural heritage and of urban planning,
regional administrations or governments, and in the towns of the
partnering CSOs, their mayors, municipality officials in charge of cultural
heritage and of urban planning, and the Chambers of Commerce and
Industry.
Additional support was provided through the publication of a Manual
on Management Guidelines for Historic Cities as a practical working
tool and resource book to enable decision-makers on all levels of state to
find practical guidance needed to take day-to-day decisions which affect
the appearance of their historic cities. The manual draws from existing

14

standard literature and provides all relevant European and international

conventions and other documents in the annexes.
Special efforts were made also in order to familiarize the general public,
and particular youth, with the problems of safeguarding and developing
historic city centers. An educational DVD was produced for the use in
schools and institutions of public education which contrasted the four
project cities with Regensburg, an exceptionally well-managed historic
city in Germany and an associate of the EVAH Project. Last but not least,
young artists from the four cities were invited to reflect the theme of the
project from an artistic or creative perspective. The artwork they produced
was presented in a travelling exhibition.
The development of a sustainable network among Civil Society
Organizations working in the field of historic cities and handcrafts has led
to an increased sense of involvement and ownership among them, and
to building a strong regional partnership dialogue between Civil Society
Organizations within the region itself, with public authorities and with their
EU counterparts.
The project has endeavoured to fostering awareness among the general
public and decision-makers that they are Europeans not only based upon
geography or economy, but primarily upon a shared cultural and historical
heritage, as expressed in the statement that culture is the Soul of Europe.
It explained that sharing a common history and culture is a defining
element of Europe, and that cultural history is most prominently and visibly
expressed in cities and buildings, both vernacular and religious, in styles
which are characteristic and/or unique for Europe.
Raised awareness about the European dimension of cultural heritage may
lead to an increased appreciation of their historic cities and handcrafts,
their authenticity, integrity and diversity among the general public and key
decision-makers on all levels. They heard the message that culture and
heritage are becoming the cutting edge in competition for investments,
and were familiarized with the manifold European initiatives around
historic cities. Hence they better realize their potential and are more ready
to take the necessary measures for their preservation and development.
At the same time, their capacity to solve the existing problems has been
markedly increased.
At the same time, the new network of Civil Society Organizations working
for historic cities and handcrafts will develop and share a common
general approach, goals and European orientation. They will better
communicate, coordinate and cooperate among each other and with state
authorities, based on an IT networking platform. In addition, the network
of Civil Society Organizations will be a unified counterpart for European
institutions, initiatives and networks working in the field of historic cities
and handcrafts.
All of the countries of the Western Balkans aspire to become members of
the European Union indeed for all of them this is their highest political
15

priority. Beyond a general feeling of belonging to Europe, however,

a great part of the population would have difficulties to explain exactly
what makes them part of the European cultural realm. The long time of
isolation, and later poverty, has prevented the possibility of developing
an experience of shared values and principles for most inhabitants of the
Western Balkans.
In the project, we have presented the cultural heritage of the partnering
countries as Our Common Heritage. We have encouraged a view that
the cultural heritage of the four countries is a common heritage of all
ethnic groups or nations who live here, thereby trying to contribute to
inter-ethnic exchange and understanding. I.e., Albanians should consider
heritage related to Macedonian, Greek etc. culture also as their own
heritage and assume a responsibility to safeguard it, and in the same way,
Macedonians should consider Albanian, Greek etc. heritage also as their
own and assume the same responsibility for it, and so on for all of the
nations who live in the area of the partnering countries, and indeed in
the Balkans. In short, all ethnic communities should develop a sense of
responsibility for all heritage rather than each community only for what
they consider their own. This shall help to progress from a we vs. they
mentality to a we together mentality.
Secondly, we have also presented the cultural heritage of our countries
decidedly as part of our common European heritage, representing
European values, and this has been reflected by explaining common
traits and features in the history and design of European cities. While we
were also pointing out the differences, we were illustrating the Unity in
Diversity principle of Europe one of its highest values.

* Stephan Doempke has been the Coordinator of the EVAH Project until March 2012.

16

The Historic Fabric of Balkan Towns:

Space, Power, Culture and Society
by Maximilian Hartmuth

Balkan towns as a mirror of society

Among visitors from the rest of Europe, the historic fabric of urban
settlements in the Balkan peninsula often evokes similar reactions: their
pre-modern architecture and urban structure looks not only somewhat
unfamiliar, in terms of style and technology it also looks unexpectedly
homogenous in a vast region between Banja Luka and Edirne. The
reason for both is that for a very long period between the fourteenth and
nineteenth centuries much of the peninsula was united under the rule of
a single sovereign, the Ottoman sultan. In the wake of his installation on
the throne in his capital of Istanbul in 1453 there developed a centralized
state whose many subjects, their goods and ideas, travelled freely between
the nodes of a dynamically expanding urban network in the Balkans and
beyond. It was far from unusual, for instance, that a builder or carpenter
from rugged West Macedonia would be found working 400km to the
north, in Belgrade. Models for the regions monumental urban architecture
often came from Istanbul, which also supplied the provincial societys
upper strata with an elite style to be emulated in keeping with ones
economic potency.
In choices related to dress or the embellishment of ones home,
confessional differences were often less critical than class differences. Yet,
the outward appearance of towns did reflect a religious hierarchy that was
fundamental to Ottoman society until the advent of modernity. While a
large number of remarkable monuments were constructed in the Balkans
rapidly developing urban settlements in the fifteenth through seventeenth
centuries, churches were not among them. Upon the Ottomans conquest
of a given place, the most monumental building in town was usually
converted into a mosque, and it was generally prohibited by Hanefite
law to build churches ex novo. Necessary repairs to older structures were
considered legitimate, but they required imperial permission. Churches
built in the Ottoman Balkans before the nineteenth century were often
rebuilt within the dimensions of the older buildings on site a regulation
that certainly greatly limited design potentials until its gradual lifting in
the nineteenth century. It was in the middle decades of that century, only
few decades before the empires demise, that the monumental church
returned to Ottoman townscapes; but even then the tall belfries would not
dare to exceed the height of mosque minarets.
17

In any case, it is important to realize that the Ottoman town in the Balkans
was not a product of laisser-faire but followed certain conventions that
have not always been visible to historians because they were rarely
explicitly recorded. One of these was the understanding of townscapes as
reflecting the Ottoman order of things, especially with regard to religious
hierarchies. The typical separation of the city into a bustling downtown
surrounded by a ring of almost exclusively residential districts must
probably be said to have reflected the ideal of a functional separation
between private and public lives.
The traditional disposition of residences as free-standing structures in
walled precincts with small gardens also made it possible not only to
manage their exposure to sunlight but also to adapt these structures to
changing needs in terms of spaces and functions. Their frequent location
of dwellings on slopes, where possible, certainly made sewerage more
efficient. While this architecture may thus have followed similar principles,
it did vary greatly according to region. Frequent snowfall, for instance, may
have made obligatory steep roofs, while lack of wood had people turn to
stone. The difference, for instance, between dwellings in Bosnia and in
neighbouring Herzegovina one region oriented toward the Adriatic, the
other toward the Balkan interior, and both being separated by the main
ridge of the Dinaric range can be considerable. Nonetheless, and despite
what some books might suggest, we must admit that we know very little
about residential architecture in the Balkans before the nineteenth century,
simply because so few structures have survived that can be securely dated
to this period. This also makes it hard to say something incontrovertible
about the development of residential architecture in this region. The
residential architecture of Balkan towns preserved to us reflects the range
of types and forms found in the nineteenth century.

Urban architecture
While in very few cases (such as Sofia and Thessaloniki) we can still find
monuments dating back to Late Antiquity, the old town districts of
Balkan cities largely preserve the structure and fabric of the nineteenth
century, even if their principal monuments are usually older. It was in this
period that new urban models entered the Balkan stage and occasionally
went into fierce competition with the traditional ones. Nowhere is this
as visible as in Sarajevo, where there is a sudden change between the
commercial district named Baarija a district whose structure can be
traced back to the decades around 1500, but which in its present form
reflects changes that occurred around 1900 (such as the open square with
a pseudo-Ottoman sebil-type water-dispenser) and the district around
the Central European style high street called Ferhadija, which emerged
as a counter-model to the old centre around 1900. In Skopje, the river
Vardar is the border between a traditional bazaar district that emerged
below the fortress starting from the fifteenth century and a modern
part that developed rapidly only in the past century. In Sofia, the changes
have been more incisive: that citys transformation into the capital of the
Bulgarian nation around 1900 left few remnants of its Ottoman past. The
ring road surrounding Sofias centre recalls the configuration of Vienna,
18

where many Bulgarians went to study architecture and related fields in that
period.
Most Balkan cities oldest urban structures usually also date to the
Ottoman period, and not earlier. Monumental exceptions include the
several cathedral-type basilicas built in the Balkan interior in a period of
restoration of Byzantine rule there in the eleventh and twelfth centuries,
with some of the best-preserved examples in Prizren, Serres, Verroia,
and Ohrid. That period saw an earnest revival of urban life in the region
after the incisive seventh-century barbarian invasions at a scale not
to be repeated until the later fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. It was
then that many Balkan cities received their principal pre-nineteenthcentury monuments. As a rule, this was not an architecture that was the
result of local processes and the (design) work of local artists, however;
it followed types and styles formulated in what might be called the
Ottoman metropolitan region around the Sea of Marmara, where the
old court cities of Istanbul, Bursa, and Edirne (and hence also the principal
achievements in Ottoman architectural design) were located.
The standardization of Ottoman architectural types made it possible for
fairly remote settlements to receive monuments of a relatively noteworthy
character. Deviations from standard models were generally meaningful, in
the sense that they reflected a given patrons exalted status or ambition,
or date from a period in which details were not yet as standardized but
left to the discretion of builders and masons. For instance, the unusual
size and sophistication (in a provincial context) of the mosque of Gazi
Hsrev Beg mosque in Sarajevo probably echoes its patrons birth he
was the Macedonian-born son of an Ottoman princess as well as the
unusual degree of power yielded by its patron in a region in strategically
important location for the expansion of Ottoman hegemony into Central
and Southern Europe.
Irrespective of size, the urban architecture of Ottoman towns drew upon
a certain set of established types. In accordance with the settlements
significance, one would find Friday mosques (in the early period:
usually only one), smaller prayer-houses meant for use by specific
neighbourhoods, inns, covered marketplaces for luxury goods, bathhouses
(the coffeehouses of the fair sex), elementary and higher schools,
aqueducts, public fountains, etc. The popularity of domes as not only
structural but also iconographic elements in this architecture is quite plain
in many formerly Ottoman settlements. We know little about the original
decoration in the interiors of these buildings, but the ornamentation of
portals is sometimes significant.
In the fifteenth century, bathhouses were often privileged in terms of their
monumentality and decoration. At the end of that century, coinciding
with a greater need for the supervision of Muslim worship in a time
of heresies, an important shift was made that reserved most truly
monumental architecture for Friday mosques. A city like Sarajevo could
have as many as seven domed mosques. At the end of the sixteenth
century came another shift an echo of developments in the capital
19

from the patronage of mosques to clusters of buildings around schools of

higher education, medreses. However, this period also sees a significant
decrease in architectural patronage in general. Compared to the period
1425-1575, few comparably monumental structures appear in the
following three centuries.
A major typological change took place only in the nineteenth century,
when a modern infrastructure of schooling, security, and communication
was introduced, dwarfing construction of buildings with religious functions.
It is often overlooked that the advent of a European-type architecture
and urban planning predated the independence of Balkan nations from
Ottoman rule. The generally frequent conflagrations, aided by the then still
widespread use of wood in architecture, were an opportunity for the state
to intervene in the rebuilding of urban areas along modern, rational,
principles. In the late period, the Ottoman state also occasionally needed
to build entire new districts for (Muslim) refugee populations. Skopjes
Madir maalo (from Turkish Muhacir mahallesi, i.e. refugees quarter)
was the first in that city to be planned and develop on a rational,
orthogonal grid. In late Ottoman Bitola there developed a representative
European-style main street known as irok sokak (literally: wide street),
but originally called Hamidiye, after sultan Abdlhamid II. This was also the
name of a new, elegant suburban district of Thessaloniki.

Different paths of development

While many have been tempted to imagine the towns of Southeast Europe
as representing certain types, in accordance with the formerly dominant
powers in parts of the region we so read of the Ottoman town, a
Venetian/Dalmatian counterpart, a Balkan town, a Hungarian town,
etc. there are very few normative examples of such. It must not be
forgotten that at the time of the Ottoman conquest there already existed
towns in the Balkans. The Ottomans, in fact, occasionally seemed reluctant
to intervene in drastic ways in the existing urban fabric. Sometimes
defensive walls were razed and major churches were converted, but
every so often none of that happened. In many cases, an Ottoman
urban core with the relevant Islamic institutions developed outside
the medieval walled towns, as a quasi new settlement, which, in time,
usually superseded the older settlements centre in terms of importance.
To be sure, significant transformations occurred, but these are perhaps
better described as an Ottomanization of existing settlements than an
implementation of Ottoman urban models on a tabula rasa. That said,
a significant number of Balkan cities are Ottoman foundations without
medieval (urban) precedents, such as Sarajevo, Novi Pazar, Kor, or
Razgrad. Three examples of prominent historic Balkan towns discussed
below shall provide an idea of the differing paths of development.
The medieval walled town of Ohrid appears to have been taken by the
Ottomans from an Albanian lord at the end of the fourteenth century.
The Ottomanization that took place thereafter progressed as follows:
The walled towns principal church, the eleventh-century Hagia Sophia,
was turned into a Friday mosque. The area immediately around it became
20

a small government district, with the governors residence, a mint for

Ottoman coins, and a small shrine dedicated to a martyred Ottoman
clerk. Save for this small area, the quarters within the medieval town walls
remained predominantly Christian, however. The new, Muslim, Ohrid
emerged outside the walls along the lakeshore. It was there that major
Islamic institutions (including a medrese with a scriptorium) came to be
located, and it was also there that the Ohrizade family, which appears
to have dominated Ohrids politics in the sixteenth and seventeenth
centuries, had their enormous residence and some public buildings
connected to it. The familys ancestor had converted a monastery on a
hilltop overlooking the town into a mosque, possibly in concert with the
sultan. Far away from Ohrids Muslim quarters, the building came to be
identified with the fact that here free food was distributed to the needy,
irrespective of creed. Perhaps this institution was instrumental for the
prominence of the Ohrizade family in town.
What thus can be reconstructed to a fair extent is a settlement that was
both divided and united. The old walled town remained inhabited by
non-Muslims, save for one area around the pashas residence and the
Hagia Sophia in which the presence of the power of the Ottoman centre
was felt. The more dynamic part of Ohrid was what we might call the
Lower Town, however, which was the site of most of the towns Islamic
institutions and of the residence of the locally dominant family. Perhaps
Ohrids urban structure can be seen as expressive not only of a Muslim/
Christian divide but also of that between a local Muslim elite (here
represented by the Ohrizades) and the distant centre of Ottoman power
(represented by the pasha and the sultans mosque, i.e. the converted
Hagia Sophia). Modern Ohrids downtown developed from the once
predominantly Muslim suburb in the flat land below the quarters in the
walled city, which have remained a principally residential/touristic area.
Skopje, which had also been an important medieval settlement and the
residence of Serbian dynasts, was conquered around the same time as
Ohrid. However, events unfolded quite differently there. Knowledge
concerning the physical fabric of pre-Ottoman Skopje is expected to
increase with the publication of finds from the ongoing excavations in the
castle area. It is clear, however, that Ottoman/Muslim Skopje developed in
the depression between the castle and the Gazi Baba hill. Interestingly, the
principal agents of this transformation were three generations of a family
of frontier raiders, who had made Skopje their base for excursions into
Albania and Serbia. Their founding of institutions resulted in the gradual
emergence of a new commercial-cultural district in the area of todays air
municipality. This was thanks to the institutions established there by the
raider lord shak Beg and his son sa: bathhouses, hostels, prayer-houses,
etc.
Skopjes Great Mosque was built on the Gazi Baba hill by the Ottoman
Sultan Murad II, however. Even though around 1500 the towns
population was actually stagnating, the remarkable new monuments
dating from this period show how Skopje had risen to Upper Macedonias
metropolis under Ottoman rule. It had also become a showcase for
21

architecture for the surrounding region, easily dwarfing contemporary

architectural production in Ohrid, Bitola, and even Thessaloniki. With the
arrival of railways and refugees from elsewhere in the Balkans began the
gradual shift of the citys centre to the southern bank of the Vardar, where
under Serbian and Yugoslav rule a new downtown emerged and went into
competition with the old one north of the river.
Sarajevo, finally, emerged as a new Ottoman settlement in an upland
plain; its location was strategically imperative for the expansion into
more northern areas fabulously rich in mineral resources. Sarajevos early
history is shady, but it seems that in the second and third quarters of the
fifteenth century a frontier outpost in enemy territory merged with an
existing (Christian) village next to a ford over the river Miljacka into a
more significant settlement that could support the residence (saray) of an
Ottoman governor. The principal agent in this process appears to have
been the raider lord sa Beg, the son of the aforementioned shak Beg
of Skopje. Sarajevo soon became the site of an industrious downtown
(Baarija) perhaps a reflection of the importance played by trade
in the genesis of a sixteenth-century Ottoman boomtown close to the
Muslim-Christian frontier. In the middle decades of the sixteenth century,
Sarajevo was equipped with an unusually monumental architectural fabric;
few comparable monuments were added in the three following centuries.
Under Austro-Hungarian rule (1878-1918), the central position in the citys
structure of the Baarija was successfully challenged by a Europeantype downtown district built adjacent to it. These developments mark the
beginning of the citys westward expansion, continued under Yugoslav
rule. First a rather marginalized oriental/colonial town, Sarajevos
population almost quadrupled after WWII. The names of the two new
urban municipalities established in this period are expressive of this
departure: Novo Sarajevo (New Sarajevo) and Novi Grad (New Town).
The monumental centre shifted from the Baarija and the quarter
around the Habsburg-built neo-medieval cathedral to the beginning of a
seemingly endless multi-lane boulevard marked by skyscrapers challenging
the existing minarets and belfries as the dominant vertical elements in
Sarajevos townscape.
All three cases show that development was not motored by a monolithic
culture, a specific spirit or mentality, but resulted from the agency of
various groups and individuals with occasionally very different interests
in both new and pre-existing settlements. In Ohrid and Skopje, these
differences here possibly between Istanbul and provincial powerholders may have been reflected in the fabric of the site as well. Much
more research of a comparative character is necessary before we can
endeavour to make more general statements concerning Balkan urbanisms
that will endure the test of time.

22

23

24

GJIROKASTRA
A Chronicle in Stone
by Stephan Doempke
(with Oliver Gilkes, Sadi Petrela, Emin Riza and Elenita Roshi*)

Introduction
Very rich in historical architectural values, the museum city of Gjirokastra
is an important town that sheds light on what urban life was like in Albania
in the late medieval period. With its dominating hill being a natural site for
a military fortification, Gjirokastra drew its importance from its strategic
location controlling the Drino Valley one of the main routes from the
port of Durrs and central Albania to Greece and Byzantium. The Drino
Valleys rich agricultural lands were the other reason for Gjirokastras
families rise to wealth.
The historic town of Gjirokastra was inscribed into the World Heritage
List in 2005 as a rare example of a well-preserved Ottoman town in the
Balkans, deriving its outstanding universal value from two complimentary
factors: the setting of the town and its traditional houses.
Gjirokastra originated from a military and administrative castle out of
which the town developed in the 13th century. Unlike most other Balkan
cities it did not begin as a craftsmen center, but was a town of Albanian
farmers of large estate and administrators of the Ottoman Empire, which
influenced the type of town and also the architecture of its residential
houses.

25

It is the residential quarters that set the tone for the town. They were
determined by the rugged terrain, characterized by steep slopes and
escarpments, deep ravines and narrow ridges. As a result a unique type
of house originated that shows a wide variety from having to adapt to
changing terrain, resulting in a coexistence of the natural environment with
human creations that gives the town its unmistakable character.

Ismail Kadare was born in Gjirokastra in 1936, and is one of the

most famous sons of the town. He is a man of letters - a poet,
novelist, historian and journalist who has written extensively about
Albania and its place in Europe. His home town is present in many
of his works; three of them being exclusively about Gjirokastra:
Kronik n Gur (Chronicle in Stone), translated into many
languages, Matters of Madness, published in 2005, and Wrong
Dinner in 2008.
It was a strange city, and seemed to have been cast up in the valley
one winters night like some prehistoric creature that was now clawing
its way up the mountainside. Everything in the city was old and made
of stone, from the streets and fountains to the roofs of the sprawling
age-old houses covered with grey slates like gigantic scales. It was hard
to believe that under this powerful carapace the tender flesh of life
survived and reproduced.

A Gjirokastra house is a unique mixture of Albanian, Ottoman and

regional Epirote features. Its functional design is a mix of Albanian and
Ottoman cultures, and reflects the economic activity of their owners as
large farmers and administrators. Following Albanian tradition, the ground
26

floor is uninhabited and reserved for the storage of agricultural produce

and for large cisterns, due to the lack of surface water in the town. This
arrangement facilitates defending the house. The division and design of the
rooms on the upper floors reflect the Albanian family and their way of life,
tinted by Ottoman aesthetics and style of the time.
The entire construction of the house, with the exception of the uppermost
floor, is of stone, indicative of Albanian tradition. Only the uppermost
floor is constructed of timber, wooden lath and plaster, and has a row of
windows as well as terraces; all typical of Ottoman residential houses. The
roofs of the house and gate are made of slabs of local limestone or slate, a
unique Epirote stylistic element.
The combination of these functional and stylistic features can be found
nowhere except in Gjirokastra. Individual buildings of the kind exist in the
region of Epirus, and there are several towns with purely Ottoman style
houses throughout the Balkans. But both the multitude of such unique
residences in an urban setting, virtually determining the character of the
town, and the great variety of forms from almost purely defensive to
largely urban, and from Albanian to Ottoman, make Gjirokastra an urban
phenomenon without parallel anywhere in the world.

History
Archaeological evidence confirms that there has been a settlement in
Gjirokastra since about 500 BC. Substantial block-built walls have been
unearthed suggesting the site was a significant fortification in the preRoman period (before 168 BC) and was probably refortified at the end of
the Roman Empire. The first reference to the settlement was recorded in
1336 by the Byzantine chronicler John Cantacuzene who mentions it both
as a fortress and a town.
The origin of the name Gjirokastra is less well-determined. The most
colourful suggestion is that it was named after Princess Argyro, the sister
of the feudal lord of the town who threw herself from the battlements,
together with her young son, during the final siege on the city by enemies.
Another suggestion is that the name came from either the Argyres, a preRoman tribal group who inhabited the area, or Argjyri, the name of a clan
native to the Gjirokastra region. The most poetic explanation is that the
city takes its name from the Greek words for silver (argro) and castle
(kastro); in reference to the grey stone walls, streets and slate roofs that
shimmer like silver in the rain.
The Drino valley has been a natural exchange route between the Adriatic
Sea and Greece for thousands of years. Given its geographical importance
as well as the rich agricultural lands, it has a long history of both peaceful
settlement and bloody conflicts. Various cultures have coexisted and
intermingled here, such as the Illyrian, Epirotic, Macedonian, Roman,
Slavic, Albanian, Byzantine, Greek, Ottoman, Aromunian and Roma, and
27

the valley remains a multicultural region to this day.

There were no cities in the valley until the Molossian King Pyrrhus
founded Antigonea, on the eastern side of the Drino valley, in 295 BC. But
following the defeat of King Philip V of Macedonia in 168 BC, the Roman
Counsel Aemilius Paullus ordered the destruction of Antigonea, and its
inhabitants were sold into slavery.
In the 2nd century AD Emperor Hadrian saw an opportunity to revive
this depressed area by founding a new town. Hadrianopolis was built on
a hill overlooking the Drino River in the centre of the valley in order to
bring together the scattered communities of the valley; all of whom had
been without a focal point since the destruction of Antigonea 400 years
previously. In the 6th century it was renamed Justinianopolis, and had its
own bishop. Soon after, it was abandoned and, in the middle ages, was
buried by river sediments.
During the middle ages the region was in turmoil as various powers - Avars
and Byzantines, Bulgars and Serbs - competed for power. The Normans
under Bohemond attempted to conquer the area in the eleventh century
from a base at Butrint. This was the era when the Albanians were first
mentioned by that name and when they rose to rule their own states.
These rulers required fortresses and, in the eleventh century, Gjirokastra
Castle was constructed.
28

During the 13th century Despotate of Epirus, Gjirokastra and its

surrounding region were ruled by the Gjon Zenebishi family. However,
the Ottoman Empire expanded into Europe in the late 14th century and
brought Gjirokastra under its sway by 1419, beginning a rule which was
to last until 1912, almost 500 years. Around that time the city had 163
residential houses. It prospered as the capital of the Albanian Sanjak (an
Ottoman administrative unit) for over a century, until it was superseded
by Delvina during the reign of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent (15201566). Gjirokastra retained an administrative role as the seat of a kadi
(judge) and, coupled with its strategic location and rich hinterland, the city
remained important and doubled its pre-Ottoman population by 1583. It
experienced further growth in the 17th century when it had almost reached
the extension of the present historical town, and the principles of its urban
composition were laid.

Evliya elebi was an Ottoman official who travelled all over the
Empire on behalf of the Sultan in the 17th century. He provided the
first detailed description of Gjirokastra in the year 1670:
The fortress is an old stonework construction situated along the
ridge of a high cliff Its long solid ramparts resemble a gallery. Inside
the fortress there is only one main street running from east to west.
Ranged on both sides of the street are 200 two-storey stonework
houses, roofed entirely with slate... In front of the eastern gate of
the fortress, down a steep embankment, is the quarter of the infidels,
called Kuuk Varo (Little Town). It consists of 200 illuminated spacious
houses. Under the cliffs to the north of the fortress is the old bazaar,
called the Fortress Bazaar, consisting of 40 little shops. This bazaar has
wooden gates at both ends, much like those of a bedestan, which the
watchmen close every night

Ali Pasha of Tepelena took over Gjirokastra in 1811. Born near the small
town of Tepelena in 1744, he rose from being the head of a band of
bandits to becoming the regional governor Pasha - of Epirus. Under Ali
Pasha, Gjirokastra became a strategic and commercial stronghold between
his twin capitals of Tepelena and Ioannina, thus laying the foundation for
its wealth. Gjirokastra flourished like never before, and it was during this
time that the first large houses which give Gjirokastra its characteristic
appearance today were built. However, Ali Pashas ambitions to fortify
his dominions sufficiently to be able to rebel against the Ottoman Empire
failed when Sultan Mahmud II overthrew and executed him in Ioannina
in 1822. After Ali Pasha was killed, Gjirokastra continued as an Ottoman
administrative centre and as an agricultural and trading hub.
29

The English landscape painter and nonsense poet, Edward Lear

passed through Gjirokastra twice, once in 1848 and again in 1859,
over the course of his Balkan journeys. These were the twilight years
of the Ottoman Empire, and Lear described and painted a world that
was fast disappearing. Lears writings, and above all, his sketches
and paintings were the first visual and truly evocative descriptions
of the land since elebi had passed through 150 years before. The
landscape was fruitful and bustling, but travel was hard and the roads,
deteriorated since the time of Ali Pasha, were little more than trails.
Arghyro Kastro is in fact three towns: and no place could have been more
beautifully contrived for the perpetuation of the family feuds which long
disturbed its harmony. Rival houses placed at the opposing edges of the
same ravines could brave each others anger: and while their inmates
were distant only a space of a few yards in appearance, a real hours
descent and climb separated two seats of hereditary squabble but after
the inevitable Ali had seized on the town, the separate communities
ceased to differ, and it was thenceforward reduced to the level of his
other widely scattered dependencies.
The houses in the singular place have a most independent air; scattered
here and three, standing on crags and precipices, or on little isolated
levels or platforms of ground, each adorned with whitewash and
arabesque painting, which gives the whole building (itself pretty in form)
the most pleasing character of colour and finish.

During the later part of the 19th century, Gjirokastra was at the forefront
of efforts to promote a sense of Albanian national identity. In 1880 the
Assembly of Gjirokastra championed the cause for self-government and
resistance to Ottoman rule. In 1908, Gjirokastras first Albanian language
school, named Liria, was opened in the city followed by a series of
patriotic clubs and societies. The building recently restored still exists
on top of an isolated hill near the bazaar, and a monument was erected to
commemorate the beginning of literacy in southern Albania.

erciz Topulli, born in 1880, was the son of a prominent local family
and later became the leader of a band of freedom fighters during
a period of considerable unrest in the Ottoman Empire. In 1908,
his band assassinated the Bimbash, the Turkish commander in the
city, which was followed by the famous battle at Mashkullore from
which Topulli managed to escape. When Albanian independence
was declared in 1912 he took up the cause of defending the borders
of the new state and was killed in northern Albania during the First
World War. A statue, sculpted by Odise Paskali, was erected for him
in front of the Municipal Office in 1934, and his body was reinterred
in Gjirokastra in 1937.

30

During the early 20th century, when the borders of modern Albania were
being defined, Gjirokastra was a disputed territory. In the course of the
Balkan Wars, Albania declared independence in 1912, which was accepted
by the European powers in London a year later. Still, for a few months in
1914 the Gjirokastra region formed part of the Autonomous Republic of
Epirus under General Zographos, who agitated for union with Greece. Only
after the First World War, the Entente powers (Britain, France and Russia)
persuaded Greece to drop its claim to this majority ethnic Albanian area.
The present border was ratified internationally in 1921.
During King Zogs reign (1928-1939), Gjirokastra established itself as
one of the most important cultural and economic centres in the country,
though it was also famous for the large prison constructed in the castle
at this time. The city was taken by the Italians in 1939 provoking the
formation of a guerrilla-style resistance movement; known as the Partisans
they were opposed to the Italian and later German occupation. In the
final years of the war Gjirokastras rulers changed several times between
Greeks, Italians and Germans before much of the region was liberated in
1944 by the Partisans under their Gjirokastra-born leader, Enver Hoxha.
Gjirokastra became the base for the liberation of the rest of the country in
November 1944. It was through British bombing and German shelling that
the city suffered its first major destruction.
The years under communism saw extensive industrialisation. In 1961,
Gjirokastra was declared a Museum City by the communist regime in an
effort to restore and conserve the unique cultural heritage of the town.
A large workforce was assembled to maintain the old quarters. At the
same time, a new socialist town was built at the foot of the historic town
which soon took over many of the urban functions of Gjirokastra. Its new
apartment blocks, with modern amenities, attracted many people away
from the historic town.

31

When the regime fell in March 1992, Gjirokastras economy was already in
rapid decline. To achieve full employment, the communists had assigned
far more people to work in the already outdated and inefficient industrial
complexes than were actually required, and the subsequent collapse of
communism resulted in the loss of thousands of jobs. There was much civil
unrest, the National Armaments Museum was looted, and the enormous
statue of Enver Hoxha that had dominated the old town was pulled down.
1997 brought about further unrest with the collapse of the pyramid
financial schemes that resulted in the loss of many peoples life savings. A
significant part of the
Bazaar was burned
and damaged, and
the town became
violent and lawless.
The crisis triggered
mass emigration, and
the abandonment of
many of the historic
buildings that the
state could no longer
afford to maintain.
The collapse of
public services
in the rural areas after 1997 brought thousands of internal emigrants
to Gjirokastra. They were looking for housing in the lower new town
and triggered an unprecedented, unplanned and largely uncontrolled
construction boom. As a result, Gjirokastra today is a split town where
most of the economic life happens in the new town while the historic city
suffers from widespread emigration and decline.

32

The Historic Town

Natural Setting
The city lies at the foot of the Mali i Gjer Mountain Range, on rugged
terrain of narrow valleys, deep ravines and a few, small gentle slopes.
Stone from nearby mountains is the main building material of the town.
On this terrain, full of contrasts, rises a steep hillock, on which the castle,
the ancient part of the city and its center, has been built. Its commanding
position over the open city quarters has always played a unparalleled role
in the general view of the city, while it began to loose its function as a
defense construction around the second half of the 19th century.

The Ottoman town

The layout of the historic town of Gjirokastra is distinctly Ottoman, and
remains so today. It was not built on the river plain, as one would expect
in a Western European town, but on the mountain, in order to save
agricultural land. Secondly, its main components are
the castle which served as both the palace of the ruler and a
military fortification
the bazaar as the area for crafts and commerce
the religious buildings (churches, mosques and tekke)
the residential quarters.
Gjirokastra did not have urban squares as meeting grounds for the
population, nor did it have a city hall for their representation: the only
building embodying rule and administration was the castle, and the only
social spaces were the religious complexes. A central square around which
the main social institutions were placed ruler, church and city hall is
33

lacking. The residential areas were strictly separated from the bazaar: there
were no residences in the bazaar, and neither were there commercial
spaces in the residential areas. In architecture, this distinction can be seen
between the dense two-storey wall-to-wall constructions in the bazaar and
the solitary residences of the Gjirokastra families which give the city its
unique appearance. Some stretches of road in the Old Bazaar, Hazmurat
and Varosh Quarters represent the transitions between the two spheres.

34

A change of this functional

division came only with
the advent of the Western
European model of state
and society through
King Zog and later the
communists. A series of
essential public buildings,
such as the city hall, the
cultural center, the post
office, sports grounds,
a hotel and apartment
blocks, and a big square
were built in the areas between the bazaar and the residential quarters,
and schools and kindergardens were established within the residential
areas. With the beginning of private business after 1991, small shops
started to spring up in the residential areas for the first time, indicating the
further transformation of Gjirokastra from an Ottoman town to a Western
European one.

The Castle
The castle is undoubtedly the most impressive building in the city.
Archaeologists believe that the site has been inhabited since the Iron
Age in the 8th 7th centuries BC. The first fortifications - stone-block built
walls - were probably erected from the 5th century BC during the time
when Epirus was a battle-ground between Illyrian tribes, Macedonians and
Roman forces. A much larger fortress occupying an area of 2.5 hectares
was built on the eastern end of the ridge overlooking the Drino valley by
the Despotate of Epirus, under Byzantine auspices in the 12th and 13th
centuries.

35

After the Ottoman conquest in the early 15th century, the castle was
progressively enlarged and improved. Extensions were built throughout the
Ottoman period as the castle grew south-westward down the ridge.
The Turkish traveller, Evliya elebi has left us interesting information on the
castle from the middle of the 17th century. By describing it exactly during
the first phase of its final expansion, he reports that, besides the military
functions and the structures used for defensive intensions, there were
also residences, huge cisterns and a mosque. It may be assumed that, at
that time, the castle looked like a village encircled by a protecting wall,
much like the castle of Berat still looks today, but with additional military
structures.
The Castle of Gjirokastra as we see it today is mainly the work of Ali Pasha.
From 1811, he embarked on a substantial building programme, adding
the clock tower at the northern end, a great number of underground
storehouses and the fortifications at the southern end to fully enclose the
area occupied by the castle. Ali Pasha relocated the families who lived
within the fortified surrounding walls and reserved the castle entirely for
his residence and military purposes.

36

In addition, Ali Pasha built an aqueduct to bring drinking water from a

spring under Mount Sopoti to fill the massive water cisterns that lie in the
central block of the castle, a distance of about ten kilometres. The stone
aqueduct was depicted by the famous British painter Edward Lear who
had done extensive travelling in the region. In a gorge above the Manalat
Quarter, a small section still stands, known locally as Ali Pashas Bridge or
Manalat Bridge.
Since the days of Ali Pasha, the fortunes of the castle have slowly declined.
What was left of the aqueduct was torn down in 1932, and the stones
were used to construct a prison
in the heart of the fortress that
remained in consecutive use for 30
years by King Zog, the Italian and
German fascists, and the Albanian
communists.
There are three main entrances to
the castle in the west, north and
east - and two secondary ones. The
huge East (or Vezirs) Gate was one
of the principal gates to the castle
leading down and to the south. It
is said that Ali Pasha used to enter
through this gate whenever he
arrived from his capital Ioannina. Its
fine stonework includes denticulate
mouldings, and the remains of a
second storey included the vault,
37

doors, stairs and chimney breasts. A number of internal spaces in the

castle had second or third floors serving as residences for the castles
officials and its garrison.
Just south of the East Gate, the wall can be seen that was the original
exterior limit of the castle before Ali Pashas extension. Behind a narrow
gap, the silhouetted line of a vaulted roof indicates a former religious
building, possibly a basilica. Immediately behind that is a dervish turbe, or
tomb, which contains the remains of two Fathers, Baba Sulltan and Baba
Kapllan, holy men from the 16th-17th century who lived and worked in
Gjirokastra. The turbe is possibly of the Sadi Order of Sufi Islam to which
Ali Pasha is said to have been affiliated, and by extending the castle he
managed to include the turbe within its protecting walls.
Continuing southwest, it is possible to navigate through a series of
tunnels and massive vaults that extend to the very tip of the castle. These
substructures and the fortifications above were constructed by Ali Pasha
after 1811. They form the foundations of the ramparts above and also
served as storehouses and guardrooms.
From the west and east gate, a system of vaulted triple galleries, the socalled Great Gallery, extends north eastwards. It is lined with artillery
pieces that were either abandoned by or captured from the Italian and
German occupation forces during World War II. Italian guns, with a few
exceptions, occupy the right side of the gallery, while the German artillery
lines the left side. At the end of the gallery, on the left, is a small Italian

38

tank. Adjacent is a copy

of the massive statue
of the Partisan Hero by
Odise Paskali, who also
made the sculpture of
erciz Topulli in the
main square.
Originally opened in
1971, the National
Armaments Museum,
located in what was
once part of the prison, was built with Italian support on the top of the
biggest tower in the castle. On display are Albanian arms used during
the independence struggles of 1912 and 1920, as well as arms used by
Albanian Partisans, and trophies from World War II.
There is also a small selection of Albanian
socialist realist paintings throughout the
museum, the remains of a much larger
collection which has since been removed.
Recently, a new Museum of Gjirokastra has
been opened in an adjacent part of the castle.
It gives an overview of the history of the town
and region for the first time, and portrays
some of its most important personalities. On
exhibition are, among others, objects from
recent excavations in Hadrianopolis, arms from
the Ottoman times, and characteristic utensils
from the communist period.
Entrance to the prison is gained through a set of open steel doors in the
first gallery of the National Armaments Museum. Designed by the Italians,
the prison was built by King Zogs regime and was used from 1932. It was

39

taken over by Italian and German occupation forces during the Second
World War, then by the communist regime in 1944, and finally closed in
1968.
The small part of
the prison that is
accessible to visitors
was developed
as a museum by
the communist
regime in the
1970s following
the model of
revolutionary jails
in the Soviet Union
and elsewhere. At
the far end of the
cellblock, adjacent
to a torture and
execution chamber,
is an impressive display commemorating the young girl partisans, Bule
Naipi and Persefoni Kokdhima, who were executed in the prison. The
display case contains the girls clothing and the rope that is purported to
be the one used for their hanging by the Nazis in 1944. At the far end
of the corridor, through the locked steel bars to the right, the rest of the
prison and the punishment cells can be seen.
The collection of antique cannons nearby is the remains of the original
Ottoman fortress guns, and many of them date to Ali Pashas time. This
collection is a typical one, ranging from two to twelve pounder guns, many
of which are naval weapons, removed from ships.
The remains of a United States Air Force training plane, a two-seat
Lockheed T-33 Shooting Star, is the airplane which was forced to land at
Rinas Airport, near Tirana in December 1957, after developing technical
problems. The pilot was returned to the United States a short time later
but the plane was retained by the Albanian authorities. This proud trophy

40

of the Cold War, which the

communist regime maintained
was a spy plane, was brought to
the castle in 1969.
A series of cathedral-sized cisterns
were built under the castle
ramparts by Ali Pasha and were
supplied from the west by the
aqueduct. The northern end of the
castle is dominated by the clock
tower which was erected by Ali
Pasha. The Ottomans had a rich
culture of clock making, and from
the 17th century onwards they
built clock towers right across
their Empire. The square tower of
the Gjirokastra clock is a typical
example of Ottoman clocks.
Below the clock tower is a large vaulted bastion, which was once the site
of a battery of cannons. The embrasures dominate both the town and the
road approaching the main castle gates. Nearby, down a stone staircase,
is the rectangular powder store, carefully isolated from the surrounding
ground surface by a vaulted passage. The path that leads to the north
gate was specially stepped for caravans of pack animals, who would have
formed the main means of transport when the castle was built.

The Bazaar
Life in Gjirokastra has long been centered around the medieval castle,
with much of the population living inside its stout walls. In pre-Ottoman
times, the population would have relied on trade, while some served the
feudal lords, the Zenebishi clan, who controlled the region and used the
castle as their base. In 1419, the Ottomans consolidated their conquests

41

in the region and made Gjirokastra the capital of the new Albanian sanjak
(province). The growing administration and supporting garrison provided
the stimulus for the town to expand outside the castle walls. Initially it was
concentrated on the ridge outside the northern castle gate, an area still
known as the Pazar i Vjetr (Old Bazaar).
By the 1580s the town had more than 400 residences, and Gjirokastra had
become a trading centre to complement its administrative importance.
In the 17th century, Memi Pasha, the Ottoman governor, planned and
built a new commercial centre for Gjirokastra along the western slope
of the hill, the Pazar i Ri, (New Bazaar, referred to hereafter simply as the
Bazaar). It extends from a central nexus, the so-called neck of the bazaar
(qafa e pazarit) along five streets which connect it with the residential
neighbourhoods in all directions, and included a mosque built especially to
serve the craftsmen of the bazaar. The neck is still very much the center
of the historic town.

When people from the surrounding rural areas arrived in Gjirokastra for
trade, shopping or administrative matters, they had their special han or inn
where they would stay. The Hani
Zagoria (Zagoria Inn) on Hazmurat
Street is the last remaining
example of such an inn. The
peasants would ride up through
the ravine and leave their livestock
directly by the inn. As in the
livestock market, the bazaar was
full of small traders specializing
in artisanal crafts blacksmiths,
leatherworkers, tailors, embroiders, cobblers etc. The leatherworkers,
saddlers and tanners were largely Muslim, while the fur trade, metalwork
and silver-smith crafts were practiced by Christian families.
42

The bazaar was almost completely destroyed by fire, and then rebuilt in
the 1750s. After another devastating fire in the 19th century it was again
reconstructed. Its roads, keeping the old axes, were broadened, and the
houses in the bazaar today were built during that time. At its heyday in the
early 20th century, the Gjirokastra bazaar had about 410 workshops and
was a crafts center for all of Southern Albania.
The sloping terrain accounts for the construction of the houses in
descending blocks. Their almost uniform architecture and the widespread
use of carved stones prove the overall reconstruction of the entire bazaar
in one single period, from 1850 1870. Typically the two-storey premises
have a shop or workshop below and storage space above.
Not only is the bazaar characterized by its homogenous architecture,
but the same style also prevailed in the rest of the Gjirokastra residential
houses at the time. This integrated the bazaar well into the overall outlook
of the town. The bazaar of Gjirokastra is a rare example in the whole of
the Balkans of an ensemble of original buildings from the second half of
the 19th century which has maintained their original function to this day.
The bazaar displays
cobblestone
pavements with
extraordinary
designs. Most of the
cobblestone streets
in Gjirokastra are
paved with a mix of
black shale and pink
and white limestone
(the pink ones are
stained via an iron
oxidation process).
After having suffered
43

major destruction
during World
War II, the city
was rebuilt under
Enver Hoxha.
In the following
years, one hundred
craftsmen were
continuously
employed by
the state for the
restoration and
maintenance
works needed
to preserve the
historic buildings.
During the period
of civil unrest in 1997-1998, the bazaar suffered major damage again and
was deserted. Today many of its shops still remain empty, but with the
inscription of Gjirokastra onto the World Heritage List in 2005 and the
subsequent increase in tourism, a slow but steady process of revitalization
began and received a new dynamic through the establishment of an
artisan shop in 2007. Since then, several new workshops and galleries
have opened up and the sounds of the bazaar have returned.

Iso-Polyphonic Singing
Gjirokastra is one of the most well-known centers of iso-polyphonic
singing. Up until twenty years ago, this ancient tradition, deeply linked to
the Albanian national identity in Southern Albania, was a part of daily life
in the many cafes of the bazaar and in the more than 600 family houses of
the town.
Rendered mainly by male singers, the music traditionally accompanies a
wide range of social events, such as weddings, funerals, harvest feasts and
religious celebrations. It is always featured in the well-known Gjirokastra
Folk Festival, the
biggest regular
cultural event of
the nation. The
festival takes place
every four years
and is organized
as a nationwide
contest from the
local qualifyings
up to the
final national
competition.

44

Religious Buildings
As all of Albania, Gjirokastra was originally Christian, and the Church of
the Cross in nearby Labova is said to have been founded by Emperor
Justinian as early as the early 6th century. In 1515, after almost 100 years of
Ottoman rule, there were still 12,257 Christian families in the Gjirokastra
district compared to just 53 Muslim households. Most Albanians
converted to Islam in order to avoid their oldest son being conscripted to
Istanbul to receive a religious (and often military) education.
Albania today is also the global center for the Sufi traditions of Islam which
are collectively called Bektashism in present-day Albania although the
Bektashi are only one of four dervish orders in the country, in addition
to the Halveti, Rifai and Sadi. All four of them have been present in
Gjirokastra.
The spread of Sufism in Albania started in Gjirokastra, and it is particulary
strong in the south of the country. The Sufis collectively moved to Albania
first when the Janissaries were abolished by Sultan Mahmud II in 1826,
and again when Turkey became a laicistic state and the dervish orders
were prohibited under Ataturk. It is estimated that one third of all Albanian
Muslims today are followers of Bektashism, especially the intelligentsia,
and many of its leaders were at the forefront of the Albanian national
movement in the late 1800s and early 1900s.
Religious life
in Albania was
suppressed after
the communists
took over in
1944. Thousands
of priests and
nuns, imams and
babas lost their
lives or had to
flee the country.
When Albania formally declared itself an atheist state in 1967, all religious
buildings were closed or destroyed. Religious activities were again allowed
after the collapse of communism, and today four confessions are officially
recognized in Albania: catholic and protestant Chistianity, (Sunni) Islam
and Bektashism.

St. Sotira Church

St. Sotira is located at the northeast end of the castle, in the Old
Bazaar Quarter. It was built in 1784 and is of typical Orthodox design
- rectangular in shape and built on an east-west axis. The church is also
called the Old Metropolitan, as it was once the seat of the local Orthodox
bishop.
45

St. Sotira is a basilica

type church with three
naves. The interior area
is composed of narthex,
exonarthex and altar. The
wider main nave and both
narrower side naves are
covered by cylindrical
arches. In the part of the
altar, there are three apses.
A belfry was added later to
the entrance of the church.
Saint Sotiras domed
ceiling has an icon of
Christ Pantocrator, the allruling Christ, looking down
from heaven upon the
assembled congregation,
hearing their prayers and
reminding them of his
omnipresence.
Just inside the church and
to the right is the metamorphosis, a hand-carved stand holding two icons
that symbolises the divine transformation of Christ.
The ornately carved iconostasis dates from the late 18th century. All of the
small icons along the top tier are original, as are the two icons on either
side of the central, or royal, door on the lower tier. All of the remaining
icons along the lower tier are replacements, as is the cross at the centre
top of the iconostasis. The originals were stolen during the communist
years.
The interior of the church was heavily damaged during communism, and
the original wall paintings were destroyed. Framed icons now cover the
walls, many of them recently painted by local artists. Some of the objects
hanging from the steel bars, called censers, were rescued from other
churches during the period of communist destruction.

The Bazaar Mosque

The bazaar mosque is the only remaining mosque of the 15 that existed in
Gjirokastra. No one knows why this particular mosque was spared. After
1967, the building, with its high domed ceiling, was used to train circus
acrobats. Since the end of the communist regime, the original purpose of
the mosque has been reinstated.
The mosque was part of Memi Pashas original 17th century plan for the
Bazaar. It was destroyed by a fire in the 18th century, and was rebuilt
around 1754-1755 along with the rest of the Bazaar. The mosque was
46

deliberately designed to
extend over the original
street front, creating a
small parade of enclosed
shops that were rented
out to provide funds for
the maintenance of the
mosque. To this day, the
Muslim community is the
biggest owner of houses in
the bazaar.
On the west side of the
building, at street level, is
a small octagonal building
that is used for the ritual
washing before the faithful
attend prayers inside the
mosque. The front doors of
the mosque have carved
Arabic inscriptions: the
one on the right invokes
Allah; the one on the left
the Prophet Muhammad, founder of Islam. The rooms inside are simple
in decor and furnishings, as has always been the case for mosques in
Gjirokastra.
In the corner, to the right of the main entrance, is the access to the
minaret tower. There are 99 steps to reach the top, each symbolising the
names of God as given in the Quran. The tower was built with stones that
each have a hole drilled through the centre. Once they were stacked in
place and the holes aligned, molten lead was poured through the stones to
help seat and consolidate the blocks.
There are remnants of smaller mosques in other parts of the city. In
comparison with the mosques in other Albanian cities, those of Gjirokastra
do not have particular characteristics. What distinguishes Gjirokastra
mosques is their small size as well as their poor decoration, especially on
the exterior. The Gjirokastra mosques are typically monochrome. Just as
the bazaar, they merge fully with the architecture of the city, from which
they have taken many elements, both in their general appearance and in
their architectonic details.

The Meite Mosque, Seven Fountains and the Hamam

The complex of a mosque, a hamam and seven fountains at the bottom
of a ravine, known as the Seven Fountains, has been the social center
of a neighbourhood called Meites and one of the few open public
spaces of Gjirokastra. The fountains were built into the foundations of
the Meite mosque in the 17th century. The remains of the minaret tower
are immediately to the right of the fountain. The mosque, known for its
47

finely decorated ceiling, was once reached by

the stairway built over the fountains. It was
destroyed in 1967 during the Albanian antireligious campaign, and the location has since
lost its social function.
The abundance of water at this spot is
exceptional for Gjirokastra and may have
been the original reason to establish a site
for religious worship there. All of the seven
fountains are still in existence, and the building
of the central fountain is recorded in a beautiful
Ottoman inscription:
It has been constructed with a pool so as to be of great use.
Beginning from its base, to gain many prayers
The mosque shall be celebrated, so shall its founder be.
The one who built the pool shall be happy
From all believers, to this pool and to its builder
Since Muin Arslan1 is the naib2 and owner of the word.
For me today, tomorrow for you, (even) prophets have passed away.
With kindness, with pure sincerity, grant proper prayer to all.
1 This must be the name of the founder.
2 Naib is a substitute judge (Ott. Tr.)

The Hamam (Turkish bath) is the only construction of this type in

Gjirokastra. It was already in use when Evliya elebi visited the town in
1672 and is one of the very few hamams to have survived in Albania. The
baths of Meite were built in two phases. The first phase built three rooms,
two for bathing with a washtub and one for steam baths. The second
phase added a dressing room.

48

The Tekke
Dating to the 17th century or before, the Tuff Hill Tekke, at the opposite
edge of the town, was another major center for the Bektashi Sufi Order.
The remains of seven turbe can be seen. The principal turbe, on the very
top of the hill, contains the graves of three important dervishes.

The large complex of the Baba Zallit Tekke, located between Gjirokastra
and Lazarat, was founded in 1780 by Asim Baba, a holy man who is
said to have stemmed from the house of the Prophet. It was from here
that Bektashism spread through Albania. Baba Zallit has been the most
important Tekke in Gjirokastra and was of particular significance in the 19th
century. Its gate is flanked by turbes with conical roofs, and it had a rich
library that was destroyed by the communists in 1944. One of the dervishs
of the Tekke was Baba Rexhebi who fled Albania from the communists
and founded the first Bektashi Tekke in the United States.

Baba Hasan Dede founded a Tekke of the Rifai Order in Gjirokastra.

According to Evliya elebi his tomb was one of the foremost pilgrimage
sites in Gjirokastra.
There are also references to the presence of the Sadi Order in Gjirokastra
to which Ali Pasha Tepelena appears to have been connected.
49

The Residential Quarters

The extreme topography of the local area has made the city quarters
stand, more or less, as separate units. However, they are not so separated
from each other as to disrupt the unique picture of the city. The quarters
of Old Bazaar, Pllak and Hazmurat, built on two almost parallel
ridges, constitute the most characteristic and picturesque ensembles
of Gjirokastra houses. Their compactness, successful adaptation to the
terrain, and the diversity of their views make these quarters remarkable.

The great settlements of the Palorto and Manalat Quarters, built on steep
hill slopes, have a different composition, highlighting the block-like volume
of their buildings. The ensembles of both parts of the Dunavat Quarter,

50

masterfully linked to the terrain, are of a freer composition and their

buildings more individualized, making the whole picture more colourful.
The Cfak Quarter gives a more open and rural impression.
It is impossible to overlook the whole of Gjirokastra at one glance; here
and there the town hides and other monumental buildings are revealed.
One of the secrets of the town is that many of its most impressive
buildings can be seen only from the opposing hillside. Once you are near
the houses or standing in front of them, it is almost impossible to see the
whole structure, which is hidden behind high walls and lush gardens.

The Gjirokastra house

History of Development
Gjirokastras great glory lies in its fortified tower houses. Known as kull
(Turkish for tower), they were the sign of its wealth and regional status
from the 17th century until national independence. Gjirokastras status
under the Ottoman Empire as an administrative center allowed for the
construction of the kull houses and the cultivation of generations of
skilled craftsmen to carry out the work. There are around 600 of these
buildings in all historic quarters of the town.
51

General Characteristics
The large family residences set the tone for the city; they are its main
composing element and its most outstanding architectural achievement.
With a relatively great number of variations, the Gjirokastra house
occupies a special position, constituting a different type of Albanian
urban residential house. It has particular characteristics in its composition,
planimetries and volume, and special constructive elements:
1. A Gjirokastra house is designed with respect to its height, and its
different versions are based on the number of floors or storeys.
2. A Gjirokastra house is characterised by its defensive functions which
are manifest in their small ground space relative to their height,
embrasures and small windows on the lower floors.
3. There is an organic relationship between the houses and the rocky
terrain. The location of the houses on steep slopes allowed increased
area in the houses by adding two more floors compared to the
traditional Ottoman house which had two floors.
The Albanian way of life of the time has also played its part in this
architecture: the need to display power and wealth, or defensive structures
for the clans that inevitably came to fight each other, the requirement to
build secure structures to house livestock in the winter and store water
during the long dry months of summer, and the need for spaces that
reflected the culture of Gjirokastra people; their hospitality and even
prosperity in an often harsh land. Almost all of the houses include big
water cisterns as Gjirokastra has no surface water, with the exception of a
few springs which run dry during the summer.
One of the important features of the Gjirokastra house is its defensive
character, which has changed over time. It was on the rise until the end of
the flourishing period of the Gjirokastra house and then began to decline
and disappeared completely by the end of the 19th century. Notable
security features were the heavy stone walls, small barred windows on the
lower floors and firearm embrasures. Apart from their defensive functions,
some of these features are rather symbolic since the steep hillside to the
back of the building would have made them vulnerable to attack from
above.
Construction
The construction of the Gjirokastra house brings together two distinct
parts: While the heavy stone construction of the lower floors has its roots
in the rural Albanian tower house (kull), the top floor, constructed of
wood and plaster, followed urban Ottoman tradition in both engineering
and design. However, the typical Ottoman design feature of dividing the
house into male and female quarters is not present in a Gjirokastra house.
The stone walls, up to one meter thick at their base, are bound with
limestone mortar with an in-built band of wooden beams to give the house
flexibility in the event of an earthquake. Notable in many houses are the
52

tall arches (kemer), sometimes columned, which serve both the stability
and the aesthetic appeal of the house. Usually the kemer would be capped
by an open roofed space or terrace (kameriye) which connects to other
rooms and provides open air space in between.
The top floor, which needed to be cool for use in the summer months, is a
timber framework with walls of wooden lath covered with a special plaster
compound of aged lime, goat hair, egg whites and fine sand, mixed with
straw.
The Roof and Chimneys
The grey limestone slab roofs with their characteristic chimneys are a
defining feature of the Gjirokastra house and an essential element to the
towns urban landscape. This type of roof is omnipresent throughout
the historic region of Epirus, but not typically in Albania or in the rest of
Greece, where it can be found only in individual villages. It is therefore
assumed that it is an autochthonous element of Gjirokastras architecture,
pre-dating Ottoman influence.
The strong local oak could carry the enormous weight of the stone slabs.
It was used for the construction of the trusses, highly complex structure in
themselves. The limestone for the roof is taken from the nearby mountain
and is skillfully split into slabs only a few cm thick the thinner the slab,
the better the craftsmanship. It takes special expertise to place the slabs
on the trusses as to create a watertight roof. No mortar is used; only the
weight of the slabs hold them in place. But this means that the roofs need
constant surveillance. Especially before and after the storms and torrential
rains of the winter, they must be replaced in their proper position in order
to keep the water from soaking into the wooden beams which support
them.
The wealth of the homeowner
could be recognized by the
number of chimneys on his
roof. Since each fireplace in the
house had its own chimney,
the number of chimneys would
tell the number of heated
rooms in the house. Some rich
houses are said to have had up
to ten chimneys, contributing
to the impressive roof
landscape of Gjirokastra.
In order to prevent rain
water from running down
and washing away the
plastered walls, the roofs
had to protrude. Again, this
required supporting the roof
with wooden beams from
53

outside in order to carry its massive weight. All these elements; the slabs,
the chimneys and support beams, built according to the necessities of the
natural environment, result in the typical, harmonic and highly aesthetic
appearance of the roofs of Gjirokastra.
The Courtyards and Gardens
Almost every Gjirokastra
house is surrounded by one
or more courtyards and/or
gardens; protected from the
outside world by massive
gates and high walls that
add to the monumental
character of the house.
The arch over the door
would usually contain a
small relief in Ottoman Turk
language telling the year
of construction according
to the Muslim calendar, sometimes flanked by other artwork.These open
spaces ensured a certain amount of distance between the houses and
later allowed extensions to the original buildings as needed. The gardens
provided essential herbs and fruit for daily consumption for the inhabitants,
as they still do today. During the harsh times of communist rule, when
private possession of productive means was prohibited, the secluded
urban gardens often allowed for the secret keeping of a chicken or even a
sheep or goat.
The urban gardens are an important, but mostly overlooked, feature of
Gjirokastras urban fabric, both in terms of its design and economy. Urban
gardens are
a rare feature
in European
towns, and
those of
Gjirokastra are
yet another
aspect to the
singularity of
this town.
Variations
With the planimetric and volume composition as the basic criterion
for its classification, the Gjirokastra house appears in three variations:
the perpendicular variation, the one-wing variation and the two-wing
variation. There are also special cases that are not included in any of these
variations, but which still possess the characteristics of the Gjirokastra
house.

54

The perpendicular variation is the simplest one, and at the same time is
the basis for the future development of the Gjirokastra house. With respect
to its composition, it represents a prismatic block with a rectangular basis,
with two or three storeys. The first two storeys are linked by outer stairs.
This house is remarkable for its closed character and resembles, to some
degree, the north Albanian kull. Its simple and compact composition, its
characteristic composition in regard to terrain, as well as its height all make
it especially appropriate for defensive purposes. Among the few examples
of the perpendicular variations left worth mentioning are the Dhrami,
Stavri, Roqi and eribashi Houses.

55

The one-wing variation constitutes the most common kind of the

Gjirokastra house. It has been well mastered by the builders who,
preserving its main compositional principles, have in many cases added
new creative elements to it. Outstanding examples of this variation are the
Kikino (1825), Beqiri (1827), Resaj (1831), Toro and ene Houses, while
the abej House represents an exception due to its later extension.

56

The two-wing variation, maybe the most characteristic of the Gjirokastra

house, is the tallest. In both the one-wing and two-wing variations the
Gjirokastra house appears finer and more complete. Available data has
shown that their formation dates back to the beginning of the 18th century
or even earlier. Some of the finest examples of the two-winged variation
are the Zekate (1812), Skendulate (1823), Belaj, Babaramo (late 18th
cent.) and Cico (1821) Houses. The Angonate (1881) and Babameto
(1885/1887) Houses, and to some extent, the Fico House (1908), which
represent late developments to this variation when it lost its defensive
traits.

57

The period from 1810-1830 may be considered the classical period of the
Gjirokastra house. During that time a great number of large buildings with
outstanding architectural value were erected and most clearly exhibit the
essential characteristics.
A Gjirokastra house is remarkable for its height (vertical orientation).
Rooms all connect to the main passageway and often with each other.
The arrangement of the Gjirokastra house is very free. But what gives the
planimetry and volume of the Gjirokastra house diversity and height is
the semifloor (mezzanine) between the ground and upper floor. Since
the formation of the three-storied perpendicular variation, the Gjirokastra
house established a functional differentiation between the floors that
remained one of its important features until the 1880s. The loss of this
characteristic is linked to the use of the ground floor beginning to be used
as living space when the needs for defense, keeping animals and storing
large quantities of agricultural goods in winter became obsolete.
Interior
Immovable furniture such as elevated wooden platforms (dhipato), built-in
cupboards and trunks (musander), organically linked with the construction,
constitute an important feature of the Gjirokastra house, just as of the
58

Albanian house in general. This makes for spacious rooms. Besides low
sofas, nothing intrudes into the volume of the rooms. Small ornate niches
in the walls play an important role.
In the houses with one or two wings which have internal staircases and
landings on the upper floors, new spaces called divan were created which
connected the wings of the houses and the individual rooms. The divan on
the top floor was usually a considerably large built-in balcony constructed
entirely of wood and with extensive carved decoration of walls, doors and
roof-supporting posts.

Unlike its interior, with its intricate architecture, the exterior of the
Gjirokastra house is much less ornate. Because of its orientation only the
faade and, in some cases, side walls were decorated. Outside there are
few architectural details; special elements are usually mingled together.

59

In some more developed examples, the outside walls, and in some cases,
the side walls of rooms are decorated with mural paintings. In general, the
outside wall of the oda is decorated with paintings in baroque style, and
its side walls present two sitting lions facing each other, an homage to
Venetian culture.
Decoration
Carved, pained and gilded woodwork was very popular in the Ottoman
Empire. The painted frescoes on the walls of the main reception rooms
were also a local
adaptation of Ottoman
tradition. In the 18th
century a decorative
style known as the Tulip
Period was introduced
which emphasized floral
scenes and elaborate
garlands. This developed
into a more flamboyant
style by the early 19th century, sometimes called the Ottoman Rococo.
Flowers, fruits and other vegetation form the main theme. Many are
symbolic, such as pomegranates for good health and wheat sheaves for
wealth.

60

The Zekate House

The house of the Zeko family is undoubtedly one of the most
representative residences of Gjirokastra. Both its prominent location
where it can fully be seen from almost everywhere in the town, and that
it includes all the characteristic features of the Gjirokastra house in an
almost ideal form, make it an
iconic example of this type of
building.
This particularly grand fortified
tower house was constructed
in 1811-1812 with twin towers
and a great double-arched
faade. The two arches, kemer,
were erected for structural
reasons but demonstrate the
extraordinary grandeur of the
four-storey building.
The owner and builder of the house was Beqir Zeko, a general
administrator in Ali Pashas government, and the house reflects his status
within the ruling elite of the town. Zeko shared the house with his sons
and their families.
The wealth of the Zeko family and the grandeur of the house were
underlined by its large compound, three gates and a double courtyard, as
well as a chimney for each of its many rooms.
The original access to the building was from a small and steep road, the
Rruga Reshat Zani, and the disused gate at the head of this path was its
main guest entrance. The new entrance gate is at the southern end of the

61

compound. Initially you enter the courtyard of the small neighbouring

building, which used to be the servants quarters (odajashta, external
rooms), and is where the patriarch of the family, Rushdie Zeko, now lives.
Passing a second gate you enter the inner courtyard of the Zekate House.
The Zekate House itself is unoccupied. The family had been expropriated
under the communist struggle against feudalism, and was forced to leave
the house which became the Ethnographical Museum of Gjirokastra
for some time. After the collapse of communism, the Zeko family was
reinstated to its property but was too poor now to take care of it or make
it inhabitable according to modern standards. Since its restoration in 2004
it has been open for visitors.
The imposing front door leads into a lower hallway, the nndivan. The
ground floor was uninhabited but nevertheless offers a small space for the
reception of occasional visitors who would not be invited to the upper
floors. To the right is the head of a large water cistern lined with plaster.
A house with a cistern big enough to retain water in the autumn, after
the dry summer months, was considered well-equipped. The first autumn
rains would be permitted to clean off the roof and thereafter the extensive
guttering would direct the fresh supplies into the cistern below. To the left
of the front door is a large vaulted storeroom (kube) for storing and milling
cereals, as well as keeping agricultural equipment.
The staircase that leads up the centre of the building is paved with grey
slates outlined in a red paint that protects the soluble lime cement from
being washed away by frequent cleaning.
The first floor, actually a mezzanine floor, contains the lower divan or
reception chamber and has a small raised section in one corner where
important persons sat. There is one separate room on this level that was
used by the women for household purposes. Situated directly over the
cistern, it was cool and had a dedicated under-floor storage space for food.
Cooking facilities as well as a secret weapon storage were also located here.

The second floor contains two main rooms (oda) leading off from the
central divan. Similar in layout, they were used by the two branches of the
family as winter rooms, as their stone walls made them easier to heat. Each
has an adjacent toilet and bathroom (hamam), which were heated by the
fires in the main rooms. Low couches (sofa) ran around three sides of the
62

63

rooms, and storage cupboards are built into the walls. At one end is the
musandra, a large cupboard, which stored mattresses and other bedding
during the day. The musandra conceals a short staircase leading to a small
gallery (dhipato) overlooking each room. Women and children retired
to these galleries during formal meetings when the men of the house
received guests.
The third floor contains
the grandest reception
room as well as two
smaller rooms. The third
floor divan is especially
grand with a wide ardak
(pergola) which offers a
spectacular view over the
town and valley below.
The head of the family
and his chief guests would
have sat on the raised dais
to drink coffee and smoke.
The two smaller rooms are summer chambers following the model of the
rooms of the floor below. The back parts of both the third and fourth floor
were kitchens for the winter and summer respectively.
The principal room on this floor was intended to be a multipurpose
reception room. It is large and elaborately decorated and was used for
the most important social occasions, such as weddings. The design and
decoration of the house is thought to be the work of the master architect
and decorator, Petro Korari, who was a favourite of Ali Pasha.

64

An elaborate gallery and musandra covers the entrance door and adjacent
toilet. The ceiling is very finely carved and gilded. The windows, bar the
lunettes with their multicoloured glass, are unglazed to allow a cooling draft.

Other Houses
The Angonate House, built in a very dominant location overlooking the
main part of the bazaar, is the largest in the town. It was constructed
around 1881 for two families
and has an obvious symmetric
composition. It has a front
building which is not connected
to the residence, forming an
architectural ensemble of
outstanding value around a
courtyard. The rooms are now
far more specialized than in the
earlier buildings where function
was more multi-purpose,
though the principal reception
spaces remain distinguished
from the other rooms. The
multiplicity of windows shows that the defensive function is now less of a
consideration in the basic design and that life within the house takes on a
new importance.
The Babameto House belonged to a wider complex of the Halveti Dervish
Order which gave this quarter its original name, Tekke. In addition to
the Babameto House, it encompassed the entire area of todays open-air
auditorium and the Medresa. The complex included the Tekke Mosque as
well as two fountains. Evliya elebi noted: Around the courtyard of the
Tekke Mosque there are the cells of a Halveti Tekke, and on one side are
the graves of many saints and notables. The entire religious complex was
destroyed during the communist period; the Babameto House is the only
structure left. It was named after its first owner Baba Meto, the holyman
who was the keeper of the Tekke at his time.
This fine building is a double house: one of the rare cases in Gjirokastra
where two houses are attached together under the same roof, and was
intentionally built this way. This design reflects the growing influence of
65

Western European ways of life at the end of the 19th century, tending
to smaller and more separated family units. It also lacks any defensive
features. There are two different inscriptions with dates on the main gates.
One has the date of 1885 and the other 1887. This house lacks a water
cistern, which is a normal feature of a Gjirokastra house. Here it was
unnecessary because of the numerous wells in this part of town; the two
of which were in the courtyard.
The Babaramo House is a building of important typological values and
belongs to the two-wing variation. Despite the changes made over time, it
is not difficult to date the construction of this house to the end of the18th
century.
The Beqiri House represents one of the best achievements of the onewing house. The original composition is well preserved although many
original architectural elements have been lost. The residence must have
been built at the beginning of the 19th century.

66

The Dhrami House, an example of a perpendicular building, is a

construction of great typological interest. As it is shown by its unusual
composition of four storeys, having
initially one room on each floor,
the function of this residence was
to guard and defend the Palorto
Quarter. Later on, the ambiences
of the second and third floor were
divided into two rooms in order to
make space for the stairs, which at
first were external.
Gjirokastras Ethnographic
Museum stands on the site of the
childhood home of Enver Hoxha,
Albanias communist dictator from 1944 to 1985. The museum building
was constructed in 1966, after the original house was destroyed by
fire. It is modelled on a traditional Gjirokastra house with many classic

cultural elements. From 1966 to 1991 the building served as the

National Liberation War Museum. In 1991 the exhibits from the previous
Ethnographic Museum were moved into this space.
The Fico House is of special
interest because, built in 1908, it
allows us to trace the evolution
of the Gjirokastra house up to the
beginning of the 20th century, when
this type of house was no longer
built. The architectural treatment of
the interior and exterior presents
new developments: the interior
becoming simpler, the exterior
being enriched with new elements.
The front has two arched gates,
and this house is the only one
in Gjirokastra that has elaborate
wooden ornaments of the pediment
and window frames.
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The Kikino House represents one of the best achievements of the onewing Gjirokastra house. It was built in 1825 and is a three-floor building,
with a compact composition,
around a joining main core that
ends with a ardak (garret) on
the upper floor. The kameriye
has been well preserved, and the
mural paintings depicting floral and
everyday-life motifs are probably
the finest and most elaborate to be
found in Gjirokastra today.
The Resaj House (1831) is another
extraordinary example of the onewing Gjirokastra house. The residence fits perfectly into the rocky terrain
on which it is located. To have such finesse, the floors were built unevenly,
with two, three or four building blocks being used without touching the
structure of the residence.

68

The Skndulate House represents one of the most distinguished

achievements of the Gjirokastra house, built in 1823, and has been
preserved in its original state. It used to have 46 chimneys, indicating the
wealth of the Sknduli family. The main guest room (oda), in particular, is

distinguished by its decorated ceiling and wooden poles, just as the many
other wooden decorations throughout this house give it an unrepeatable
value. The great number of loopholes and the sophisticated locks of the
main doors bear witness of its defensive function.
The Stavri House is an example of the original version of the Gjirokastra
house, exhibiting a unique composition with half a floor. On the inhabited
floor there are two living rooms and two supporting function rooms.
The Toro House is a very rare example of a Gjirokastra house with the
enclosure of the staircase inside the building. The closure of the stair space
creates three ambiences characteristic of the Gjirokastra house.

69

In the Laboviti House, built in neoclassical style, Vasil Laboviti, a medical

doctor who had studied in Austria,
invited a Nazi commander to dinner,
during which he persuaded him not to
execute 70 Gjirokastra men in 1944. For
that he was accused of cooperation with
the enemy by the communists. Ismail
Kadare used this story for one of his
novels, Wrong Dinner (2008).

Management
The historic town of Gjirokastra is
legally protected by the Decree on the
Museum City (1961, 2007), the Law on
Cultural Heritage (2003) and its status as
a World Heritage Site (2005). While the Decree and the World Heritage
status protect the entire area of the historic town, the Law on Cultural
Heritage places, in addition, more than 600 individual buildings under
protection as cultural monuments of 1st and 2nd category.

70

In reality however, the town continues to be plagued by a number of

problems, some of them due to Gjirokastras unfortunate history of the
past 70 years, and some due to gaps in the existing legal framework. As a
result, the integrity of the Historic City of Gjirokastra is under acute threat.
The UNESCO World Heritage regime, which is based on the complex
rules of international law and diplomacy, has not been well-popularized
among the local people, especially among the private house owners. It is
not generally known that the world heritage status can be lost, and there is
no shared idea of terms such as authenticity and integrity: the dramatic
changes to be observed in the historic city are not often recognized to be
a problem. The contemporary and the modern are widely considered to
be the more Beautiful.
In addition, research suggests that about 40% of the inhabitants of historic
buildings do not know that their house is a cultural monument.
During the period of anarchy in 1997, most of the citys archives and
cadastres were burned. For the vast majority of historic houses in
Gjirokastra this means that their original owners have no documents to
prove that the houses were theirs before the communists expropriated
them and made the houses property of the state. Recently, efforts have
been made by both the government and civil society to register the houses
again.
Until about 1998, most of the intellectual elite of Gjirokastra had
emigrated due to the unstable political and economic situation. Among
them were most of the home owners. They have built new lives abroad
and are not dependent on their homes in Gjirokastra, but the general
attitude is not sell them because of a strong sense of property.
In contrast to the customary law
of inheritance in Albania, where
only the youngest son inherited
the house of his parents, a
more just law on inheritance
was introduced under King Zog
which stipulates that heritage
is shared equally among all
children. This has led to houses
now having up to 70 owners
who all have to agree on any
change to be made. In addition,
unrealistic ideas prevail about
the value of the houses, all of
which require tens or hundreds
of thousands of Euros for their
restoration and modernization.
Since in all likelihood one of the
heirs will be against restoring or
71

selling the house, the market

for the houses is developing
very slowly, and only about
10-30% of the houses may be
inhabited. Presently the state
has no legal basis to intervene,
and the many houses, which
stand completely or almost
empty, are exposed to decay.
The present regulations that
govern the restoration and
modernization of privately
owned cultural monument
buildings, coupled with
uncompromising political
confrontations and a general
mentality of non-cooperation,
make it extremely difficult
to obtain permission for the
modernization of historic
buildings. As a result, most
inhabitants have to live in
unacceptable conditions. In
their frustration, they resort to
restoring the homes on their
own and as a result of their
lack of expertise; historical
values are getting lost on a
day-to-day basis.
Finally, detailed decrees
and guidelines essential
for the implementation of
existing laws are, as of yet,
lacking, and responsibilities
are not always clear. In the
absence of key strategic
policy documents such as a
comprehensive management
and development plan, a
tourism development plan,
and guidelines for the design
of buildings, signage and
public spaces, officials in
charge have few clear-cut
legal documents upon which
to rely to make transparent
and verifiable decisions.
Furthermore, there is very
little experience in Albania
with the revitalization
72

and modernization of historic buildings, or in the protection of urban

landscapes and public spaces.
As a result, there is a creeping, uncontrolled modernization of the
inhabited houses and public infrastructure which threatens to destroy
the Ottoman character of the town. These interventions are visible for
everyone, but sadly there is no intervention to stop them.
Lately, UNESCO has become alerted to the situation in Gjirokastra. This is
a sign of hope that the international community, the Albanian government
and the local municipality and people may work together to save one of
the most unique and impressive urban ensembles in Europe.

* This text draws extensively from the following sources:

Felicity Booth and Elenita Roshi (ed.): Gjirokastra. The Essential Guide. Tirana/Norwich:
Gjirokastra Conservation and Development Organization 2009
Emin Riza: Gjirokastra. Museum City. Tirana: 8 Nentori Publishing House 1978
Museum City of Gjirokastra. World Heritage Nomination File 569bis. http://whc.
unesco.org/en/list/569/documents/
73

74

IOANNINA

The City of Arts and Letters

Introduction, History, City Monuments by Varvara N. Papadopoulou
Management Issues by Vasilis Birbos

Introduction
The city of Ioannina is the capital of the Region of Epirus and one of
the most important commercial, cultural and intellectual centres in
northwestern Greece. Ioannina is located 420 kilometers northwest of
Athens and 260 kilometers southwest of Thessaloniki. The city lies at
an altitude of 480 meters above sea level, on the western shore of Lake
Pamvotis.
Lake Pamvotis and the surrounding basin are defined by mountain ranges;
on the north side, the most imposing is Mt. Mitsikeli. In the past, a smaller
lake, known as Lake Lapsista, was situated to the north of the basin, but it
dried up in the middle of the 20th century. The main characteristics of the
city are: the Lake, one of the most important ecosystems in the region;
the rich flora and fauna; the uniqueness of the climate, which combines
Mediterranean and mid-European elements, providing hot and dry
summers and cold and rainy winters.
The city of Ioannina is the seat of the Region of Epirus. At a distance of 6
kilometres from the city centre, one can find the University campus (one
of the most modern campuses in Europe), while the University Hospital
and the G. Hatzikosta General Hospital serve the needs not only of the
inhabitants of Ioannina but also of the entire northwestern Greece.

75

Today, the city is one of the most important commercial, cultural and
intellectual centres of northwestern Greece. The fact that the majority
of the urban population, which is approximately 100.000, in addition to
20.000 students, is concentrated in the city resulted in its expansion mainly
to the south. The majority of it residents work in the tertiary and secondary
sector, i.e. in commerce, public health, education, public administration,
as well as in the sectors of manufacturing and construction. Only a small
number are involved in agriculture, animal husbandry and timber trade.
The city of Ioannina is widely known as the city of silversmiths. Ever
since the Byzantine era it has been the most important Greek centre of
production and selling of silver craft items. The Archaeological Museum,
the Byzantine Museum and the Municipal Museum have a rich collection
of exhibits, covering the long history of the area. They also host important
cultural events. The cultural events hosted throughout the year make
Ioannina a vibrant city to live in. Events such as the Epirotika, held in the
summer months, include exhibitions, concerts and theatrical performances.
The events organized by the Cultural Centre of the Municipality of
Ioannina, the commercial exhibition Epirus, held in the beginning of the
summer, and others, attract not only local residents but also visitors from
the wider region of Epirus.

History
Prehistoric era ancient times
Traces of human existence in the area can be dated back to the Upper
Paleolithic era, according to the findings that were excavated in the Cave
of Kastritsa, to the south of the city. A large number of settlements can
be found in the area, dating from the Late Copper and Early Bronze Ages
to the Roman era. This has been attributed to the geomorphology of the
region and the existence of a rich ecosystem that was hospitable to the
permanent establishment of small agricultural and farming settlements.
76

After the 5th century BC, the residential areas began to flourish as new
fortified settlements were created.
According to sources, the Molossians inhabited the area in antiquity.
According to Greek mythology, the Molossians were the descendants of
Neoptolemus, son of Achilles. Towards the end of the 5th century BC or
the beginning of the 4th century BC, the Molossian League was established
as a coalition between the Molossians and other tribes of Epirus, under the
leadership of the Molossians. The seat of their state was the ancient city of
Passaron, located on the hill of Megalo Gardiki, to the north of Ioannina.
In recent years excavations carried out on the hill of Kastritsa, to the south
of the basin, revealed another important ancient city, dating back to the
time of ancient Passaron. It has been determined to be the walled city of
ancient Tekmona.
Recent excavations inside the castle revealed an ancient fortification, on
top of which the Byzantine fortification was built. The excavations also
brought to light coins, pottery and building remains of an ancient city, the
name of which, however, remains unknown.
Not far from the city, in the middle of the narrow valley at the foot of Mt.
Olytsika (ancient Tomaros), lies the well-known Sanctuary of Dodona.
According to historians, the Sanctuary of Dodona was probably founded in
the Early Copper Age (2600-1900 BC) and was devoted to the Greek god
Zeus. However, there is evidence that an oracle pre-existed on the same
spot. The oracle was devoted to the goddess of euphoria and fertility, the
Great Goddess, whose worship was particularly common in the eastern
Mediterranean area. The old goddess was called Dione, and she and Zeus
were the divine couple of the sanctuary of Dodona. Their symbol and
their home was the sacred oak (or beech) tree, which was depicted on the
silver coins of the Epirote League, dating back to the end of the 3rd century
BC. The priestesses interpreted the rustling of the oak leaves or the flying
of the doves to determine the will of the gods.

The Roman occupation of the region in 168 BC, despite the destruction
of the Epirote cities and the captivity of their residents, did not bring about
any radical changes in the residential landscape, and various archaeological
findings testify to the continuation of habitation during this period.

Byzantine period
There are only a few archaeological findings from the area dating back
to the early Byzantine centuries, while there are none at all for the city
and the castle. The formerly-held view that the city was founded by the
Byzantine emperor Justinian in the 6th century AD is not accepted today.
In 879, the name Ioannina was used for the first time, although the
etymology of the word is still disputed. In 1082, Anna Komnene mentions
in her book Alexiad that the citadel was built by the Norman
conqueror Bohemund Guiscard, who had captured the city and had
settled down for a short while, in his attempt to overtake territories of the
77

Byzantine empire. According to historical sources, the city was surrounded

by a strong fortification, which was repaired by Bohemund. After the Fall
of Constantinople in 1204, Michael I Komnenos Doukas ruled Epirus from
1205-1215, where he established a decentralized Byzantine state, the wellknown Despotate of Epirus, whose capital was Arta. He brought many
noble Byzantine families (such as the Philanthropinoi, the Strategopouloi
and the Melissinoi), who had fled Constantinople after the fall. In the
meantime, he restored and reinforced the existing fortification.
By the end of the 13th century, the city of Ioannina became an important
centre of the region, with strong walls,
churches and mansions. At that time, the
islet of Lake Pamvotis became an important
monastic community. Members of the noble
Byzantine families, like the Philanthropinoi
and the Strategopouloi, founded the famous
monasteries devoted to Aghios Nikolaos.
Historical sources from the same period
describe the castle as impregnable. In the
beginning of the 14th century, Ioannina
attained its independence from Arta and
came under the rule of the Byzantine
Emperor, in accordance with the wishes of
its inhabitants. In exchange, in 1319 and 1321, the Emperor Andronikos
II Paleologos issued two chrysobulls (imperial decrees with special golden
seals) granting a wide range of privileges to the inhabitants.
Around 1338, the region was repeatedly besieged by Albanians while
in 1346 Ioannina fell to the Serbs, who had already possessed many
territories of the Central and Northern Greece. From 1367 to 1384,
Thomas Preljubovic, an important personality, famous for his attacks
against the Albanians was appointed the new governor of the city. After
his death, ruler of Ioannina was Esau Buondelmonti of the Florentine
Acciaiuoli family, and later, Carlo I Tocco, duke of Cephalonia.

Post Byzantine - Ottoman period

In 1430, the city of Ioannina surrendered to the Ottomans, after a series
of negotiations. By order of the Sultan Murad II, better known as the
Rule of Sinan Pasha, all previous privileges were preserved and the
inhabitants were granted tax exemptions, free trade, and immunity from
imprisonment and from the seizure
and indoctrination of their children.
The Ottomans were not allowed to live
in the castle, where mainly Christians
and Jews lived. Following the Ottoman
occupation, the city expanded mainly
outside the castle walls, where various
Muslim neighbourhoods were created.
The 16th century was characterized
78

by a demographic boom. Two Ottoman documents, written in 1564 and

in 1579, provide relevant information about the city, with a population
of 7,000 inhabitants. In 1611, the unsuccessful revolt of Dionysios the
Philosopher, bishop of Trikala and Stagoi, led to many changes in the
city as the Christians were driven away from the castle. From that time
onwards, only Turks and Jews were allowed to settle inside the castle. The
poorer Christians settled in the tanners neighbourhoods by the lakeside,
while the wealthier ones settled in the northwestern districts. Many,
however, were forced to emigrate to central and northern Europe.
After 1611, the city neighbourhoods increased in number, and the
Muslim population grew as a result of continued Islamization. Despite
the unsuccessful revolt of Dionysios, and while the region was under the
Ottoman presence, the city and the surrounding area enjoyed economic
and cultural prosperity in the 17th and the 18th century. The city became
an important intellectual centre, thanks to the famous schools that were
established with the permission of the Ottoman authorities. The Epiphanios
School (later renamed to Maroutsios School), the Great School founded
by the merchant Emmanouil Giouma (1677), the Kaplanios School
and the Zosimaia School were among the most important educational
establishments, where notable men of letters taught.
Ever since the 17th century, Ioannina was the centre through which the
books published in the Greek printing presses of Venice were channeled
into Greece. Many of the Greek-owned printing presses were established
by immigrants from Ioannina, like Nikolaos Glykis, Nikolaos Sarros and
Dimitrios Theodosiou. The free circulation of books in the area and the
operation of the schools in the city made Ioannina one of the birthplaces
of the Greek Enlightenment in the 18th and 19th century.

Ali Pasha (1788-1822)

In 1788, Ali Pasha was officially appointed governor of Ioannina. Ali
became an important yet controversial political personality of that era. He
appointed many distinguished Greeks to high places and he favoured local
merchants and craftsmen. During this period, Ioannina was an important
centre of handicrafts and trade in the Balkans. The merchants and the
craftsmen were organized in guilds (esnafia or roufetia); they maintained
commercial activities in the Danubian Principalities, in Western Europe,
in Russia and in Egypt. Their trade consisted of leather goods, fabrics
and silverware. In Alis time, the city became a focal point of European
attraction through the foundation of consulates, international trade and
through the diplomatic relations he maintained. A demographic boom
ensued, and the city expanded with the creation of new districts, and
continued to do so until the 1960s.
Alis rich warfare and his intention to gain independence from the
Sublime Porte resulted in building many fortifications in the wider region.
In Ioannina, a solid castle upon the Byzantine remnants was completed
in 1815. In July 1820, the Sultan declared Ali Pasha as an apostate, and
in August the city was besieged by Turkish troops; the siege lasted one
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and a half years. In 1822, Ali Pasha was killed on the island of the lake
of Ioannina. With the siege of the city and the military campaign, the
thriving economy and peoples lives were engulfed by turmoil and many
inhabitants had to seek refuge in nearby regions while a large part of the
city was burned down.

Second half of the 19th century - today

The reforms (Tanzimat) of the Sultan Abdul Mejid in 1856, which called for
respect of the rights and the property of every subject in Ottoman territory
irrespective of religion, were not a great help to the local economy,
although they did reinforce the Greek bourgeoisie.

The decline of commerce brought about the decline of the guilds. In
1869, by order of Rashim Pasha, Vali (commander) of Epirus, a fire was
set in the marketplace, with the intention of rebuilding it. Rashim Pasha
invited French architects to design and implement the new street plan.
Many buildings were reconstructed, the marketplace was expanded to the
North, and a second commercial centre was constructed to the South, in
the Kaloutsiani area.
During the First Balkan War (1912-1913) and as part of the general
uprising for the liberation of many Greek territories, the Greek armed
forces surrounded the city of Ioannina. On February 21, 1913, the Turkish
governor Eshat Pasha signed the surrender of the city and Ioannina and
the surrounding area were annexed to the Greek state.

After the liberation, there was slow development, which was interrupted
during World War II, during which an important part of the Jewish
community was executed in the German concentration camps. In the
decades that followed the War, there was a spectacular demographic and
economic boom. The rich intellectual tradition of the city is continued
today by the University of Ioannina, which was founded in 1964 and other
schools as well. The city hosts also many local important cultural activities.

80

City Monuments
The Castle
History
The castle of Ioannina is built at the southeast end of the city, atop a
small rocky peninsula that juts out onto Lake Pamvotis. Its modern layout
dates from the Late Ottoman period (end 18th - beginning 19th century).
However, it has incorporated parts of previous fortifications, dating back to
the Ancient and Byzantine period. Recent excavation work brought to light
ancient archaeological ruins. These elements corroborate the existence of
a walled settlement, dating back to the Late Classical and the Hellenistic
era. Architectural remains from the same period come to light every so
often inside the castle, covering its entire area. However, up to now, the
research conducted has not been able to identify this settlement with any
of the ancient Epirote cities that are mentioned in historical sources.
The castle continued to be the core of the city in Byzantine times. In 1082,
the castle fell into the hands of the Normans, and their leader Bohemund
reinforced the wall of the existing fortification and erected a second citadel
on the elevated northeastern part of the castle. The remains of the citadel,
which have been preserved up to the present day, include the circular
tower, which was later incorporated into the Seraglio of Ali Pasha, as well
as the ruins of the second northeastern tower.

In the Late Byzantine period (13th-15th century), the city of Ioannina

experienced unique growth and constituted an important administrative
and economic centre. This allowed the founder of the Despotate of
Epirus, Michael I Komnenos Doukas (1205-1215) to settle certain
refugee families from Constantinople, such as the Philanthropinoi and the
Strategopouloi, in the castle and, at the same time, to reinforce the walls
of the Byzantine city. The interventions on the fortification continued
throughout the 13th and the 14th century. A large part of that fortification is
still preserved in the castle, although it is not easy to recognize it.
The Byzantine fortification of this particular period consisted of a sturdy
enclosing wall, whose area largely corresponds with that of the wall
enclosing the modern castle. According to the written sources, this
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circumferential wall was protected by a wide water ditch on the land

side. At intervals, there were towers. One of the most famous is Thomas
Tower, which is located to the south of the modern main gate. Initially,
it was believed to be a tower built by the Serb governor of the city,
Thomas Preljubovic (c. 1380). Recent excavation works carried out by the
Archaeological Service have brought to light certain findings that verify the
fact that it is the western gate of the castles Byzantine fortification.
The two rocky hills on the northeastern and the southeastern side of
the castle were transformed into two citadels. The rulers palace was
built in the northeastern citadel while the Metropolitan Church of the
Archangel Michael and the Church of Christ Pantocrator were built in
the southeastern citadel; the houses of the lords were also built here,
according to certain views.
After the surrender of the city to the
Ottomans in 1430, the walls were
probably restored. Interventions by Ali
Pasha (1788-1822) on the surrounding
wall and the citadels radically
changed the form of the castle. These
interventions were completed in 1815,
and their purpose was to make the castle
a powerful and inaccessible fortress,
equal to the power of Ali Pasha.
During Alis interventions, only the well-preserved parts of the pre-existing
late-Byzantine fortification were maintained. A strong new wall was
constructed outside the pre-existing wall and the gap between the walls
was covered with arches, and arcades were formed there. Other arched
constructions were also erected on the lower level. On the upper level,
a wide circumferential walk was formed, which was used for military
purposes and had
many cannon holes.
Part of the fortification
was also the wide
ditch, dating from
the Byzantine period,
which flooded with
lake waters, giving the
impression that the
castle was built on an
islet, at its southwestern
and western side.
The southeastern
citadel, called Its Kal,
is the work of Ali Pasha
entirely. There he had
erected his palace, the
Seraglio, and other
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buildings for his guard. In recent years, the Archaeological Service has
carried out a great deal of restorative and reinforcement work on the
defensive walls in order to enhance the reputation of the castle and its
preserved monuments.

The monuments of the castle

The Northeastern citadel
The Aslan Pasha Mosque was erected at the
beginning of the 17th century (probably in
1618) on the site of the Byzantine Church of St.
John, according to tradition.
It is a square building with a semi-circular
dome, arcades around the north, the west
and the south side and an enclosed portico,
nowadays. Inside the main room, stands the
Mihrab, a niche in the wall used for praying,
adorned with plaster relief decorations.
The Municipal Museum has been housed in the
Mosque since 1933. It hosts three collections
representing the three communities that lived in the castle throughout its
history: the Greek, the Jewish and the Muslim. The exhibits come from
donations by notable local families and date from the 18th century up to
the 20th century.
The turbe (mausoleum) is located to the east of the Aslan Pasha Mosque.
According to tradition, this burial monument belonged to Aslan Pasha and
was constructed at the beginning of the 17th century.
The medrese is located
to the southwest of the
Aslan Pasha Mosque. It is
probably a contemporary
building (beginning of
the 17th century). It used
to operate as a higher
religious institution,
where scholars stayed.
It is a large, elongated
building with 12 domed
dormitories and a large
central teaching room with a wooden roof.
The Southeastern citadel (Its Kal)
Nowadays, the southeastern citadel is an archaeological site open to the
public. It extends over two levels, where many Ottoman monuments are
preserved, the majority of which have been restored by the Archaeological
Service.
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The Ali Pasha Seraglio (Palace)

It was erected on the elevated
western part of Its Kal, with a
view of the lake. Many European
travelers to Greece in the 19th
century described the Seraglio as a
noble and impressive building with
ornate and lavish decorations.
After the fall of Ali Pasha (1822), the Seraglio continued to operate as
an administrative centre until 1870, when it was burned down entirely.
Nowadays, the ruins of the western side of the Seraglio are preserved
together with certain outbuildings. The Military Hospital was erected on
the remains of the Seraglios main building several years later. In 1958, the
Royal Pavilion was erected on this site and ever since 1995, the Byzantine
Museum of Ioannina.
The seven halls of the Byzantine Museum have on exhibit important

findings from excavations, dating from the Early Christian period to the
beginning of the 20th century, such as coins, icons and pottery from the
wider region of Epirus. A prominent place among the Museums collection
has been occupied by the Byzantine sculptures from churches in the
area of Thesprotia, two Byzantine ceramic icons from Arta, etc. Among
the exhibits there are hand-written gospels and books printed in Venice
by Greek-owned printing houses. All these exhibits familiarize the visitor
with the history and the development of the city of Ioannina through the
centuries.
This building probably belonged to the wider complex of the Seraglio of
Ali Pasha. According to oral tradition, this was the Treasury. The building
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was restored by the Archaeological

Service between 1989 and 1990.
From that time on it has housed a
permanent collection of silverware,
as the silversmiths art was highly
developed in Ioannina, especially
during the Late Byzantine period.
The Fetihe Mosque dominates the
highest point of the southeastern
citadel. Its present form dates from
the end of the 18th century. According to tradition, the Mosque was built
on the site of the pre-existing Byzantine Church of Archangel Michael. The
only relics from the Byzantine church are two 13th-century marble columns
from the iconostasis that were built into the niche (mihrab).

The dome and the mihrab are

decorated with wall-paintings
depicting plants and geometrical
designs, as well as Arabian
caracters. Today the Fetihe Mosque
hosts an exhibition about the city
of Ioannina during the Ottoman
period and the versatile personality
of Ali Pasha.
Close to the Mosque lies the tomb of Ali Pasha and one of his wives.
The headless body of Ali Pasha was buried here, right after his murder.
The existing ornate railing that covers the grave is a replica of the original
forged railing, which disappeared around 1940.
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Monuments inside the castle

At the western side of the castle, on Ioustinianou street, lies the Jewish
Synagogue. According to oral tradition, the first Synagogue appeared in
the 9th century. Its present form is a reconstruction of 1829. It is a large
building with two archways. Echal is the marble niche on the eastern wall,
where the holly Torah scrolls are kept. The womens quarters stand on the
northern side. A high stone wall surrounds a yard.
The Jewish Community of Ioannina
has played an active role in the
citys life ever since the Byzantine
era. During the Ottoman period,
as non-Muslim subjects of the
Ottoman Empire, they gained
certain commercial privileges and
the right to exercise their faith.
During World War II, the majority
of the local Jewish Community
perished.
Built only a few meters from the main gate of the northwestern citadel,
the Turkish Library was probably part of the complex of the Aslan Pasha
Mosque. It dates to the 17th century. The characterization of the building
as a library is attributed to the large number of manuscripts and books that
were allegedly kept there.
The Soufari Seraglio (Soufari Palace) was probably built at the beginning
of the 19th century. It is a large, two-storey building, the ground floor of
which is separated into four elongated quarters that are divided by pillars
and arcades. The building used to house the Ali Pasha Cavalry School.
Nowadays,
it houses the
General State
Archives Department of
Ioannina, after
the extensive
restoration and
fixative works that
have taken place
on the building.
The Hamam
(Turkish baths)
are located to
the south of
the Library and
they are one of the earliest preserved Ottoman monuments in Ioannina
(beginning of the 17th century).The building has undergone many
subsequent interventions; it has a large square room that was used as a
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vestry for the bathers, an intermediate elongated arched space, the main
bathing room, the arched cistern, etc. The main room has the shape of a
cross, with small square domed niches.

The Christian monuments of the city

The Metropolitan Church of the city is dedicated to St. Athanasios.
According to tradition, a Byzantine church existed on the same spot,
while certain manuscripts from 1619 and 1664 refer to it as the katholikon
of a monastery. The church we see today was erected between 1831
and 1832 in the form of a three-aisled basilica. A multi-sided arch looms
outward from the eastern exterior side of the sanctuary, which has three
sections inside and three Communion tables, dedicated to the old patron
saint of the city, the Archangel Michael, and to St. John the Evangelist.
In the interior,
the church is
decorated with
wall paintings.
According
to a related
inscription, the
frescoes were
made in 1835
by the Ioannina
hagiographers
Theodosios and
Konstantinos.
The iconostasis
is a characteristic
example of
Epirote wood
carving of the
19th century. It is
an exceptional
work of art,
made by
renowned
craftsmen from
the village
of Tournovo
(today called
Gorgopotamos)
in Konitsa. A
series of valuable
portable icons
are kept in
the Metropolitan Church, and the silver cover of a gospel, made by the
craftsman Athanasios Tzimouris in the second half of the 19th century.

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On the north side of the Metropolitan Church, a chapel was built to house
the grave of the patron saint of Ioannina, St George the Neomartyr, who
was hanged in 1838 by the Turks.
The Church of Archimandrio, dedicated to the Dormition of the Virgin
Mary, used to be the katholikon of the Byzantine Monastery of the
Archimandrio, which is first mentioned in literary sources in 1383. Since
the end of the 15th century, the Archimandrio has served as a monastery
for women. Throughout the Ottoman occupation until the second half of
the 19th century, the monastery had been well known for its charity work.
The present form of the church is the result of the reconstruction works
that took place from 1858 to 1864. It is a large, three-aisled, domed
basilica with three arches on the east side and a narthex on the west side.
The marble iconostasis separates the nave from the sanctuary. The wall
paintings of the sanctuary were done in 1885, while the remaining part of
the church was painted in 1986. The church has a lot of icons, the oldest
of which dates to
the beginning of
the 13th century.
The majority of
the exhibited
icons date to the
17th and the 18th
century. To the
southeast looms
the monumental
tower-like
campanile
(steeple), built in
1915.
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The Church of Hagia Aikaterini (St. Catherine) is

situated a little further up from the Archimandrio
Church and it is a dependency of the Holy
Monastery of St. Catherines of Mount Sinai.
The initial church was built in 1771 and was
renovated in 1801. Between 1872 and 1875, the
church was fully renovated through the financial
support of the benefactors Alexios and Angeliki
Papazoglou.
The wall paintings in the sanctuary were painted
by the Epirote painter Alexandros Damiris. One
of the most valuable portable icons that are kept
in the church depicts St. Catherine, a work from
1770 painted by Ioannis Athanasiou, a well-known artist from the village of
Kapesovo in Zagori.
The Church of Panaghia Perivleptos, dedicated to Zoodochos Pigi
(Source of Life), used to be the katholikon of a monastery founded in 1647
by Epiphanios Igoumenos (1568-1648), a rich merchant from Venice. The
contemporary church
is a structure built
c. 1838, according
to an inscription
above the southern
entrance. One of
the main donors for
its construction was
Nikolas Zosimas
(1758-1842), another
notable Epirote
benefactor.
The Church of St.
Marina is located
in one of the oldest
districts of Ioannina called Kaloutsiani. According to tradition, the Church
of St. Marina was initially built in 1791 but it was burned down by the
Sultans troops in 1820. The contemporary church was erected in 1852
with the financial support of the Zosimas brothers. It is a three-aisled
basilica with a wooden roof and three polygonal arches to the east. A
colonnaded stoa surrounds part of the northern, the southern and the
western wall. The older wall paintings were made in 1892.
Church of Aghios Nikolaos Agoras (St. Nicholas in the Marketplace).
The existence of the church has been testified ever since the 17th century.
The present form, however, is attributed to the reconstruction works that
were carried out from 1837 to 1842, thanks to the financial support of the
Zosimas brothers and George Hadjikonstas. The portable icons of Russian
art, a Gospel and other items that are kept in the church were donated by
George Hadjikonstas, a well-known benefactor.
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The Muslim monuments of the city

Up until the first half of the 20th century, there were many Muslim
mosques preserved in the city of Ioannina. Many of these, however,
are known only from historical sources, city plans and old photographs.
Nowadays, only 2 mosques are preserved outside the castle area.
The Kaloutsiani Mosque, meaning fountain of blood (tsesme = fountain
and kan = blood), is located in a similarly-named district of the city. It
was probably built in the middle of the 18th century by Hadji Mehmet
Pasha, Vali (commander) of Ioannina, on the site of a medjit (an Ottoman
religious building without a minaret). The niche (Mihrab), adorned with
plaster relief decorations, and the original wood-carved pulpit (Minbar) are
preserved in fairly good condition inside the spacious prayer room. The
dome is painted with various decorative themes.
The Veli Pasha Mosque or Tsiekur Mosque is situated to the south of
the castle, at the southeastern edge of the Litharitsia hill. According
to tradition, the Mosque was built by Veli Pasha at the end of the 18th

century in order to replace an older Turkish mosque that had been built
on the ruins of the pre-existing Byzantine Church of St. Stephan, which
was demolished at the beginning of the 17th century. Together with the
medrese (seminary), built on the northern side, they formed a religious
complex that used to be near the seraglio that Ali Pasha had built for his
son Veli Pasha.
The Litharitsia rampart is located on a low hill with the same name, not
far from the castle, to the southwest. This impressive structure, an example
of late Ottoman fortification architecture, was erected by Ali Pasha at
the beginning of the 19th century. The rampart was used for protective
purposes as a first line of defense in front of the castle. It is built in a
rectangular shape with many different levels. The upper part used to be
furnished with cannons, while the lower part had emplacements.
On the top of the hill, Ali Pasha had built a large seraglio in 1805, based
on designs by the architect J. Freywald. According to testimonies, Ali Pasha
had also built palaces nearby for his sons Muhtar and Velis. These buildings,
however, were completely destroyed by a fire. In 1983, the Archaeological
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Service carried out scattered restorations on the fortification walls. Today,

a caf-restaurant is situated in the interior domed halls of the once fortified
rampart, and a park extends over the top of the hill.
The clock tower is one of the most famous monuments of the city of
Ioannina, noteworthy for its well-proportioned, near-perfect construction.
It was built in 1905 by Osman Pasha, commander of Epirus, in honour of
Sultan Abdul Hamid II. It is a tower-like construction supported by four
high arches, on top of which there is a balcony with a stone rail. On the
four sides of the base there are four small fountains (no longer in operation
today), while above the arches there are inscribed plates bearing Ottoman
symbols.
The clock tower is the work of the architect P. Melirrytos (1870-1937),
to whom many public buildings of Ioannina are attributed, such as the
Post Office, the Zosimaia Library and the old Zosimaia School. This type
of construction combines neoclassical elements with an eastern style.
The clock tower was originally built in the centre of the lower Square
(to the north of the modern square, at the junction with Averoff Street).
An unfortunate incident, however, that took place in 1918 during the
celebrations for the victory of the allied forces in World War I, when
a heavy fire gun caused extended damage to the clock, resulted in its
transfer to another location.

Buildings of architectural and historical interest

There are many buildings of architectural and historical interest in the
city of Ioannina. The Misios mansion, built in 1844 to house the Misios
family, was donated to the Ministry of Culture, and today it houses one
of its services. It is an interesting building with an interior courtyard, a
characteristic example of Ioannina architecture. The Central Post Office
was built in 1905 based on designs by the architect P. Melirrytos. At first,
the building housed the Middle Girls School, founded by Osman Pasha,
commander of the city.
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The City Hall was designed by the

architect A. Zachos to house the
main branch of the National Bank
of Greece. The impressive faade
has a three-arched propylon on the
ground floor and a balcony with
densely-placed arches on the floor
above. The building facades have
ceramic tiles adorned with a lovely,
colourful, plant-shaped design.
The Old Zosimaia School today operates as a high school. The name
is attributed to the Zosimas brothers (wealthy citizens and benefactors
who had immigrated to Russia), because they had donated money for
the foundation of a school in Ioannina. In his will, in 1841, N. Zosimas
had expressed his desire to found a new school at his expense, the
construction of which was carried out in 1905. The building was designed
by the architect P. Melirrytos, and its faade is an imitation of the facade
of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens in an effort to
emphasize the importance of the Zosimaia School.

Museums
Visitors may get a view of the history of the region and the city of Ioannina
in the museums that exist not only in Ioannina but also in other cities
nearby.
The Archaeological Museum of Ioannina is located in Litharitsia Park in
the centre of the city. The Museum is housed in an interesting building that
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was erected between 1963 and 1966, based on designs by the architect
Aris Konstantinidis. The exhibits include findings from the wider region of
Epirus, such as bone and stone tools excavated in the Palaeolithic sites of
Kokkinopilos, Asprochaliko, Kastritsa, among others, as well as findings
from the sanctuary and oracle of Dodona, from the settlement and the
cemeteries of the Molossian city that was excavated in Vitsa, from the
Necromanteion of Acheron, and elsewhere. Among the exhibits there are
sepulchral steles, architectural remnants, inscriptions and an interesting
collection of coins from various areas and periods. One of its halls is
temporarily housing work by Greek artists of the 19th and 20th century.
(Address: 25th March Square, tel. 26510-01050).
The Byzantine Museum is located inside the Castle, within the inner
citadel, known as Its Kal. There are finds from Byzantine cities of Epirus,
such as Nikopolis and Arta, icons, coins, etc (Address: Ioannina Castle, tel.
26510-25989, 26510-39580, fax. 26510-39342).
The Municipal Museum is housed in the Aslan Pasha Mosque at the
north-eastern citadel of the castle. The Mosque was in operation until
1922. Valuable traditional costumes and jewels from various areas of
Epirus, silverware and ceramic pieces, as well as wood-carved furniture are
among the exhibits, covering a time period from the 18th century to the
20th century. There are also interesting items representing the activities
of the three communities, (Christian, Jewish, Ottoman) that lived in the
city during the Turkish occupation. The collections of V. Pyrsinellas, A.
Pallis, personal items belonging to the poet Lorentzos Mavilis, the guns
of G. Karaiskakis, and other items are also on exhibit. (Address: Municipal
Museum, Ioannina Castle, tel. 26510-26356).
The Folk Museum was founded by the Society of Epirote Studies. It is
housed in a recently renovated building on 42 Michail Anghelou Street.
Objects of Epirote traditional art (textiles, woodcarvings, silverwork, etc.),
ecclesiastical items, household items, ceramics and local costumes are
among its most valuable collections. (Address: Folk Museum, 42 Michail
Anghelou Street, tel. 26510-23566).
The Pavlos Vrellis Wax Museum is located in the village of Bizani, at the
14th kilometre of the Ioannina-Athens National Road. It is housed in an
interesting fortress-type building, imitating a traditional Epirote mansion.
The life-size wax figures represent figures from modern Greek history,
divided into three thematic units: the pre-revolution period (Secret School,
Society of Friends, etc.), the 1821 revolution (death of Ali Pasha), World
War II (Pindos women, etc.). More than 150 wax figures, inspired by
various events, are exhibited in the Museum. (tel. 26510-92128).

The Islet
The Islet of Lake Pamvotis is 0,2 km2 in size and hosts a small settlement
and seven monasteries. The settlement extends over the northern part and
its existence has been verified as dating back to the Byzantine era. Today,
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it is a popular tourist destination, welcoming many visitors on a daily basis,

not only to see the monasteries but also to learn about its history and its
connection to the death of the notorious Ali Pasha.
Around the settlement, mainly close to the western and eastern shores,
there are seven monasteries, the most important of which are the
following:

The Monastery of St. Nicholas Philanthropinoi

The monastery is connected to the Byzantine family of the Philanthropinoi,
one of the families from Constantinople that settled in Ioannina after 1204.
The monastery flourished during the 16th century, following extensive
interventions by the abbot Ioasaf.

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In addition to the katholikon, the ruins of the altar and the newly-built cells
surrounded by a precinct are preserved today. The katholikon is known for
the well-preserved wall paintings, some of the best preserved 16th century
paintings in Epirus. A wealth of depictions adorns the walls, distinguished
for their theological messages and the fine artistic work.
The wall paintings were made in
three different phases. The oldest
phase dates back to 1531-1532, while
the second phase dates to 1542.
The third phase dates to 1560 and
is attributed to the painters George
and Fragos Kontaris, known for their
work on other monuments in Epirus
and also in Meteora. Despite the
different phases and painters, the
wall paintings of the monastery form
a united ensemble with a variety of
scenes. Many of the depictions are
characterized by their originality, like
the seven wise men of Greece (Plato,
Apollonius of Tyana, Solon, Aristotle,
Plutarch, Thucydides and Chilon Lacedaemon). Another interesting
painting is the one showing five members of the Philanthropinoi family
praying before the figure of St. Nicholas.
Also characteristic are the life size figures of the Saints in military attire,
Christ Pantocrator with the angels on the dome, and the depiction of
Doomsday with the fiery river of Hell.

The Monastery of St. Nicholas Stratigopoulou or Diliou

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This monastery is situated at a close distance from the Monastery

of Philanthropinoi. It was founded in the 13th century by members
of the Stratigopouloi family, one of the noble Byzantine families of
Constantinople that had also settled in Ioannina after 1204, thereby taking
an active part in the local government. The monastery was probably
renovated in the 17th century by the Dilios family, which explains the
second name.
The katholikon is a single-aisled, wooden-roofed church, with a semicircular apse to the east and a narthex to the western side. A series of
solid covings with brick arches adorn the north and the south side of
the monument. In the interior, the church is decorated with valuable
wall paintings, dating to 1542-1543, depicting scenes from the life of
Christ. The narthex is adorned with scenes from the life of the Virgin
Mary. The east wall to the right and left of the entrance is adorned with
the impressive scene of the Second Coming. The imposing wood-carved
iconostasis in the katholikon is the work of local craftsmen, dating to the
end of the 18th century or the beginning of the 19th century. Its icons date
from the 16th to the 19th century (today, these icons have been replaced
by copies).
96

The Monastery of Panaghia Eleousa (Virgin of Tenderness)

Initially the monastery was dedicated to St. Nicholas and it was probably
founded before the mid-16th century. It was renamed around 1584,
when the miraculous icon of Panaghia Eleousa was transferred to the
monastery from the Church of St. Paraskevi. Abbot Nikiphoros was
responsible for the radical restoration of the complex in the mid-18th
century. The monastery flourished in the second half of the 19th century,
after its consociation with the neighbouring Monastery of Metamorphosis
(Transfiguration), where a Seminary had been founded in 1872 by
permission of the Turkish authorities.
The interior is adorned with paintings that have been made in different
phases. The older paintings date to the 16th century, while the newer
ones date to the early 18th century. The paintings in the newer narthex
were made in 1759 by the painter Anastasios and his son from the village
of Kapesovo. The iconostasis is a fine example of local wood-carving
craftsmanship at the end of the 18th century to the beginning of the 19th
century.
The monastery has an exquisite collection of icons, oblations, local craft
items, as well as work by famous painters of the 16th and the 17th century.

The Monastery of Metamorphosi Sotiros (Transfiguration of Christ)

The monastery is located not far from the Monastery of Eleousa and it
dates to the second half of the 19th century, although according to some
sources the monastery was built in the 17th century. The katholikon was
painted in 1851 by Anthimos, a monk from Mount Athos. In addition to
the katholikon, there is the building of the Seminary, which today is used
as a library and a conference centre.
97

The Monastery of St. John Prodromos (St. John the Baptist)

The monastery is located at the
eastern side of the islet not far from
the settlement. The only historical
evidence concerning its foundation
comes from the autobiography of
Theophanis and Nektarios Apsaras,
who came from a noble family,
members of which held important
offices in the city of Ioannina ever
since the Byzantine era. The two
brothers became monks at an early
age and in 1506-1507 they founded
the monastery on the site of a preexisting small church. Several years
later, however, they were forced to
abandon the monastery and they
fled to Meteora, where in 1542 they
founded the well-known Monastery of
Varlaam, where they stayed until their
death.
There is no evidence regarding the history of the Monastery of St. John
the Baptist after its foundation. However, it is known that from the end of
the 18th century, the monastery was connected to certain city guilds that
helped the monastery financially and funded various restoration works.
The church is built in the architectural form of the cruciform church, i.e. it
has two elongated chambers that intersect, forming a cross. To the west,
the entrance to the katholikon goes through a small barrel-vaulted narthex,
which was contemporary to the church. According to the inscription
above the western entrance the interior is adorned with wall paintings
from 1789. These were restored in 1824 and in 1892, according to related
inscriptions. At the expense of the city guilds, the wood-carved iconostasis
was constructed in 1789, incorporating some parts of an older iconostasis.
Until recently, the iconostasis was adorned with valuable icons from the
16th century, but now these are stored in another area for safe-keeping.
The recently renovated cells host a small museum themed around the lake,
its ecosystem and the life of residents who lived near the lake.

The Monastery of St. Panteleimon (St. Pantaleon)

The monastery is located on the eastern side of the islet, not far from
the Monastery of St. John the Baptist. According to written sources,
there was a small church on the same site since the beginning of the 16th
century, dedicated to St. Panteleimon. The monastery has suffered a lot
of damage through the centuries. According to the English traveller W.
Leake, the church was restored by Ali Pasha, who had forced a wealthy
Ioannina citizen to cover the expenses. Furthermore, the church is directly
connected to Ali Pasha, as it was there that he took refuge during the last
98

days of the siege by the Sultans army. Finally, he was murdered in the
monastery cells in January, 1822.

Today, the katholikon is a three-aisled, wooden-roofed basilica with an
elevated narthex to the west and a posterior hayat to the south side. The
modern form of the church dates to the 19th century. The southern wall,
however, is a remnant of an older church with wall paintings dating to
different eras (from the end of 15th or beginning of 16th century up to the
19th century).One of the most important icons of the church is that of St.
Panteleimon, dating back to the 15th-16th century. Another outstanding
work from the 16th century is the icon of Christ Enthroned. The majority
of the icons in the iconostasis were the gift of Anastasios Melas, envoy to
Russia.
In addition to the katholikon, two recently renovated buildings with cells
are preserved within the precinct. The north cell houses a collection of
incunabula and manuscripts from all the monasteries on the islet. Ali Pasha
was murdered inside the south cell. Nowadays, it hosts a small museum
with items dating to the period of Ali Pasha.

99

Management Issues
The first distinct organised urban planning intervention in the region of
the historical city centre of Ioannina (apart from the human geographic
and economic factors that had contributed to its formation up to the 19th
century) took place in 1869, when Rashim Pasha proceeded to the squaring
of the urban net and to the urban redistribution, as a result of a fire that
was set deliberately
to destroy a part
of the city. The
new town planning
began immediately,
according to the
plans of the German
chief engineer Holz,
while in 1883, the
Italian Bernasconi
drew up the new
lay out of the city.
Thus, in 1870 the
new market place of
Ioannina was created,
100

which preserves its original form to a great extent up to the present day.
The first Decree for the Town Plan was published in 1934. Unfortunately,
this Street Plan foresaw extensive alterations of significant building
complexes and arcades, since the new planning of the roads did not take
into consideration the existing situation.
In 1989, the Historical Centre of the city was enacted by the Presidential
Decree of 28-02-1989 (GOVERNMENT GAZETTE 605/D/89), with special
terms and building restrictions that had positive results on the maintenance
of the Historical Centre, since:

The existing Building Line was de facto observed

Building and morphological restrictions and interventions were
imposed

Thereafter, the implementation of a special urban study for the Historical

City Centre began, but it remained in the stage of topographic imprinting
(in general and not for every building). The enactment of the General
Urban Plan (G.U.P.), in accordance with Law 1337/83, followed while
today both the G.U.P and the Regulatory Master Plan of the Ioannina
basin have been elaborated and are in the process of approval in
accordance with Law 2508/97, wherein the necessary measures are
specified in terms of spatial and urban design planning in regions of
Historical Cities Centres.
The city of Ioannina, with its Historical Centre, has maintained and partly
promoted its comparative advantage as an attractive lakeside city, due
to the spectacular natural environment, the preservation of monuments
and its traditional character, in terms of architectural morphology, and
traditional land uses, however, not to the best possible way.
With regard to the existing architectural building reserve, the Historical
Centre boasts of entire streets where the well-preserved old houses,
the ovens, the stores are kept intact. From the picturesque houses on
Soutsou Street with their narrow facades crowded one next to the other,
pinpointing their difference either by colour, or by a certain decorative

101

element, up
to the proud
mansions on
Kountouriotou
Street with
the numerous
rooms and
the impressive
entrances,
where once the
wealthy Jewish
citizens of
Ioannina used to
live, to Joseph
Evliya Street,
the heart of todays few remaining members of the Jewish community,
the bourgeois houses testify the local traditional architecture with the
characteristic railings on the windows, the vivid colours, the perfect
proportions and the wise symmetry. On Anexartisias Street one may still
see the inns and the famous arcades, all architectural monuments full of
memories and life, with small commercial stores on the ground floor and
the small dwellings on the floor.
However, what makes the Historical Centre of Ioannina unique is its
Castle, for being continuously inhabited ever since its foundation and
for the great architectural interest. The Castle is the place where all three
cultures, i.e the Jewish, the Christian and the Muslim, the last one to a
greater extent, left their marks. The houses inside the traditional settlement
of the castle also present a unique architectural interest, not to mention
the great number of monuments, like: the North-eastern citadel, the Aslan
Pasha Mosque, the Turbe (mausoleum), the Medresa (seminary), the Southeastern citadel (Its Kale), the Saray of Ali Pasha, the Byzantine Museum,
the Treasury, the Fetihe Mosque, the Tomb of Ali Pasha, the Synagogue,
the Hamam, the Soufari Saray, the Turkish Library, etc.

A negative feature is the current traffic system, which runs through the city
from the south end to the north end. This model leads to traffic suffocation
at the height of the densely built centre where the modern traffic lanes
either narrow or extinguish completely. The characteristic example of this
102

problematic model is the

southern access to the city
where the three arteries (the
one under construction)
reach to the height of
the Castle in order to be
narrowed to one traffic lane.
In addition, the lack of mild
means of transport like tram
railways, and in general,
any environmental friendly
transportation means, the
lack of pedestrian zones
and cycling tracks, the
insufficient parking lots, in combination with the prevailing land uses,
make the traffic problem to a large extent even worse not to mention the
environmental pollution of the Historical Centre.
In the framework of the 3rd Community Support Framework (CSF) and
the National Strategic Reference Framework (NSRF), certain actions were
taken for the elevation of the Historical Centre, such as: the European
program Raphael living castles, the restoration and elevation of the
Its Kale citadel, the restoration of the castles exterior walls between
2006-2008, the cleaning and lighting of the castle walls, the paving of the
main roads within the castles settlement, various reformations of openair spaces and recreation areas, the elevation of commercial roads in the
historical centre, the financing for the elevation of building facades, the
creation of pedestrian zones, etc.
With regard to the management of Historical Cities Centres, a basic
element of these sustainable development policies on a European
(European Spatial Development Perspective-ESDP) and international
(Agenda 21) level is the new policy and design guidelines that are being
implemented in the sector of intermediate cities for the sustainable
development and the sustainability, like:

The mild forms of communication and transportation and the

minimisation of the distances between home and work.

The elevation of the citys cultural heritage, its historicity, its modern
artistic activity and the aesthetics of the city area as the primary
parameters of the quality of life.
Development of a specific urban tourism as well as hosting of
congress and cultural/artistic events related with the powerful
city profile on a European level in the sector of direct natural
surroundings in combination with the historical and cultural
heritage as a factor of European identity and international opening
of the city.
The intermediate cities are a basic element of the sustainable
development policies, in the framework of the National Strategic
Reference Framework (NSRF), which is the framework of Interreg
103

programs in the long run. According to the current classification of the

Large Urban Zones in the European Union in categories depending on
attractiveness and consequently their priority in relevant elevation policies,
the city of Ioannina belongs (Eurostat urban audit 2008) to the first
category among few cities with similar place.
The aforementioned general guidelines may be applied to the following
specific objectives of urban planning and management of the Historical
Centre of the city of Ioannina:

Special Target 1: Emphasis on elevation/preservation of image with

identity, aesthetic quality and international recognition

In order to achieve this target, measures and interventions are

proposed for the elevation and preservation of the particular elements
that make up the identity of the Historical Centre of the city.
Such elements (Land Marks) may include the historical and preserved
buildings of the city (churches, mosques, synagogues, mansions,
neoclassical, arcades, inns, public buildings, etc), points of historical
interest, as well as streets with particular character, either in terms of
building architecture, or in terms of use (commercial streets, streets
with traditional crafts, recreation and walking areas etc).

Special Target 2: Elevation preservation of the Historical Centre of

the city both in terms of urban and cultural reserve and as part of the
citys vivid history (traditional uses and living areas)
Traditionally, the Historical Centre of the city of Ioannina was
characterized by the intense presence of trade, population,
mainly within the walls, and the traditional handicraft. Among the
contemporary uses is that of entertainment, mainly in the form of
restaurants and bars, which often take the place of commercial
stores and/or residences. In order to maintain the traditional uses
alive, the permanent residents of the region should have a good
quality of urban environment. This quality can be ensured with the
development of community areas that will facilitate the residents, the
guarantee of access and parking and the low levels of noise nuisance.
Nevertheless, the region of the Historical Centre is particularly
attractive as a residential area with a quality of aesthetics of the
structured environment.
For the same reasons, the Historical Centre is an attractive tourist
product and consequently it is necessary, apart from the urban
protection, to maintain the traditional commercial and handicraft
uses and to pinpoint them with a special labelling, with promotion
programs, with the establishment of happenings and other cultural
activities, as well as with the creation of tourist thematic routes.
Of particular interest would be the elevation of the co-existence
of the three religious communities that sealed the history of the
city (Christian, Jewish, Muslim). For example, the projection of the
Byzantine monuments with special-guided tours at regular intervals,
the elevation of the Jewish synagogue and the promotion of the

104

religious ceremonies of the Jewish community, the restoration

reopening of the Turkish baths (hamam), etc.

Special Target 3: Commerce - Tourism

The main concern is the development of the historical and the
modern city centre of Ioannina to the primary commercial centre/
pole, offering quality/identity/image/urbanicity and its specialisation
to a rare luxury trade and special trade in the area of fashion,
recreation, decoration art, luxury foods, publications etc.
It is obvious that the elevation of areas for the attraction of visitors
should offer different experiences to the visitor, a fact that maximises
the benefits of tourism. Thus, together with the ecological, historical,
archaeological and cultural value of a certain area, its relation with
today should also be elected as a result of a dynamic process that
connects the past with the present and tomorrow. A characteristic
example of the above is the integration of the traditional handicraft,
the local cooking, the folk music, etc. in the tourist product. The
traditional art of silvercraft is a material ready to be integrated and
exploited while the revival of basket weaving may bring not only
economic benefits but also contribute to the aims of environmental
protection (restriction of the extent of reeds thicket).

Special Target 4: Traffic

In particular the guidelines traffic organization measures are:

Reduction of traffic and parking of vehicles in the historical

centre.

Creation of a Tram network with a fast and often communication

to and forth the nodal operational points of the city.

Improvement of the existing urban means of transportation.

Construction of new parking areas around the Historical Centre
(underground, aboveground, ground).

Obstruction of end to end movement in the Historical Centre with

natural obstacles (pedestrian zones, narrow traffic lanes, etc.).

105

 Extension of the pedestrian zones / cycling tracks network with

the creation of pedestrians public areas that are used as car
parking areas today.

Due to the complex nature of the urban planning, the number

of regulations and laws involved and the number of services and
organizations involved, it would be relevant to foresee the creation of
a specific organization that would be in charge of the management
of the historical city center, after the elaboration of specific urban and
architectural studies. This organization would organize and monitor a
dedicated urban planning database while it would coordinate specific
topics, such as: a) management of urban and zoning planning and specific
architectural issues, b) transportation and traffic issues, and c) trade,
tourism and recreation issues through the creation of management
committee. This committee would have the capacity of creating and
monitoring a data bank related to these issues and would support
the cooperation of all the relevant actors (local government, central
government, associations, etc) in order to ensure a common approach in
the delimitation of the urban zoning, etc.

106

Sources and Recommended reading

-
-
-

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-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-

Chantepleure, Guy: La ville assige Janina Octobre 1912 - Mars 1913. Calman-Lvy,
Paris: 1913
The Fetiyie mosque in the Castle of Ioannina. 8th Ephorate of Byzantine Antiquities, Hellenic
Ministry of Culture, Ioannina: 2008 / . 8
, , : 2008
Ioannina. From the Byzantine Castle to the Ottoman City. 8th Ephorate of Byzantine
Antiquities, Hellenic Ministry of Culture, Ioannina: 2009 /
. 8 ,
, : 2009
Konstantinos, Dimitris: The Kastro of Ioannina. Ministry of Culture, Archeological Receipts
Fund, Athens: 1997
Magnat Lannie, Zlia: Memoirs of a year in Ioannina 1894-1895. Fondation EGNATIA
EPIRUS, Ioannina: 2007
. 8 ,
, : 2008 (The Byzantine Monuments of Epirus. 8th Ephorate of
Byzantine Antiquities, Hellenic Ministry of Culture, Ioannina: 2008)
. , , . 8 ,
, : 2009 (Monuments of Ioannina. The town, the island, the
basin. 8th Ephorate of Byzantine Antiquities, Hellenic Ministry of Culture, Ioannina: 2009)
. 8 , ,
: 2009 (The Castle of Ioannina. 8th Ephorate of Byzantine Antiquities, Hellenic
Ministry of Culture, Ioannina: 2009)
: - , 1994
(Kanetakis Ioannis: The Castle Contribution to the urban history of Ioannina, 1994)
, : -. . ,
: 2010. (Keramidioti, Eftychia: Ioannina-Zagorochoria. Special Guide. Editions
ORAMA, Rafina: 2010)
, : . .
, : 2008 (Margaris, Vassilis: Ioannina of Stone. Vassilis
Margaris, Ioannina: 2008)
, : . ,
: 2004 (Papadopoulou, Varvara: The monasteries in the Island of Ioannina. Holy
Monastery of Eleousa, Ioannina: 2004)
: -
(Papastavrou Anastasios: Ioannina Praise The past that is not lost)
: . / , : 1996 (Rizario Fondation:
Ioannina. Olkos/ Rozario Fondation, Athens: 1996)
- : , 1988 (Rogoti Kyriakopoulou Demetra: Greek Traditional Architecture, 1988)
-, : . -. ,
: 1986 (Siniki-Papakosta, Nitsa: Old Ioannina. Drawings-Comments. Melissa Editions,
Athens: 1986)
-, : . -.
, : 2007 (The Castle of Ioannina. Drawings-Comments.
Prefecture of Ioannina, Ioannina: 2007)
, .: . ROAD, : 2007 (Psimenos,
Stephanos G.: Undiscovered Epirus. Road Editions, Athens: 2007)
: ,
: 2003 (Charisis Vasilios: Foundation Spatial role Layout of an early Byzantine
city, Ioannina : 2003)
, : . , : 2007 (Xatzis,
Dimitris: The End of our Small Town. Rodakio, Athens: 2007)
, : . . , : 1987 (Xouliaras, Nikos:
Loussias. Novel. Nefeli, Athens: 1987)
, & , 2005 (General Urban Plan
Study of Ioannina, & phase, 2005)
&
, & , 2009 (Regulatory Plan Study & Environmental
Protection Program for the urban complex of Ioannina, & phase, 2009)
107

108

PRIZREN

the City of Filigree

Introduction
For many centuries in row and under numerous rules of kingdoms and
empires, Prizren has been an important commercial, administrative and
cultural center. Each and every one of these kingdoms and empires left
behind rich treasures of cultural, historic and architectonic values which
make Prizren today a special city and the center of culture in Kosovo.
Stretched at the foot of the beautiful panoramic Sharri Mountains, and
divided in two by Lumbardhi River, which in hot summer days brings endlessly the attractive coolness from the Sharr Mountains, while in the winter
season populated by the migrating seagulls arriving from the Adriatic
coast, Prizren still radiates the beauty created by the human hand combined with the beauty bestowed upon by the divine.
The old Romans called it Therand; The Byzantines called it Prizdrijana,
and to all of them Prizren was the center through which passed the old
Dardan road that was called Via de Zenta.
Prizren flourished the most in the XIV century during the rule of the Ottoman Empire, when it became an important commercial and artisan city
with more than 1500 workshops and a center of culture and art as well.
Usually Prizren is known as a museum city or the city of sources and beauties. Prizren is the richest Kosovar city in cultural monuments. Under state
protection are more than 65 cultural heritage monuments with a treasure
of artefacts from different periods.
The city is inhabited by Albanians, Turks, Bosnians, Roma and others, who
by way of their work have built an environment of good neighbourhood,
reciprocal respect and of a promising future.
Prizen is a city that should be visited for its charming beauties reflected by
the cultural and historic monuments, the panoramic environment, as well
as for the hospitality of its inhabitants.

109

Monuments
Supplied with a great number of religious and profane buildings and with
the original part of the city, which are close to one another, the attractive
center of the city of Prizren is the most picturesque and the best preserved
in Kosovo. A short climb on the hill nearby leads you to the castle of the
city from where you can see the entire city. The old tradition of inter-ethnical and inter-religious tolerance can be observed in the small distances
that exist between the hundred years old catholic and orthodox churches,
mosques and tekkes.

Mosques
Prizen has over 46 mosques, most of which were built during the Ottoman
Empire. Built by local masters and well designed, they have impressive inner spaces that connect to the domes, porches, and the minarets outside.
The mosques were neglected for many years and were damaged during
the war of 1999 in Kosovo. The post-war projects, mainly financed by Turkey, started their renovation and restoration. Visitors are always welcome
inside the mosques, while during prayer time they can take a walk outside.
The preferred time for visits is 08:00 12:00 and 14:00 16:00. Photographs are allowed; when entering mosques is preferred to have modest
clothing and shoes should be taken off before entering inside.
The design of the mosques has been carried out according to predefined
rules. Usually, over the building is a dome, near is the minaret which is
used to call the prayer, and the porch (hall) where the believers take off
110

their shoes before entering inside. The part of the building used for washing is used to receive ablution, while every mosque is directed towards
Mecca. The biggest mosques usually are surrounded by walls, have a
garden, graves, sometimes even shrines, classrooms, as well as a medresas
and maktabs (religious elementary and high schools). It is possible even to
see delicate paintings and decorations, which never portrait humans, but
are focused on the presentation of geometrical figures, ornaments and
arabesques (Arabian calligraphy).

Churches
Prizren has several beautiful churches which belong to different historic
periods. Because of the frequent change of the powers ruling the city, their
destinations changed several times. The churches belong to the Orthodox
and Catholic religions. The visits inside the orthodox churches are possible
only with special permission provided beforehand by the head of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Graanica.

Filigree
Filigree is known in
Kosovo as an ancient
craft, which used gold
and silver to produce
ornaments engraved
with precision and
exceptional skill in
thousand of beads.
Filigree is believed to
have its origin from
the ancient Egyptians
and was later perfected by the Etruscans
and Greeks. Historical
records show that in
Kosovo filigree arrived
during the XV century
and it started to be
produced in the area at the same time. There are about 200 small producers of filigree today in Prizren and its regions, who survive by way of selling their produce in special shops. Among the best known and the biggest
is the group of ten artisans, who work together in a small workshop on the
northwest of the city. Simply called Filigree, the company was established in the previous communism system in 1947 and survived with a lot
of difficulty, until it was forced to be closed after the privatization process
following the war of 1999. A group of ten artisans work today outside the
building, producing with traditional methods elegant works upon orders
from customers inside and outside the country. Their workshop can be
visited by everyone that is interested to see this work from near. The workshop has also its shop with exhibited produces which can be bought.

111

Kosovo and Prizren

The Republic of Kosovo is a small state, in the center of the Balkan Peninsula. It borders FYROM, Albania, Serbia and Montenegro and it has a
square surface of 10 877 Km2. Based on Resolution nr. 1244 of the United
Nations Security Council, Kosovo was a territory administered by the
United Nations Interim Administration. The all-inclusive proposal for the
Solution of Kosovo status was presented by the General Secretary of the
United Nations Organization (UN), to the members of the UN Security
Council on 26 March 2007. In the Declaration of Independence on 17
February 2008, the Kosovo Parliament expressed its dedication to fully
implement this agreement. The provisions of the agreement are included
in the Constitution of the Kosovo Republic, approved by the Kosovo Parliament on 9 April 2008.
The capital of Kosovo is Prishtina. Kosovo is divided into 7 regions/sectors:
Ferizaj, Gjakova, Gjilan, Mitrovica, Peja, Prishtina, Prizren, and 30 administrative units (communes). The Commune of Prizren is in the south of
Kosovo and stretches over a surface area of 640km2, which makes 5.94%
of the overall territory of Kosovo. On the west Prizren borders Albania, on
the south the commune of Dragash, on the south-east the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, on the east the commune of Shtrpc, on
the northeast the commune of Syhareka, on the north the commune of
Rahovec and on the north-west the commune of Gjakova. The center of
the commune of Prizren is the city of Prizren. The distance from Prizren to
Prishtina is 77 km, Tirana 198 km, Skopje 122 km, Podgorica 260 km and
Beograd 420 km.

Natural and Topographic Characteristics

The commune of Prizren is situated 412 500 m above sea level. It is
surrounded by the Sharri Mountains with their highest peak at 2,748
meters. The commune has a rich and dense network of rivers. The rivers
flow into the White Drinos
and the Adriatic Sea. The
rivers flowing from the Sharri
Mountains are very quick and
deep and have narrow gaps
that often form canyons. The
rivers preserve their water level
even during summer because
of snow melting on the Sharri
Mountains. The average flow
is 56m3/per second and the
reservoir has an overall surface
of 18,592km2. In the commune of Prizren dominates
the continental climate, the
Mediterranean climate permeates from the Adriatic currents
which reach the city through
112

the canyons of the White Drinos. The climate helps in the cultivation of
high quality grapefruit, trees and vegetables as well. The average annual
temperature is 12.5 degree Celsius; the lowest temperature is 1.3 degree
Celsius during January and the highest temperature is 23.2 degree Celsius
during July.

A Brief History of Prizren

During different historic periods, Prizren, the antique Theranda, was as one
of the biggest economical-cultural centres. According to the Latin documents, we encounter Prizren with different names, such as: Prisren, Prisrenum, Presarin, Prisarano, Prisreno, Prisori, Pristren, Prisarini, Jorsaim etc.
Meanwhile the Byzantines called it Prisdriana, Prezren, Prizorian. In the Ottoman documents we encounter it by the names of Tarzerin, Perserin, Zerin
etc. The Slavs called it Prizren, Prezren, Prizrin, Prizdren, Prezdrin etc.
The cultural heritage of Prizren reflects the wonderful history of the city.
This culture is stratified throughout the centuries and reaches us today very
rich. By having a good geographical and geopolitical position, Prizren has
been always in the crossroads of big cultures, and ethnical cultures as well,
which have lived beside one another, such as Dardan-Illyrian-Albanian, Roman, Byzantine, Slav, Turkish-Ottoman cultures etc. This is the reason why
in the city were spoken several official languages for centuries.
In 1018-1019 according to the chart of the Byzantine Emperor Basil II,
Prizren was mentioned as Episcopacy under the jurisdiction of the Archiepiscopacy of Ohrid. In 1072, under the leadership of George Voiteh,
developed the rebellion of the Balkan populations against the rule of the
Byzantine Emperor Michael VII Duke. The rebellion ended in 1073. Immediately after the Fourth Crusade in 1204, Prizren was ruled by the Bulgarians. Around 1214-1216, the city was conquered by Stefan Provencani
and later was put again under the Bulgarian invasion. During this period,
the city was protected by its own fortress and other fortresses around it.
Prizren was a city of free trade, center of art and culture, residence of the
catholic bishop and of the Byzantine, Bulgarian and Serbian bishop.
Prizren achieved its highest level of development during the XIV century. At this time it had assumed the typical appearance of the medieval
western cities: civitas (administrative and economical center) and castrum
or castellum (city castle). According to the descriptions of the time, Prizren
was very much alike Ragusa (Dubrovnik). Indeed, during the first half of
the XIV century, Prizren was a big center of Ragusian colonists. In order to
protect their interests, the Ragusian merchants that were active in Prizren
asked for a consul to be nominated in the city. According to the decision
of the Big Ragusian Council on 08 March 1332, a Ragusa consulate was
set up in Prizren (quod eius mansio sit in Prisren).
The above date marks the beginning of the consular life in Kosovo. Meanwhile, Prizren possessed judicial exterritoriality. Such an experience spread
even to the other cities of Kosovo, such as Novo Brd, Trepa, Prishtina, Peja
and Janjev. In Prizren, the Ragusians set up even some other institutions,
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such as the customs, the forging machine to print money, churches and hospitals. The coin with Prisren inscription was forged in this same city.
In the second half of the XIV century the city started to become weaker
because of political conflicts and divisions. At that time, after the death of
Emperor Dushan (1355), the city was ruled by the Serbian king Vukashi
(1360-1371), and later by the Arbr princes of Balshaj and Kastrioti families. During all of the medieval age, in Prizren and in the surrounding areas
were built renown monuments of Roman-catholic religion (Sancta Maria
de Prisren and Sanctus Petrus supra Prisren), as well as Orthodox Byzantine
and Serbian monuments (The Church of Lady Prene-Bogorodica Ljevishka
and the Monastery of Saints Mihal Gabriel-Sveti Arhangjel near Prizren).
It is likely that the city fell several times under the Ottoman rule, until 1459
when it ultimately fell under the administration of the Ottoman Empire,
and started to flourish again. In the XVI century were built wonderful Ottoman religious monuments such as the Mosque of Gazi Mehmet Pasha,
the Hamam of Gazi Mehmet Pasha and the Mosque of Sinan Pasha. At
the time Prizren became part of the Ottoman province of Rumelia. It was
distinguished as a commercial city with prosperity, benefiting by the geographical position and the commercial routes north-south and east-west.
Prizren became the biggest city of the Ottoman administration in Kosovo.
At the end of the XVII century Prizren was conquered by the Austrians and
their ally forces, but very quickly the Ottomans gained again full control
over the city.
Prizren was a cultural and intellectual center of Kosovo during the Ottoman period. It was dominated by the Muslim population, which constituted 70% of the
overall population
in 1857. In 1878,
during the League
of Prizren, the
city became the
biggest cultural
center of the
Albanians and the
main center of
Albanian, not only
of Kosovo, politics
and culture.
A gathering of Albanians in 1863
In the XX century, the city underwent an intensive period of rapid constructions, especially near the commercial areas. At the end of 1918, when
the Serbian-Croatian-Slovenian Kingdom was created, Prizren was conquered and was included in the umbrella of this newly formed state, which
in 1929 was called the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. For many decades, the city
became one of the strongest centres of Albanian nationalism in the war for
independence.

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Prizren and its region were heavily affected by the war in Kosovo in 19981999. At the end of the war, in June 1999, the major part of the Albanian
population returned to Prizren.
The most important and famous archaeological find in Prizren is the socalled Runner of Prizren which features the figure of a running girl, made
of bronze and discovered in the XIX century. It was sold to the British Museum where it still stands. Based on the investigations of British Museum
specialists, the figure was crafted in Sparta around 500 B.C. It may have
reached Prizren as a precious gift or as loot.

Population Characteristics of Kosovo and Prizren

The number of population in Kosovo, based on the last registration, has
been estimated from 1.800.000 to 2.000.000 inhabitants. Based on the
analysis of living standards in 2000, over 88% of the Kosovo population
are Kosovo Albanians, 7% Serbians, 1.9% Bosnian Muslims, 1.7% Roma
and 1% Turks.
The city of Prizren is the administrative center of the commune of Prizren,
which has 76 villages and approximately 222.000 inhabitants. Following
the war of 1999, at least 40.000 people moved from the commune of
Prizren inside and outside of Kosovo. The fast and successful reconstruction of over 10.000 houses after the end of the war created conditions for
the majority of the displaced to return to their houses.
The population of the commune of Prizren is approximately 90% Albanian.
The rest are Bosnian minority groups, Turks, Roma and Serbians. Based on
the overall registration in Kosovo in 2011, the City of Prizren is estimated
to have 178.112 inhabitants.
The city of Prizren is inhabited by Albanian, Bosnians, Turks, Roma and
Serbians. Even though Kosovo Bosnians are the biggest minority group,
the Turkish community is well known and influential. The Turkish language
is spoken in a major part even by the inhabitants of Prizren and Kosovo.
On the northern part, in the region of Podrima, Albanians and Turks live
together, in the region of Podgore Albanians and Bosnians live together,
on the south-eastern part of the commune, in the Valley of Zhupa the
population is mainly composed of Bosnians and partially Albanians and
Serbians.

Economical Characteristics of the Commune of Prizren

Private enterprises in the commune of Prizren are mainly based on
agriculture, trade, construction and the production of food. Private businesses in most cases have difficulty in acquiring capital investments both
from the local companies and from foreign ones. An additional problem is
competition with products from Serbia, Albania, Turkey and China, which
dominate the market with their products, while Chinese products are considerably cheaper. Because of financial difficulties some companies closed
while others are reducing the number of the employers. The economical
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decrease is directly contributing in the rise of unemployment and poverty.

Almost all of the agricultural and livestock produce is at the hands of private entrepreneurs, informal and small businesses.
In Prizren and in the commune operate seven banks which have established their branches, such as: ProCredit Bank, Raiffeisen Bank, Turkish
Economical Bank (TEB), Nova Ljubljanska Bank (NLB), Private Business
Bank (BPB), Economical Bank and National Commercial Bank (BKT), as
well as microfinance institutions such as FINCA, KEP etc.
21.499 persons are employed in the Commune of Prizren. Out of them,
12.371 are employed in the private sector and 4.341 in the social sector
and 4.787 in the public sector. Most of the employees work in the industrial sector (41%), wholesale and retail trade (24.6%), services (20%) and
construction (13.4%).
60% of the inhabitants of the commune of Prizren live in rural areas and
obtain their incomes through agricultural activities. The agricultural and
livestock sector make a large contribution to the gross domestic product
of the commune, which is rich with many agricultural resources and which
has produced throughout the centuries various kinds of corns, grapes,
vegetables and fruit trees.
The commune of Prizren has a big potential for the development of tourism,
considering the geographical position, the picturesque Sharri Mountains,
adequate climate conditions and the wealth of ancient cultural heritage.
The warm hospitality, along with the delicious traditional Prizren food, can
be encountered in every corner of the city of Prizren and along the Lumbardhi valley and Zhupa Valley where it is possible to experience some of
the most beautiful moments offered by the generous hospitality of Prizren
hoteliers.

Social, Health and Educational Services

The Center for Social Wellbeing (CSW) is one of the communal institutions
which carries out a very wide range of responsibilities. Social services,
family counselling, divorces, street children and orphans are some of the
problems that this center deals with on an ongoing basis. Among others,
CSW provides material assistance for people with disabilities, old and
sensible, displaced or returned refugees.
In the commune of Prizren, the state operates the primary health service
supported by 32 family health centres spread out over all the commune,
and the secondary service supported by a regional hospital with over 670
health employees, which offers services for more than 400.000 inhabitants of the region of Prizren. The services offered are emergency service,
intensive care and stationary service.
The private health sector is widespread and covers a considerable part
of commune needs with 50 private health and laboratory units, over 30
dental service units and more than 40 pharmacies.
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The Commune of Prizren offers educational opportunities in three levels:

primary, high and university education. In the commune of Prizren there
are 40 public elementary schools and 2 private elementary schools, 5
public high schools and 2 private high schools, 1 public university and
2 private universities licensed by the Ministry of Education, Science and
Technology of Kosovo. Education in all of these educational institutions
is provided in all of the languages that are spoken by the communities of
the commune (Albanian, Bosnian/Serbian and Turkish). In the commune
of Prizren there are two special schools, one for children with hearing and
speaking disabilities, and another for children with slow development.

Cultural Heritage Monuments

The Castle
The castle of Prizren contains in itself an important part from the ancient
history of the city. Its dominating topographic position over the city, the
very attractive natural landscape and the well-thought architectonic configuration give it undeniable archaeological, historic and touristic values.
It is situated on the northern part of the city, above a conical shaped hill,
525 meters above sea level. The fortification walls follow the contour lines
of the terrain, surrounding an oval shaped surface of 1.5 hectares that
extends in the north-south direction. Written records mention very little of
the castle of Prizren. The oldest known note was written by the Byzantine chronicler, Procopius of Caesarea, in his work De aedificiis (On
buildings). In this work, among the restored fortifications in Dardania he
mentioned even this castle with the name of Petrizen.
A more voluminous research was made in 1969 which included archaeological excavations and the architectonic recording of the castle.
During the excavations, traces from the XI-XIX centuries were found. The
continuance of the archaeological excavations between 2004 and 2009
until 2011 revealed a prehistoric
settlement which dates back to the
bronze and early iron eras, and
which served as the initial life nucleus in the region. Just the same,
these excavations brought to light
for the first time architectural traces
and material findings that date from
the Roman period to antiquity.
During the Ottoman period, the
castle was enlarged, its fortification
walls strengthened, and a hamam,
mosques and other buildings for
military needs were built inside.

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Main Gate

Mosque

Lower town

Upper town

South Town

ANTIC PERIOD
First stage (5th cent. BC)
MEDIEVALISM PERIOD
First stage (11th century)
Second stage (12th -13th cent.)
Third stage (14th cent.)
OTTOMAN PERIOD
First stage (16th cent.)
Second stage (17th cent.)
Third stage (17th cent.)
Fourth stage (18th cent.)
Fifth stage (18-19th cent.)

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Main Gate

Mosque

Lower town

South town

Upper town

The castle of Prizren carried out its primary function until 1912. Since then
it was neglected and started to degrade. In 2008 some restoration and
conservation emergency measures were taken to prevent this degrading
process. The castle is one of the most interesting points for further investigation and for the promotion of cultural-historic tourism in Kosovo.

The Church of Saint Friday - Levishka

The church was rebuilt
in 1307 by King Milutin
over the remains of an
old temple, of a Byzantine church specifically,
and was dedicated to
Saint Mary. Following
the fall of Prizren under
the Ottoman Empire in
1455, it was converted
into a mosque which
had a double function:
to serve as a temple
until other mosques were
built, and to demonstrate the power of the new ruler, so as to make the
population aware as to who was the real house lord. For this reason the
mosque was called Fethiye (liberators) and Xhuma xhami (The Friday
Mosque). Following
the construction of
the first mosques
in Prizren, it was
once again used as a
church until the XVIII
century. Since 1756 it
was once again used
as a mosque until
1912-1913, when the
Balkan wars began.
During its conversion
into a mosque, the
building was plastered
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from the inside and outside, some windows were walled in and a minaret
balcony was built over the bell tower. After 1913 it was used as a church,
and in 1923 the minaret over the bell tower was destroyed.
During 1950 - 1952 the church underwent an overall restoration and conservation, the plaster was taken off, the walled-in windows were opened
again and other reinforcements were carried out as well. During the restoration-conservation works, the mural paintings were revealed again inside
and in the end the church was turned into a museum. During 2005-2008
various renovations were made on the roof and in the object interior.
The base of the building is rectangular. Initially it had three naves, but
after its reconstruction in 1307 when five domes were added and the
exonarthex with a bell tower was built, it took the shape of a deformed
(unproportional) church with five naves. On the outside the walls are not
plastered, and so the outer mural structure made of stones and tiles is visible. Inside, the walls aew plastered and partially painted. The church is the
first monument of the city of Prizren that was inscribed in the UNESCO
World Heritage List, in 2006.

The Church of Saint Saviour

In the most dominating old part of the city, on a very steep slope on the
south-western side of the castle, is the Church of Saint Saviour. We dont
have exact information on the construction date, but it is supposed that it
was built between 1307 and 1348, based on the fact that the church was
mentioned in Dushanis Decorate (1348). According to this decorate the
sponsor of the church is Mlladen Vlladojeviq who dedicated this church
to Saint Saviour. Later the church was used by the Cincares who worked
in the castle at the time of the Rrotullas, Prizren aristocrats (about 1836).
The church has a rectangular shape with an apse, while the narthex has a
pointed gabble roof from the outside, and the central part has only one
dome. Later the building was extended on the southern side, and after it
was burned in 1882, it was extended further on the southern and western
sides although the construction works never fully finished. This extension

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was planned to make the church bigger and to give it the name of Holy
Trinity afterwards. Inside there are mural paintings as well, which were realised following the example of the Church of Levishka in the exonarthex.
During 1950-1952 the building was completely restored, the southern extension from the second phase was demolished, and the church changed
its outside appearance. Some further minor renovations were carried out
during 2005-2006.

Church of Saint George - Runoviq

The Church of Saint George Runoviq is in the old part of the city, near the
Shatrvan Square, respectively in the courtyard of the Synodal Church of
Saint George. It was built at the end of the XV century by the Runoviq brothers. Later, at the end of the XIX century, the Synodal Church of the same
name was built, and, for this reason, the old church was used for preserving
the icons and other ecclesiastical requisites. The church belongs to the type
of the medieval family churches, with a rectangular base, an apse and three
naves that were documented during the excavations carried out in 1994.
During the excavations the narthex and the surrounding graves were discovered. The church is built with river pebbles and with arches in the interior,
while outside it has a pointed gabble roof covered with lead sheets. Inside,
on the south-western part, is the grave of the Metropolitan Bishop Mihajllo
(1733-1818). Inside the church are frescoes dating from the XVIII century.
In 1994-1995 the church was restored and conserved from the outside and
inside, and the surrounding space was readjusted. Also, from 2005-2010
some renovations were carried out on the building and its floor, including
the substitution of lead sheets with new ones, new electric instalments and
inner plastering, the conservation and strengthening of the mural paintings,
and pavement of the courtyard with marble tiles.

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The Concathedral of the Helping Lady

Southwest to the urban center, in the old center of the city at Qafpazari
Quarter, is located the Catholic Church of the Helping Lady along with its
other facilities. The church, with its Greek and Roman architectural elements, was built in 1870 by Archbishop Dario Bucciarelli, while later Toma
Glasnoviq built the bell tower and installed the clock. The building has three
naves and a semi-circled altar. The middle nave is covered by a gabble roof,
while the side naves have flat roofs covered by tiles. The vertical poles, the
steps and the balcony are made of wood, the interior walls are plastered
with lime mortar, while the outside walls are not plastered, and the wall
structure made of pumice stones can be easily seen at first sight.
On the arch of the middle nave there are frescoes painted in al secco technique that feature civic motifs. As such, in the painting featuring the Lady,
near the altar area are painted citizens from Prizren dressed in clothes that
were characteristic of the time. Above the veranda are the paintings of two
prominent figures from the past of the Balkans, Gjergj Kastrioti, leader of
the Albanian Principality, and Joannes de Hunyad, Hungarian governor and
commander-in-chief. The author of these paintings is Simcowiss, the Austrian
painter who painted them in 1970, when, on the occasion of the 100th
anniversary, the walls, the poles and the floor were laid with marble tiles, the
steps and the veranda with reinforced concrete and a metal fence was built
at the entrance and at the steps of the buildings.
The complex of the Concathedral of the Helping Lady includes other facilities such as the Semeniste building (Catholic Religious School), the Priests
House, the Sisters of Honour House, the Bishops Seat, the Parish Building
and other residential and commercial buildings.

The Krkk Namazgah Mosque

Namazgah lies in the north-western part of the city near the main PrizrenGjakova road. The name is derived from the Persian language, meaning a
place for prayer-worship. Following the fall of Prizren under the Ottoman
Empire in 1455, Isa Bey, a commander under Fatih Sultan Mehmed, built
Namazgah in a very short period of time. The main master and supervisor was aushi Ahmed. Upon the total establishment of the Ottoman
administration in Prizren, Namazgah was neglected because the other first
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mosques built at the time were taking an important role. Since Namazgah
was situated in the suburbs of former Prizren, close to the fields, it was
used by the farmers that went in to pray during the time they worked on
their fields.
In the 1950s a big depot was built nearby. For its construction, a large
number of stones from the Namazgah Mosque were used; similarly, during the construction of
the health center in the
1980s, the old graves surrounding Namazgah were
destroyed. As it is possible
to see today, there have
remained only 2 or 3 of the
former graves which are
converted into shrines. Archaeological investigations
on Namazgah were made
in 1969 and 1989, but
unfortunately no protective measures were taken. In 2000, the Institute of Museum Monuments
of Prizren, considering the importance of this object, designed the project
for the restoration of Namazgah. In 2001-2002, with the financial support
of the Turkish government and Commune Council, restoration works were
carried out on the building, and the surrounding area was readjusted.
During the restoration, special importance was given to the construction
material and technique in order for them to be as identical as possible.

The Namazgah Mosque is an important object because it is rare in its kind

in the Balkan Peninsula. Even though this typology was once widespread
for mosques in these regions, because of the nature of its use, simplicity
and weak construction, it is almost entirely extinct nowadays. In all of the
Balkans, only 3-4 of them have been saved, while in Kosovo there are 2
such mosques, both of them in the region of Prizren.

The Archaeological Museum - The Clock Tower

The archaeological museum is housed inside the hamam (public bath during the Ottoman period) area, built at the end of the XV century, in 1498
specifically. The builder of the hamam is supposed to have been Shemsudin Ahmed Bey. Because of the absence of written sources, the builder
and the date of construction are not exactly known, as well as the period
until when the building was used as a hamam. What is known is that the
hamam didnt have its initial function in the middle of the XIX century,
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when the Clock Tower was built by

Eshref Pasha over the warm area of
the hamam.
The building is of rectangular shape
and built with various stones. The
roof and the domes are covered
with lead sheets. The clock tower
was built with baked adobe bricks.
Based on the functional system of
the hamams, the building lacks its
entrance the cold part (apodyterium). Instead, in the area where this
part should have been, there was a
residential house over 100 hundreds
years old which makes us know that
at least for this period of time the
hamam didnt carry out its original
function. This was proved when the
residential object was destroyed in
2003 and when during the archaeological excavations the foundations of the abovementioned areas were
detected which were missing in the hamam, and over which the residential
house had been erected.
The building was abandoned for a long time
and was used by the
nearby inhabitants as a
depot, henhouse etc.
This degradation went
on until the end of the
1960s when restoration and conservation
works were launched
on a great scale. In
1975 it was solemnly
inaugurated but with a new function, from a hamam it was converted
into an Archaeological Museum. The museum exhibits materials from the
archaeological sites of the region of Prizren, findings from the communes
of Prizren, Dragash, Rahovec and Syhareka. The material presented has a
wide chronological range and includes the early Neolithic era, Bronze era,
Iron era, Roman period, and the early and late Medieval Ages. A partial
renovation was carried out in 2008.

The Mosque of Suzi Efendi

Suzi Efendi is one of the oldest poets of the region. He was born and
died in Prizren. Near the Lumbardhi River, he built a school with a library,
a water fountain, a canal for the irrigation of fields, and a stone bridge.
This quarter was called Suzi Quarter in his honour. The name of the poet
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and famous historian is Muhamed

Efendi, son of Mahmud who himself
was son of Abdullah. His nickname
was Suzi the Poet. At one time
Suzi was a kadi (judge), until he
was engaged as personal secretary
of Gazi Ali Bey Mihalogllu and participated in wars together with him.
Upon returning to his birthplace, he
expressed his experiences in poetry
and wrote more than 15.000 verses.
He was a teacher at the school
which he himself had founded.
Also he enriched the library with
books written by well-known foreign
authors. He died and was buried in
the courtyard of the mosque. Next
to his grave was buried his brother
Nehari.
The mosque was built in 1513 and
is one of the oldest buildings from the Ottoman period. In the courtyard of
the mosque there are many graves with very beautiful inscriptions from the
XVII, XVIII, and XIX centuries. In 1955 the shrine was put under protection
by law.
The Mosque of Suzi is on the left side of Lumbardhi River, on the Rrasat e
Koshars Street. It is of rectangular shape and has a hipped roof covered
with roof tiles. The porch is on the north-western side, supported by eleven
wood poles. The foundations and the lower part of the walls are made of
stones, while the upper part of the walls is made of adobe tiles (unbaked
clay), plastered with mortar. In the course of time the building underwent
several arbitrary interventions. The first floor of the library was destroyed
and now it is used as a residential house.

The Minaret of the Arasta Mosque

In the old part of Prizren, on the right bank of Lumbardhi River, Evrenos
- Zade Jakup Bey built a mesjid (mosque) between 1526 and 1538, and later added a minaret. Shops sprang up in the area surrounding the mosque,
and so this part of the city became an enclosed market (arshi) known
by the name of Arasta, which was used by the merchants for the mosque
as well. In the course of time the mosque was restored and renovated
many times in its appearance and use. In the XIX century, the building was
remade in the neo-classical style, and two floors were constructed inside.
The ground floor was used by the merchants as a depot and offices, and
the upper floor was used as a space to pray. The last restoration carried
out on the building took place in 1911.
The mosque continued in its initial function until 1960. On behalf of modernization and development, the government of that time destroyed
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entire complexes in the old center of

Prizren with the scope to change the
appearance and the organization of the
city.
Unfortunately, because of these interventions, the Arasta market was totally
destroyed and the mosque as well,
except for the minaret which was saved
and remains today as an obelisk in front
of the complex of multi-storey buildings,
in disharmony with the organic urbanisation and the silhouette of the city. The
original appearance was totally erased.
In 1970 the minaret of the mosque
was restored and conserved, and was
enlisted as a monument of culture. A
restoration-conservation was carried out
in 2007 with the support of the Swedish
organization Cultural Heritage without
Borders (CHwB), the Communal Council
and the IMM of Prizren.

The Sara Mosque The Mosque of Kukli Bey

The Sara Mosque is located in the quarter of the same name, where a
long time ago the artisans crafted leather materials and which gave the
name to the mosque. The mosque stands near the Halveti Tekke and near
the hamam of Gazi Mehmed Pasha. It is one of the oldest mosques of the
city, built in 1531 by Kukli Mehmed Bey
who at the time was regional governor
from Thessaloniki to Bosnia. The building has a square shape 9.0 x 9.0m; it is
built with natural stones and with lime
mortar as a connecting material. Over
the square base is the rectangular drum
that supports the dome. Above the inner
central area is a dome which from the
outside is a pointed octagon covered
with stony slabs. In 1963, while widening the road, the hall of the mosque
was destroyed, and between 1977 and
1994 were performed some damaging
and non-professional renovations which
resulted in the loss of the inner mural
paintings and wood elements. Similarly,
some various renovations and reparations were carried out during 2002-2003. The hall was rebuilt in 2008.
In 2009 a failure in the electric instalments caused a fire that burned the
interior of the mosque.
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The Mosque of Mehmed Pasha

The Mosque of Gazi Mehmed Pasha (Bayrakli) stands in the south-eastern
part of the city and is of special cultural and historic value. Gazi Mehmed
Pasha built the hamam, the mosque, the shrine, the medresa, the library,
the classrooms and other facilities from 1563 to 1574. The mosque of
Mehmed Pasha is one of the biggest mosques in Prizren. It has a square
shape and a big porch on three sides. As the central praying area has a
dominating dome, the porch has a hipped roof supported by wooden

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poles. The mosque is built with stones and is plastered on both sides. The
roof of the mosque (the dome, the pendants, the porch etc.) is covered
with lead sheets. Even though Mehmed Pasha built a shrine (mausoleum)
in the courtyard of the mosque, he was not buried there because he died
away from Prizren in a battle in Panoni (Hungary). Besides its architectural importance, the mosque of Mehmed Pasha is of historic importance
because it was here that the assembly of the League of Prizren was
convened. During the various festivities and manifestations, the Albanian
flag flew over the mosque, giving it the epithet Bayrakli (flag-bearer). The
object was restored several times, but unfortunately not in a professional
manner. The last and biggest reconstruction was carried out from 1994 to
1996. Also during this time the mosque was repainted again. In the courtyard are some old graves. In the 1970s, a part of the mosque was annexed
and converted into the museum of the League of Prizren.

The Hamam of Gazi Mehmed Pasha

The Hamam of Gazi Mehmed Pasha is in the center of the city, near the
Kukli - Mehmed Bey and Emin Pasha Mosque Mosques. It was built between 1563 and 1974. On the main door is the inscription (1833), which
shows the date when the Hamam was restored by the Tahir and Mehmed
Pash Rrotulli brothers. The Hamam was used as a public bath between
1927 until 1944 and was an integral part of social and cultural life. It was
declared a monument of culture in 1954.
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The hamam is a
couple hamam
type, which was
used by both
genders at the same
time. It was built
with different types
of stone. The part
for men is a little
bigger than the part
for women. The
hamam has all the
spaces that hamams
of this type have. It is composed of the cold part (apodyterium) which was
used for reception, drinks and the wardrobe, and then is the lukewarm
part (tepidarium) which was used to provide customers with the necessary accessories such as towels, soaps etc. In this area were the sanitary
farcilities, too. This space leads to the main space, which is the hottest part
(caldarium) used for washing, sweating, massaging and entertainment.
Within the hamam are included even the technical rooms (qylhani), which
housed the water depots and the boiler. These rooms were in the southern
part of the building, and the customers were not allowed to enter them.
The walls are 90cm thick and are not plastered on the outside, while inside
they were plastered with lime mortar. The roof of the building has two big
domes on the cold part and 9 small domes over the warm part. The roof of
the lukewarm room and boiler has the shape of an arch. On the cold part,

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the roof cover is made of tiles, while in the other parts is made of lead
sheets. Until 1964, the hamam was surrounded by bars; it was then when
it started to degrade and the restoration and conservation work followed.
Some restorations were carried out in the 1970s; similar work was carried
out even after the 1980s, when the building was totally neglected and was
used as a depot. After 2000, the cold part of the hamam was used as a gallery. Even though in the course of time it underwent some interventions,
the hamam preserved its originality in the compositional and structural
aspects. This is why it is considered a cultural monument.

The Complex of the League of Prizren

The memorial complex of the League
of Prizren is situated in the old center
of the city, and is of special cultural, historic, religious and environmental value.
It was built following the construction
of the Gazi Mehmed Pasha Mosque.
Around the mosque were erected other
buildings such as medresas, shrines, libraries and residential houses. The latter
are mainly located on the south-western
part of Gazi Mehmed Pasha Complex
and include also the museum complex
of the League of Prizren. These buildings
of vernacular architecture are expressive
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of their values whether taken separate or as an ensemble. At the end of

the XIX century and beginning of the XX century, during the restoration
and renovation of the residential houses, the influence of the European baroque style with a mix of neo-classical style became clearly visible, which
gives to these buildings a special appearance.
Unfortunately, after the 1950s the old buildings suffered massive destruction as a result of the widening of the road and of the change of the
direction of Lumbardhi River which were realised on behalf of the city
modernization. Few residential houses of this quarter are preserved
today, and some parts of the medresa were destroyed. In 1968, because
of the road construction, the building near the river was destroyed, leaving
only the Residence of the Albanian League of Prizren which was moved
some meters away. From 1976-1978 important interventions were carried
out, destroying some buildings of the complex of Gazi Mehmed Pasha, to
form the Museum of the League of Prizren for its 100th anniversary. Some
houses inside the complex were reconstructed due to their bad condition.
The buildings of the complex were constructed similar to residential
houses, so the lowest level of the construction is made of stones while the
highest level was made of adobe tiles. The wide shelter was an important
element to control light inside the building. In 2003 the Institute of Museum Monuments and the Communal Council carried out the reconstruction of the courtyard and the renovation of the buildings.

The Mosque of Sinan Pasha

The mosque of Sinan Pasha, even though it is not the oldest one in town,
is beyond doubt the widest and the most beautiful. Its location makes it

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to dominate the
square and the
old bazaar of
Prizren. It was
built in 1615 by
Sinan Pasha who
held different
positions in the
Ottoman administration. During
the Balkan Wars
and World War I,
the mosque was
used as an ammunition depot
by the Bulgarian and Serbian armies. Being aware that part of the construction materials were taken from the Monastery of the Archangels, 2 km
away in the suburbs of Prizren, in the 1930s the administration of the time
tried to destroy the mosque and restore its stones back to the monastery.
During the execution of the plan, the porch of the mosque was the only
part that was destroyed because large protests forced the leaders of the
plan to abandon it and interrupt the destruction. In 1968-69 the mosque
was converted into a museum of oriental manuscripts.
The building has a square shape with an annex
on the south-eastern part. This shape is unique
in Kosovo except for the mosque of Emin Pasha
in Prizren which was built in the XIX century
as an architectural copy of this mosque. The
building was erected 3 meters above the level
of the road. The construction materials used
are river pebbles and lime mortar, while on the
outside it is covered with carved stones that are
supposed to have been taken (bought?) from
the Monastery of the Archangels. The minaret
is made of pumice stones and is plastered from
the outside. There are 122 steps (basamak) up
to the balcony of the minaret (sherefe). The
interior has been plastered and painted at least
twice. The last painting was carried out during
the middle of the XIX century. Restorationconservation works were implemented many
times, while the conservation of paintings went on from 1973 to 1986 but
were not finished. In 2007, the restoration-conservation works restarted
and were completed in 2011.

The Mosque of Emin Pasha

In Sara Quarter, Emin Pasha, sandjakbey of Prizren from 1789 to 1843,
built a mosque, the mejtepe (Turkish religious school) and other facilities
near the hamam of Gazi Mehmed Pasha. The construction year is proved
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by the inscription on the entrance door

on which, among others, is mentioned
that the mosque was built in 1247 according to the Hijri (Muslim) calendar,
corresponding to 1831 of the Miladi
(Christian) calendar.
The Mosque has a shape specific for the
region, and is similar to the mosque of
Sinan Pasha, but of smaller dimensions.
The interior paintings are also similar to
the painting technique used during the
second stage on the Mosque of Sinan
Pasha. It is important to stress the fact
that both these mosques are the only
ones that preserve mural paintings. The
paintings of the inner walls and partially
of the outer walls were realised in empire baroque style, which proves the
penetration and influence of European art. They show floral motifs, dominated by yellow and light blue colours.
The building has a square
plan. An area has been
added on the south-eastern
part in the shape of an apse.
In this area is the mihrab (the
prayer niche) which makes
the mosque special in comparison to other mosques in
this region. The functional
organisation is the same as in
other mosques: the entrance to the building is through the veranda, covered
by three domes resting on four stone pillars. Next is the central prayer area.
To the left of the prayer hall is the mahvil (gallery) which is supported by four
stone pillars and has a low wooden fence. The prayer area is covered by a
central dome and by a semi-dome over the apse. The walls are made of various stones and are plastered on both sides, while the domes are laid with
lead sheets. The elegant minaret is made of stones and is plastered on the
outside. In the courtyard of the mosque is the cemetery together with the
grave of Emin Pasha. Unfortunately the other supplementing
buildings of the mosque were
destroyed in the course of time.
In historic context, the mosque
is important even by the fact
that Emin Pasha belonged to the
aristocratic family of the Rrotlajs,
who were influential in the
course of history of the region
since the XVII century.
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The Halveti Teqe

The Halveti Teqe lies in Sara Quarter, near the Kukli Mehmed Bey
Mosque. This teke belongs to the Halveti order (halveti derives from
the Arabian word halvet loneliness). It took its name from its founder,
the great patriarch Omarul-Halvetiu who died in 1937-8 in Tabriz. The
establishment of the Halveti Teke in Prizren is connected to Sheikh Osman
Baba. According to historical records he was from Vlesha, a village near
Peshkopia in Albania. He attended the medresa in Serez (Greece), where
he was appointed to follow the Halveti order. After he finished his studies
he served at the Kukli Bey Mosque in Prizren. Upon leaving this mosque,
Mehmet Bey donated some land near the mosque where Sheikh Osman
Baba started to develop his tariqat that was later to be known as Halveti.

The teke was built in 1835. Its construction is simple, built of stones and
adobe bricks, and the roof is covered with traditional tiles. Even though it
is made of several objects such as the teke, the prayer hall (semihan), the
shrine, the residential and the reception building, the complex in its organizational nature is composed of two parts: the teke and the prayer hall. The
prayer hall has a rectangular shape and is the main building where prayers
and other religious rites are performed. On its western side is the shrine

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with the mausoleums of the tariqat leaders, starting from the founder of the
tariqat, Osman Baba and nine other leaders. There are two springs framed
in stone in the courtyard of the teke, one is circular like a fountain, while
the other has a rectangular shape with motifs carved on its front side.
It is important to mention the residential building on the eastern side even
though it is outside the complex today. The house was built in the XVIII
century; it has large dimensions and is rich in folkloric elements. In the
course of time the complex underwent some arbitrary renovations; some
efforts have been made to preserve the original elements but unfortunately
they havent had much success.

The Complex of Shrines of Karabash Efendi

The complex of shrines of Karabash Efendi is of historic, spiritual and architectural importance. These shrines are the only old mausoleums (tyrbe)
that have remained in Prizren. People that come to visit them perform
different rituals. Besides the other graves, in the complex there are three
other shrines that belong to different periods of time.
The shrine of Karabash Efendi is the oldest shrine (XVIII century) and has
an octagonal shape. It was built with stones and it is plastered on both
sides. From the outside it has an octagonal roof covered with tiles, while
from the inside it has the shape of a dome. The shrine of Kemani Rabije
Hanm was built in 1905. It has a rectangular shape, is built with stones
and plastered on both sides. The roof is covered with tiles. The shrine of
Sheikh Hysein was built in the first half of the XX century. Similarly it has a
rectangular shape, is built with stones and is plastered on both sides. The
roof is covered with tiles.
From an architectural aspect these shrines have special values since they
are the only ones grouped in the same place together in a complex with
hundreds of graves.
In general, the mausoleums have undergone minor changes if we dont
take into account the frequent small interventions, but as a whole the
complex went through big changes after World War II when in this place
was built the Regional Hospital of Prizren, the Normal High School and
the University Pedagogical School.

135

The House of Sheikh Hasan

The house of Sheikh Hasan is
located near the Halveti tekke in the
center of the city. The house was
part of the complex of the tekke
that was used by the same family,
but as it grew large in number, the
Shehu family retreated and erected
another building near the existing
one. It was built in the XVIII century and had many supplementary objects,
but during the 1950s the complex was destroyed along with many others.
Later constructions, such as the Theranda Hotel, the Post Office and the
Bank (built around the 1930s) hid the house from view, and today it cannot be seen from the street.
The house has a flat symmetrical shape with a veranda in the middle. Later
an oriel window made of wood and surrounded by wooden fences were
added to the veranda. The object is a two-storey building, and its entrance
is directed to the south. In the ground floor is the hall, to which a sofa was
added during the restoration in the XIX century as this was common with
this kind of houses. The elements dominating the faade are the oriel window made of wood which is on the southern side over the entrance, and
the long-reaching eaves of the roof which are supported by wood brackets. The object has considerable dimensions and is rich in wood-carved
elements. In the course of time, the owners have undertaken interventions
inside and outside the building, considerably damaging its authenticity.

The Grazhda Palace

In the old Palace quarter,
on the flat part of the city,
stands the house of the
Grazhda family, built in the
XVIII century and renovated
and adapted later in the XIX
century. Initially, the house
had an administrative function (The Palace of Bejler
Bey), and later was used for
residential purposes. In the
garden, on the eastern side, is the summer kitchen which keeps many
original requisites of the time.
The Grazhda Palace is is an example of localoriental architecture. The building has a symmetric rectangular shape with a veranda in the
middle, but in the course of time the veranda
was closed in and the object was divided in
two. Another floor was added to it, and the
entrance (hall), as well as the decorations, faces
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the garden. The decorations on the front part are characteristic, with floral
elements. The interior of the building is rich with ethnographic elements.
Woodcarvings are widespread in the house and were realised with special
dedication and skill. The roof is hipped, covered with traditional roof tiles
and the chimneys, elaborated as well, protrude from the roof in a circular
shape.

The House of the Shehzade Family

The house of Musa Efendi Shehzade lies in the flat part of the city, on the
old Saraji Street, and it was built at the end of the XVIII century. In the XIX
century, the house underwent a thorough renovation, especially in the
interior, while in the XX century some interventions enclosed the hall in the
ground floor on the northern-eastern side of the building and the protruded alcove on the second floor as well. The house belongs to the category
of residential houses with a veranda and a non-symmetrical second floor.
The interior is rich in ethnographic elements. It is worthwhile to point out
the decorated chimneys on the ground floor and the two chimneys on the
second floor. Woodcarvings are abundant, especially distinct in the ceilings, closets, and the closets built in the walls etc.
On the main faade, on
the eastern side, are wood
tympani with six-pointed
stars in the middle that
are characteristic for other
houses in the city as well.
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In the middle of the XX century, when the property was divided between
owners, the garden was divided in half, and another object was built
covering the faade of the house. In 1999, the owner poured reinforced
concrete on the roof which deformed the protruded alcove. After the
1980s, the house was not used anymore as a residence.

The Old Stone Bridge

The old stone bridge is in the old center of the city. The Lumbardhi (Bistrica)
River divides the city of Prizren in half, and this is why bridges used to have
special importance in the development of commerce and life in general.
Many bridges were built over the Lumbardhi River of Prizren in the course
of time, but this bridge, which turned into a symbol of the city, is beyond
doubt the most beautiful, functional, and imposing. No records have been
found on its construction, but based on the typology of the bridges it is correct to say that it might have been built at the end of the XV century.
The old bridge has three arches; the middle arch being the biggest, while
the side arches are smaller and not similar which makes the bridge unsymmetrical. During the reconstruction of the Remzi Ademi Street in the 1950s,
the appearance of the bridge was changed because the arch on the right
(northern side) was closed to allow for the road extension. Even though with
a deformed view, the bridge carried out its mission until 1979, when the
catastrophic floods in Prizren destroyed it entirely. Because of the fact that
the bridge had special importance for Prizren, and its inhabitants were emotionally connected to it, a decision was taken to rebuild it. The work started

138

immediately with the analysis of the documentation and the project design,
and the bridge was rebuilt in 1982 with the arch on the right side.

The Stone Fountain of Beledije

The Beledije Fountain, otherwise known as the Tabakhana Fountain, is one
of the oldest fountains of Prizren, built in the second half of the XIX century and beginning of the XX century. Its location was in front of the old
Parliament building (Beledije) and near the Mustafa Pasha Mosque (ruined
in 1952). When the road was widened and paved in 1963, the fountain
was moved to the center of the city, near the Museum of the League of
Prizren in Dshmort Square (former 17 November).
The fountain has the shape of a
rectangular prism and is made of
stones carved in the shape of blocks.
Over the profiled crown at the end
of the main part a crossed arch runs
on all the four sides, and above is a
semi-spherical stone to distinguish
it from the original stone which had
a pyramidal shape. Even the original shells for conveying water have
disappeared and another one was
made of concrete and small stone
cubes. On the front part (southern
part) the spring has shallow profiling
and inside is the portal niche where
the inscription should have been but
which is unfortunately missing.
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In 1925, on the front arch above the crown is the second inscription
SudOpstina Prizren 1925 god (Court-Commune of Prizren - year
1925). A similar inscription is on the Stone Fountain which is located in
front of the Sinan Pasha Mosque. When the fountain was moved to this
place, a water canal was formed which circulated along the square. But
after a small period of time the spring went out of function; even though
very elegant, the spring stands alone in a new environment.

The Old Stone Bridge on the Lumbardhi Gorge

A stone bridge is spanning the Lumbardhi River in the picturesque environment of its gorge, 4 km away from Prizren, on the right side of the road
to Prevall. It is otherwise called the bridge of krk bunari (40 wells) because of the vicinity of the wells that supply the city with water. This single
arch bridge was built on the axis of the old road that connected Prizren

140

with Skopje through the Sharri Mountains and the Vardar Valley. For a
long time, commerce and other connections between Prizren and Skopje
were maintained through this bridge even though it was not very suitable.
Following the construction of the new Prizren-Brezovic road from 195255, the old bridge lost its previous function, and since then the bridge was
left at the mercy of time. So far no inscription about this bridge has been
detected, and this is why the exact construction date and the builder are
not known. However, based on its construction technique it is possible to
observe similarities with the stone bridge in the center of the city, which
makes us believe that this bridge should be from the XV century.
The bridge is a single arch supported on the two rocky banks of the river.
It was built with river pebbles, while the twofold arch is made of carved
stones. When communication over the bridge was denser, both sides
of the bridge were filled in through an intervention and so both of them
became less steep. These fillings can be easily seen at first sight. They were
made with stones as well but with a less elaborate technique than the
original part. On both sides the bridge has two bulwarks of carved stones.
The bridge is: about 20 m long, 3.5 m wide, and 6 m high, measured from
the water level to the arch.

The Hydroelectric Plant

In the beautiful environment ofthe Lumbardhi gorge, 2.5 km from Prizren, is the Prizren hydroelectric plant. The picturesque facility was built
between 1926 and 1928 with citizen contribution and bank loans. The
construction works
ended on 8 November
1928. The building had
all the modern elements
of the time: the dam,
equipment for cleaning water from waste,
a canal, equipment for
carrying water to the
turbines and a 160kWh
power station. Because
of the large demand for
electric power, a sec141

ond power station with the same capacity was installed in 1936. Following
the amortisation of the equipment and the insufficient capacity the plantt
lost its initial function.
On the initiative of the Institute of the Museum Monuments in Kosovo
(IMMK), the plant was converted into a museum, which was inaugurated
on 8 November 1979. The object is not very large; on the ground floor
is the big annex where the two turbines and other key equipment were
placed, while the other room housed the equipment for transmitting the
electricity. In the upper floor was the engineer room that was also used
by the supervisor of the hydroelectric plant. Following the conversion
of the object into a museum, the room was turned into a restaurant. In
the courtyard has been exhibited equipment from different hydroelectric
plants in Kosovo. An Austrian architect
selected the most suitable place to exploit the water flow and tried to adapt
the industrial object to the environment
by giving it the shape of a castle, being
inspired from the castle that is situated
above nearby. At the same time and on
the same style were also built the other
two buildings used for the transformers
(substations) which distributed electric
power throughout the city of Prizren.
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Management Challenges in the Historic Center

As one of the best protected centres, with a preserved urban-architectonic
and historic nature in Kosovo, the historic center of Prizren represents also
a history of efforts for the protection of its values. The first measures for
the institutional protection of the historic center in general, and the monuments in particular, started after World War II, with the establishment of
the relevant institutions, initially in Prishtina (in 1956) and later in Prizren
(in 1967). Unfortunately, contrary to this, the degradation of the monuments and of the historic center has continued for different material and
political interests. Many researches and concrete proposals for the protection and revitalization of the historic center were carried out between
1968 and 1974, when unsuccessful efforts were made also to inscribe the
city in the UNESCO World Heritage List. The degradation of the historic
center was aided even by the absence of a development plan for the city,
which would have set forth concrete proposals in relation to the direction
of development and extension of Prizren.
One of the reasons why the protection of the historic center was not as
effective as it should have been is the insufficient elaboration of its technical plan. The historic center, defined in 1999, in its major part covered the
same areas as the area today and, besides the monuments, included entire
or separate complexes with a protective status such as the Nnkala, Potokmahalla, the Fountain etc. The historic center was divided into a primary
and secondary preserved area and it was displayed in a map which was
used for the needs of the staff of the previous institute for the protection
of monuments. The intuitive efforts of the citizens and the institutional
143

attention, with no specific documentation to work with more elaborate

plans, couldnt lead far. However, it was an unwritten rule that in case of
other constructions in the historic center, the height and the volume of the
other buildings near the designed place was to be respected. One of the
principles that was used and is still used today is that for each intervention
in the historic center, the relevant department of the urban office in the
commune requests prior approval from the relevant entity, presently the
Institute for the Protection of Monuments (IPM).
In 2001, the IPM was stripped of its communal competences and became
an agency dependant from the Ministry of Culture. This rapidly left the
IPM with no strategy, and it was not consulted anymore on several urban
developments on the local level. During the process of designing the
general urban plan of Prizren (2000-2004), the IPM requested to suspend
all the constructions in the area of the historic center, because this was the
period when constructions were flourishing in the city and it feared that
this would have a negative impact in the era. Unfortunately, this proposal
was not taken into consideration.
The approved plan redefines the preserved areas of the historic center of
Prizren, establishing in this way the primary area, the secondary and the
contact area. This was a new concept for Prizren. These areas are approximately the same with the old borders and include the largest number of
monuments in the urban area. Even though this development document
had abundant information on the areas and especially on the listed monuments, in the end it was a general plan and so it didnt contain details on
the management of the monuments and their surrounding objects. This
created even more worrying problems when the criteria and the technical conditions defined by IPM are not respected. Unfortunately this latter
practice is still going on even today.
In 2005 started the drafting of the conservation and development plan for
the historic center of Prizren, which was officially finished and approved in
2009 as an urban regulatory plan. This document is one of the most important documents compiled until today for the historic center of Prizren, and
represents one of the only documents to be referred to by many institutions from both levels of the government. The plan offers special details on
the architectonic treatment which were missing in the previous plans. Even
though it was officially approved as an urban regulatory plan, it is elaborated more than a typical urban regulatory plan as requested by law.
However, considering the fact that it takes into account the specifics of the
historic center, the existing plan needs and offers the possibility to be revised
and supplemented and updated with new information. For example, the
initial plan divided into areas (I,II,III) needs to be furthered detailed because
in most cases it is general, creating uncertainties about which objects should
be preserved and which shouldnt. This creates uncertainties especially for
steep territories and for the territories surrounding the monuments. Similarly,
the information available on the condition of the objects in general is not the
same, because this information is old and doesnt respond to the changes of
circumstances since the time when the plan was approved.
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Even though
the existing conservation plan
doesnt have
such a mandate,
it would be
appropriate to
establish in the
future a managing structure
which would
have everyday
control of the
condition of the
historic zone.
The structure
would be good
to have representatives from
the central and
local level. The
dysfunction of
the construction
inspectorate
at the communal level, and
especially the absence of cultural heritage inspectors (from the central
level) presents today one of the most critical links in the dysfunction and
disrespect of the rules for the protection of the historic area of Prizren. The
value of the conservation plan, even though it is one of the best plans our
institutions have drafted so far, is decreasing because of disrespect for the
permission required when carrying out works.
The protection of the historic zone of Prizren is presented to us today
more as a challenge in the enforcement of the applied laws than as challenge in the implementation of the urban plans, which, nonetheless, following the official approval on the local level, similarly present an applied
law for the institutions and the citizens.

References
The Archive of the Institute for the Protection of Monuments in Prizren, Marin Barleti
no. 1, 12000 Prizren, Republic of Kosovo. Tel: +381 (29) 244 487, qrtkpz@hotmail.com
The Conservation and Development Plan for the Historic Zone of the City of Prizren
CHwB Kosovo Office, Payton City / R. Zogovic no. 8, 10000 Prishtina, Republic of
Kosovo. Tel. +381 (38) 243 918, www.chwb.org
Prizren in 360 steps, the communal website for the promotion of the city of Prizren
http://prizren360.com/
Tourism guide on the internet: PRIZREN In YourPocket http://www.inyourpocket.
com/data/download/prizren.pdf
145

146

OHRID

The City of Centuries

by Goran Patchev

For many it is a city of light, city of cultural heritage, Balkan Jerusalem

or a living museum, but mostly it is a city in which are born, grow up,
develop and live hundreds of generations of residents for whom it is just
hometown. With its prominent cultural and historical treasures in Ohrid
we have the opportunity to get to know the past life of this region. As
lively and populated city with a great variety of tourist offer, the city pulses
in modern trends. With proper and sustainable management of natural
resources and the integrated protection of cultural heritage will ensure a
better life for future generations.
The traces of human existence in these areas, dating from prehistoric
times, through traces of construction throughout the historic continuity
of all eras and civilizations, numerous artefacts and written documents,
numerous examples of the movable cultural heritage witness the very
intensive life in these areas the man has never left, making advantage
of the given location of the lake. Cultural values on this territory, with
emphasis on the spirituality, were foundations for the establishment of a
large Christian centre even at the dawn of the Christianity.

Introduction
Curving around a small bay at the northeastern corner of the Ohrid Lake, Ohrid
has been a cultural and spiritual center
since antiquity, taking advantage of the
favourable natural conditions and the
protection provided by the hill overlooking
the bay. Lake Ohrid itself is a rare and
very old clearwater lake, a center of
biodiversity and fed by numerous springs
in its bed, adding to the spiritual value of
the Lake.
In the Byzantine era the missionary saints
Clement and Naum settled in Ohrid, and
the town became a centre of monasticism
and learning, its influence spreading
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throughout the Slavic Orthodox world. At times the Archbishopric of

Ohrid stretched as far as the Adriatic and the Aegean.
The houses of Ohrids old town are artistically arranged on the hillside.
In Ottoman times Christians were confined to this area within the city
wall, and the need to make the best use of the available space inspired
some creative architectural responses. The city architecture of Ohrid
takes a particular place in the cultural heritage as a result of which the
particular type of the oriental city house built during the 18th, 19th and
the beginning of the 20th century is better preserved than in other cities.

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The folklore builders had built these houses under the influence of the
Ottoman and Byzantic building traditions. Because of this, it is no surprise
that the great French architect La Corbusier in his Collection of Works
dedicates particular attention to the Macedonian city house and its
facades, balconies and interiors when he writes about the city architecture
of the Balkan.

In some of the legends is said that in Ohrid have 365 churches, actually
known more than forty churches or remnants of churches. One of
the most impressive is the Holy Sophia former cathedral (During Tsar
Samuels reign 976-1014), built in the centre of Ohrids old town, upon
the foundations of an old Christian structure and some very well preserved
frescoes. Higher up the hill is the Church of the Holy Mother of God
Peribleptos (Most Glorious). This complex also includes a gallery of icons
and is near the recently renovated Building of the former Museum of
Slavic Literacy now the seat of the Macedonian Orthodox Church
Ohrid Archbishopric, Debar - Kichevo Diocese. Restored monastery of St.
Clement and St. Panteleimon located at Plaonik, on the wooded slopes
below Tsar Samoils fortress.
When talking about Ohrid as a centre of the region which is a city-museum
itself, one must bear in mind the fact that there is a museum whose origins
trace a long way back in the history. Namely, more than centuries before
the foundation of the British Museum in London (1753) and Louvre in Paris
(1793), there was an Archbishopric Museum in the church of Holy Mother
of God Perivleptos in Ohrid, which was one of the first and probably the
oldest one in Europe that existed for 400 years, in the period 1516 - 1916.
The existence of the museum in Ohrid nearly a millennium ago was
confirmed by the existence of a seal dating from 1516.
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The museum in Ohrid

is established in 1951
as a successor of the
archiepiscopal museum.
Some of the most
significant objects which
are kept in this museum
are: the Slavic and Greek
handwriting, the antique
reliefs and sculptures,
numismatic collection
and many other movable
museum objects.
In 1979 and in 1980,
Ohrid and Lake Ohrid were among the first sites worldwide which were
accepted as a World Heritage by UNESCO. In fact, Ohrid is one of only
28 sites that are part of UNESCOs World Heritage that are both Cultural
and Natural sites.

Historical Importance
The shores of Lake Ohrid have been inhabited since prehistoric times.
Archaeological findings speak of settlements form the Neolithic period
(the early Stone Age) 6.000 years B.C. Neolithic settlements rich in
archaeological material have been discovered dating from this period
in the level part of Ohrid in its northern suburb of Dolno Trnovo.
Archeological excavations certify that prehistoric pile dwellings existed in
the area of present-day Ohrid 5000 years B.C., implying that the origins of
the town are as ancient as 7000 years.

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According to historical sources, the earliest known inhabitants of the Ohrid

Lake region were Brigians, Ohrygians and Enhelians, the latter dominating
for a long time. According to Herodotus and Apollodorus, they were not
Illyrians but were their closest neighbours. Later on, the Desaretes are
mentioned to inhabit this area and the town of Lychinidos (Ohrids antique
name) as the capital of Desaretia.
In the first millennium B.C. there
existed for several centuries a powerful
settlement, whose name is unknown
today, in the vicinity of todays
international airport, some dozen
kilometers to the north of Ohrid. Rich
archaeological findings have been
discovered there: golden masks, sandals
and bracelets, bronze craters, etc.
These have come from the princely
tombs in the widely known necropolis
of Trebeniste.
The existence of the ancient town of
Lychnidos is linked to the legend of
the Phoenician Cadmus who, banished
from Thebes, in Beoetia, fled to the
Enhelians and founded the town of
Lychnidos on the shores of Lake Ohrid.
Around the middle of the 4th century BC, Lychnidos and the settlements
on the shores of the lake were seized by Philip II of Macedonia. After
conquering these regions in 148 B.C., the Romans built the Via Egnatia,
linking present-day Durrs with Salonica and Constantinople via Lychnidos.
With the spread of Christianity, which began to penetrate these regions
towards the end of the 3rd century, the classical shrines were gradually
destroyed and replaced by monumental early Christian churches,
fragments of which have been discovered in several spots in Ohrid and
its surroundings. The first Christian missionary to come to Lychnidos was
Erasmus of Antioch. Records say that in the 5th century this town was the
seat of the bishops of Lycnidos. In the 6th century, when Lychnidos was
part of the Byzantine Empire, the Slavs began crossing the Danube and
penetrating the Balkan Peninsula. A Slavic tribe called Brsjaci settled in the
region of Lychnidos.
The name Ohrid is first mentioned in a protocol issued by the Assembly
of Constantinople in 879. It is believed to have been derived from the
Slavic words - vo hrid - on a hill - since the old town of Ohrid stands on
the crest of a hill. Kliment and Naum, the two best-known disciples of
the missionary brothers Cyril and Method of Thessaloniki, came to Ohrid
after the failure of their mission and their banishment from Moravia.
Kliment was the first to come (886) and Naum joined him fourteen years
later in (893) in the district of Kutmicevica, which borders on the present-

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day of FYROM, Albania and Greece and which comprises Ohrid and
now vanished towns of Devol and Glavenica. With their arrival, Ohrid
developed into a leading center of Slavic cultural and literary activity.
Kliment spent thirty years among the Macedonian Slavs. The first Ohrid
literary school was founded at his monastery church of St. Pantalejmon in
Ohrid, built in 893. The 3500 pupils who came out of this school spread
the Slavic script, culture, art and liturgic singing across several Slav lands
as far as Kiev in mediaeval Russia. By the end of the 9th and beginning
of the 10th century the Slavic literacy, spirituality and culture were
founded. Ohrid was one of its main centers and has distinguished merits
in the spreading of the Slavic spirituality in Europe and across the world,
especially in the process of evangelism of the Slavic Christian East which
actually begins on the shores of Lake Ohrid with the engagement of St.
Kliment and St. Naum. It was spread through the Bulgarian Preslav to Kiev
and Moscow, from there to the Far East in Asia and to the coast of the
Pacific and Indian Oceans.
Long after the death of Kliment in 916 and Naum in 910, the Ohrid literary
school continued to be a source of manuscripts invaluable for Slavic
studies and the history of art. This school began work on national soil in
the 9th century and was a loyal adherent of the Glagolitic alphabet. Some
of the most valuable Slavic manuscripts dating from the period up to the
12th century, when the Glagolitic alphabet was supplanted by the Cyrillic
are attributed to it.
Samuels Empire had its genesis in the Ohrid region. Around the middle of
the 10th century, a Slav prince from the Ohrid region, Nikola, and his sons
David, Aron, Moses and Samuel rose first against Bulgarian rule in 976
and created the first medievial Macedonian state. Its limits were constantly
extended during Tsar Samuels reign which lasted for nearly four decades,
until they reached as far as the rivers Danube and Sava, the Bay of Corinth
and the Adriatic Sea. During the reign of Samuel (976-1014) and his
successors, Gavrilo Radomir and Jovan Vladislav until 1018, both before
and after Samuels time and of his successors the fortress was destroyed
and rebuilt again. After the transformation of Samuels state into a political
and ecclesiastical seat, Ohrid became a real mediaeval metropolis.
After Samuels defeat on Mount Belasica in 1014, the Byzantine Emperor
Basil II captured 14 000 of his soldiers and after blinding them, but leaving
each hundredth soldiers with one eye, he returned them to Samuel.
Samuels successors were unable to control the vast empire and soon
afterwards, in 1018, it suffered total defeat. Emperor Basil II, on capturing
Ohrid, ordered the city ramparts to be demolished and Samuels imperial
family was taken prison. The patriarchate Ohrid was reduced to the rank of
an archbishopric.
The period of the archbishopric, whose jurisdiction extended over a vast
territory from the Danube to the walls of the city of Thessaloniki and the
Adriatic Sea, was a particular chapter in the history of mediaeval Ohrid.
Wishing to retain its influence over the Macedonian Slavs, the Court at
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Constantinople appointed as head of the Ohrid archbishopric the most

influential and capable church dignitaries: writers and philosophers,
learned theologians and poets. Thus Ohrid developed into a prosperous
town which attracted some of the best-known painters and architects
of the period. In the 11th century, Leo, one of the most outstanding
supporters of the Orthodox Church, was appointed Archbishop of Ohrid
and ordered St. Sophia (Holy Wisdom) Cathedral to be reconstructed and
decorated according to his ideas.

After the Crusaders took Constantinople in 1204, the archbishops of

Ohrid were appointed from among local church dignitaries who eventually
proclaimed complete independence of the Archbishopric of Ohrid,
having found legal ground for this in Justinians legal acts. This enables
the archbishop of Ohrid, Demetrius Homatian, a distinguished mediaeval
orator and writer - author of the Short Life of Kliment of Ohrid to crown
the Byzantine despot, Theodore Comnenus, as emperor despite the
violent opposition of the patriarch of Constantinople.
The Archbishopric of Ohrid had its patrons and its own specific cults and
later sponsored its own painters workshops. The founders of Ohrids
churches were not only nobles from abroad, but included local churchmen
and abbots of the monastery of St. Kliment. The cult of Kliment and Naum
was particularly strong and both are portrayed in the most conspicuous
areas of the church walls.
In the 15th and 16th centuries, the jurisdiction of the Archbishopric of
Ohrid was expanded to include new territories in the Balkans and the
Mediterranean. In the 16th century, the Archbishopric extended its
authority to the Orthodox colonies on Malta, Apulia, Calabria, Sicily,
Venice and Dalmatia.
The Archbishopric of Ohrid was abolished and incorporated into the
Patriarchy of Constantinople in 1767 at the order of the Turkish Sultan
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Mustapha III. It was restored only in 1958 at the Second Church and
Peoples Council in Ohrid, and now bears the name of the Macedonian
Orthodox Church.

The Ottoman Turks held Ohrid

from 1395 to 1912, more than
500 years. At first the Turkish
sultans helped the Archbishopric
of Ohrid to expand its jurisdiction.
But this changed after 1466,
when a number of distinguished
citizens of Ohrid had assisted an
uprising launched against Turkish
domination by the legendary
Albanian war leader Skenderbey.
As a consequence, Archbishop Dorotheus and a number of churchmen
and wealthy local men were forcibly removed from Ohrid on the Sultans
orders, and died as prisoners.
At the turn of the 19th century, Ohrid was a powerful economic and
cultural center. Its leather workshops exported their goods to several
European cities, Constantinople, Thesssaloniki, Leipzig and Vienna, there
was a fresh upstage of building activity and woodcarvers and painters
flocked to the city from the surroundings of Debar.
In the wake of abolition of the Archbishopric of Ohrid and its
incorporation into the Patriarchies of Constantinople in 1767, there was
a period of Hellenising influence on Ohrids cultural life. Resistance to
Greek spiritual domination became particularly vigorous following the
nomination in 1860 of the notorious Bishop Melentius as Metropolitan of
Ohrid. The first to rise against Greek cultural influence was a prominent
Macedonian educator, Dimitrie Miladinov, a native of Struga and a teacher
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of the Macedonian poets Grigor Prlicev and Rajko Zinzifov. He was

poisoned in a prison in Constantinople together with his brother, the poet
Konstanin Miladinov.
In Ohrid the movement of progressive nationalist Macedonians against
Greek influence came under the leadership of the poet Grigor Prlicev,
author of the epics Serdarot and Skenderbay. After his epic Serdarot had
won a prize on a competition in Athens in 1860, he received an offer to
go to study at Oxford, but turned it down and returned to his native Ohrid.
The struggle against
Greek cultural influence
triumphed in the end
and, by decree of Sultan
Abd Al-Aziz passed in
1869, Greek schools
in Ohrid were closed
down. In the honor
of the great literate, a
memorial museum was
built in the old part of
Ohrid - the house of
Grigor Prlicev.
In the latter half of the 19th century, neighboring Greece, Bulgaria and
Serbia fought for domination over the territory. Revolutionary activity to
prepare the people for an armed uprising took an organized form in the
district of Ohrid in 1894. On the night of August 2, 1903, a large-scale
rebellion known as the Ilinden Uprising was staged with the active support
of the population throughout Macedonia. Its impact, as subsequent
developments were to show, was felt far beyond the region. The Ottoman
Turkish military authorities quickly reacted with heavy reprisals, and the
Ohrid branch of the revolutionary organization ordered the evacuation of
the rural population to the mountains of the region of Rashanec (northeast
of Ohrid). They endured the onslaughts of the far superior Turkish armed
forces until the end of August of the same year, when Rashanec became
the common grave of a large number of women, children and old people
as well as insurgents.
Those who visited Ohrid in the period after the Insurrection came to the
conclusion that Ohrid was neglected, only occasional remnants of its
celebrated past still existed, and the town people were exhausted and in
deep misery and fear. The social and economic situation in the region of
Ohrid deteriorated. As a result, during the first decade of the XX century, a
great number of people went to America searching for a job. One record
shows that in 1907 alone 3,630 citizens of Ohrid went to America hoping
to find a job.
When Ottoman Turkish rule finally came to an end in 1912, Ohrid
became part of of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, between 1918 and 1941.
The period between the two World wars was marked by greater changes
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in the structure of the old city central area by the construction of bigger
facilities in academic style, i.e. neoclassic style features. These buildings are
dominant among the small apartment block structure and the architecture
which is different from the architecture of the old city. Under the influence
of the European architecture, and after the long period of Ottoman
oppression, this area was also marked by the influences from Europe.
After World War II,
(Ohrid was liberated
on November
7, 1944), the
industrialization of the
cities started, as well
as rapid development
and renovation. This
period marked the
modest conservation
efforts of the most
significant profane
facilities in Ohrid.
The independence of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia
(September 8, 1991) renewed the sovereignty of the country and
the international recognition imposed some preconditions for direct
participation in all international associations and organizations in the
field of protection of cultural and natural heritage. It provided efficient
implementation of the international standards in all areas of protection, as
well as all entities competent for maintaining the region as world cultural
heritage. Ohrid has become an important tourist resort, made significant
steps in the development of tourism industry and now has an extensive
network of educational, cultural, medical and other institutions.
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What Famous Persons Say About Ohrid

The Fortress of Ohrid has a pentagonal shape, is built of curved stone and
is situated on a high rock. Its total length is 4.400 steps. There is an inner
fortress that is directed towards north, with walls high 40 yardstick, in the
outer fortress situated on a hill. No man can be compared to the creator of
the Ohrid Fortress. Evliya elebi (Turkish traveller, 1670)
One can see every part of the Lake Ohrid from that place, except for its
most distant southwest part, where Ohrid is situated on a very narrow
band, the centuries old Ahrida, that thanks to its hill and its fortress, situated
along the lake coast, is much alike Geneva, situated along the Lake Lman.
Such comparison made by visitors is provoked as well by the similar blue
and transparent colour of the waters, which is typical for both lakes. If one
should decide which one of the two is clearer, then one would say Lake
Ohrid, because, as in Rhone near Geneva, one can notice the fish at the
bottom of the lake even from the windows of the monastery. Doctor Ami
Bue (French traveller, 1836/38)
Give me these wings to wear, oh, let me soar
Speed homeward to the lush land I adore
To cross paths with our fair southern land
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To see Ohrid, look on Struga again.

There the rose-fingered dawn brightens my soul
There the sunset keeps wooded hills aglow
There natures splendor plentiful gifts yields
A mighty harvest gathers in the fields
And the clear lakes whiteness widens the view
Darkened by the wind, it turns hues of blue,
Look upon these mountains, there divine plains
Behold their beauty which forever remains.
Konstantin Miladinov (Macedonian poem writer, 1860)
What was there to charm me, succeeded in it, captured me, and I couldnt
leave the coast of the Ohrid Lake for hours, for days, for days and nights.
Branislav Nui (Yugoslavian writer, 1894)
The area of Ohrid, when approaching it by ship from the monastery St.
Naum, can be compared with the most beautiful sights in the world. The
violet pyramids of Albanian mountains on the west hang one over another.
Gentle breeze slightly stirs the surface of the lake where the white clouds
are reflected. Gradually, the white hilly town comes up to the surface of
the blue water with the ruins of Tsar Samuil fortress at the top. Churches,
domes, towers emerge one after another. The white walls of the houses, red
and grey roofs, yellowish rocks, they are all compatible with the clear green
colour of the poplar trees, fruits and willows. The shore looks like a place in
bloom; it is full of oleanders, wisters, cypresses, pink bushes and enormously
great number of fig trees. Stojan Pribievi (American journalist, 1905)
You can see from the balcony or feel and see from the high window what
it is, what it looks like, the main goal of this architecture and the biggest
need of these people: the air and the sun, and the beauty of the view of the
Lake and the landscapes around it. Ivo Andri (writer, winner of the Nobel
Prize for literature, 1955)
One could say one has a part of a sea torn from the ocean and thrown
among the unreachable mountains surrounding it from everywhere. Lake
Ohrid can be called Macedonian freshwater sea and not only because
of the warmth of the blue colour that is more vivid than the sky blueness.
Academician PhD Sinia Stankovi (Yugoslavian biologist, 1959)
The frescos from Ohrid are unique. This art, above all, captures people
with it strength and manhood. (Academician Viktor Lazarev (Soviet
byzantologist, 1961))
I visited the churches in Ohrid, there are around thirty. They are proofs that
there was no gap between the Byzantine church art, Ravenna and Sicily,
on one part and the Italian renaissance on the other. Ohrid is a significant
bridge of the European art. Sir Herbert Read (British art historian, 1961)
It is impossible to study Byzantine art without visiting Macedonia... Looking
at the frescos in St. Sophia in Ohrid, the manner in which the unknown
artists achieved the visual artistic solutions within the compositions is the
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most noticeable. It is totally unjustified to talk about the existence of a pure

Byzantine school. David Talbot Rice (British byzantologist, 1961)
I really came to Ohrid in 1945 because of the frescos... The West does not know
our renaissance at all. The West did not for long apprehend the Slavic national
contribution to the contemporary arts. Ilja Erenburg (Soviet writer, 1965)
Ohrid has numerous old churches. There is a church that existed long before
the seventh century, before the arrival of Clement. It was built below the
high tower of the fortress, and was turned into mosque during the Turkish
governance. This church has been reconstructed several years ago. You
can find the tomb of Clement on its southern part. Clement built the tomb
himself and was buried there on March 26th 916. Tang Kuang Si (Chinese
publicist, writer and translator, 1986)
What is actually happening in the archeological sites in Ohrid is actually
fascinating. A real renaissance of the Macedonian archeology and art related
to Ohrid. Academician PhD Dejan Medakovi (art historian, 2002)
These are just a few of the many impressions about Ohrid. They could be
of great help for one to understand Ohrid and its beauties, complexity,
values and their exciting unity.

Important Archaeological and Architectural Monuments

The urban matrix of the old town of Ohrid abounds with numerous
archaeological sites, spiritual centers and specific residential architecture
characteristic of these territories during the nineteenth century and recent
architecture created under the influence of European neoclassicism and
other modern influences. Ohrid houses are oriented southeast on hilly
terrain and characterized by quality
insolation and a nice view to the lake.
Their spatial organization is common
to all, divided vertically on winter and
summer part. On the ground floor were
stored firewood, wine, brandy, and
wintertime treats food. Upper floors
are with flange outward from the main
walls erker toward the street and where
everyday family functions were unfolding.
Top floors are representative and richly
decorated closed ardak. They are with
the most wide space and provide a
wonderful view of the lake. They use
for reception of guests, held celebrating
baptisms and other major family events.
Directly related to the fortunes of the
lake, fishermen had specific types of
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houses. Entrance from the street, but also by the lake, where storage
fishing equipment and prepare fish for sale.
Feature of this city are and the so-called dark streets, tunnels covered by
the upper floors of the houses. Within the boundaries of the protected
monuments are declared for Cultural Heritage a total of 23 Christian
sacred buildings, 74 profane buildings, 7 structures of Islamic architecture
and 10 archaeological sites.

Prehistory and Ancient Period

The favorable geographic and climate conditions and the contact with
the waterside and the fresh-water lake rich in fish, as one of the crucial
pre-requirements for life, have contributed to the creation of palafitte
pile dwellings settlements, as well as dwellings located near the lakeside.
This can be witnessed by the 15 recorded archeological sites from the
prehistoric period on the territory of this region.
In 1997, the first underwater archaeological explorations in the country
were performed at the site Plocha Michov Grad, in the Bay of the Bones,
along the south shore of the semi peninsula Gradishte, close to the
village Peshtani. At a depth of 3 to 5m, numerous wooden piles were
discovered attached to the bottom of the lake and numerous movable
archaeological materials with chronology towards the end of the
Bronze and the beginning of Iron Age. In the period 1998 - 2005 many
underwater researches were performed at the site during which 9102 piles
were discovered, numbered, measured and positioned. Based on the remeasurements of the surface area of the settlement, it was determined that
it had spread on a surface of about 8500 m2. It was built on a platform of
wooden piles attached to the bottom of the lake. It was established that
the closest pile to the northern shore of the bay is at ca. 12m in the lake

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implying that it is the pile of a pantone (movable) bridge that connected

the settlement with the dry land. The site Plocha Michov Grad within the
Bay of Bones, today, is an attractive museum complex with a number
of contents: rebuilt palafitte settlement above the lake, Roman castrum
that was preserved, restored and presented at the highest plateau of the
Gradishte Hill, an accessible facility with museum exhibition and facility for
realization of underwater tourism.

The Ancient Theatre

The Antique theatre of Ohrid was built in 200 B.C. and is the only
Hellenistic theatre in the country as the other three in Scupi, Stobi
and Heraklea are from Roman times. It is unclear how many people
the original theater used to seat, as only the lower section still exists.
The open theater has a perfect location: the two hills that surround it
keep it protected from winds that could interfere with acoustics during
performances.
During Roman times, the theater was also used for gladiator fights.
However, since the theater was also a site of executions of Christians by
the Romans, it rapidly turned to a highly disliked site by the locals. In fact,
as a result of this dislike, the theater was abandoned and buried by the
locals after the demise of the Roman Empire. Fortunately, this allowed
for most of the structure to be well preserved, only to be uncovered
accidentally in the 1960s. Namely, during construction work around some
of the houses in the area, large stone blocks with carvings of the Greek
god Dionysius and the muses came to light, which led archaeologists to
believe that a Greek theater (Dyonisius and the muses were related to the
performance arts) must have been located nearby.
Archaeological excavations were performed by the National Museum
of Ohrid quickly located the theater, which was later adjusted to the
needs of the Roman society. During these first excavations, among other
finds, there was also the famous miniature theatrical mask made of ivory.
The archaeological explorations in 2001 gave very valuable results; an
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epigraphic
monument
was discovered
representing a
basic display of
the name of the
city Lychnidos,
as well as 280
graves and grave
constructions
and the remains
of two churches
- one in the
southwestern
part, and the
other in the northeastern part of the site.
Since the late 1980s, the theater has again become a highly popular
venue of public performances, such as plays, concerts, operas, ballet
performances as part of the Ohrid Summer Festival.

The Ohrid Fortress of Tzar Samuel

The oldest historical records of the Ohrid Fortress are mentioned by the
classical historian Livy in the 3rd century B.C. when it was the fortress
of the town of Lychnidos. A more detailed description of the fortress
was made by the chronicler Malcus (Malala) and dates from 478 A.D.
The Ohrid Fortress of Tzar Samuel has been described by a chronicler
as a mighty stronghold that even Theodoric, King of the Ostrogoths,
was unable to take. The Ohrid Fortress is one of the largest mediaeval
fortifications to be preserved in
the former Yugoslav Republic of
Macedonia. With its massive walls
and ramparts, it occupies the entire
summit of the hill of Ohrid. The hilly
pert of the town was protected on all
sides save the south, which faces the
lake, by towers and high walls three
kilometers in length, stretching as far as
the harbor. Entrance to the town was
gained by three gates, of which only
the Upper Gate has been preserved.
The Fortress, in addition to serving the
function of defense against enemies,
was also an inhabited area and has
come to be known as Samuels
Fortress. Following the epochal
archeological excavations done by
the archeologist Pasko Kuzman, it is
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definitely certified that on the terrain of the Samuel Fortress on the hilly
part of Ohrid, several decades of centuries are being connected in three
periods: Pre-Samuels Period, Samuels Period and Post-Samuels Period of
the history of Ohrid.

The Early Christian Episcopal Church

In the hilly part of Ohrid, near the site known as Plaosnik (on old Slavic
means flatten place on a hill), there is a monumental early Christian
church. Its systematic
excavation began
in 1961 and was
completed in 1964.
The shrine was built
and decorated in
the 5th century at a
time when the town
of Lychnidos was
an important Early
Christian Episcopal
center. Polyconched
and built in the
form of a trefoil, it
was erected on the foundations of an older classical structure. Mosaic
compositions with figurative floral and zoomorphic motives have been
unearthed in the central part and in the baptistery of this Early Christian
church.

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Roughly one hundred square meters of this large complex of mosaics have
been preserved. The vaulted ceilings of the church were also ornamented
with mosaics, and these were on a gold background. The presence
of such splendor points to this as being the seat of the Bishopric of
Lychnidos. Systematic excavations have shown that the church was of vast
dimensions. Unknown artists decorated it with magnificent mosaics.

Churches and Monasteries

The Church of St.Sophia
The cathedral church Saint Sophia is one of the oldest and most
magnificent Christian temples in the country. The church is dedicated
to St. Sophia, that is, to Christ as divine wisdom. It was built on the
foundations of an ancient sacral construction in the time after the great
mission of St. Cyril and St. Metodij, when the Macedonian Slavs accepted
the Christianity on the Slavic language. The church St. Sophia, most
probably served as a cathedral in the time of tsar Samuil, who, by the end
of the 10th century, transferred his throne from Prespa to Ohrid.
The external appearance of St. Sophia, which for a long time was the
cathedral church of the Archbishopric of Ohrid, is in a shape of the letter

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T with a two-side steep and transversely joined roof. The church originally
had a main cupola, side galleries and a large belltower, above the west
facade, all of which were later destroyed. The two little domes above the
outer narthex as well as the narthex itself and the first - floor gallery were
built at the beginning of the 14th century.
Today the church is a three-naved basilica with a triangular altar apse and
semicircular apses in the diaconicon and the prothesis. It is built with
baked bricks and mortar and stone and mortar. Above the diaconicon
and the prothesis there are two small chapels from the Comnenus period
in the 12th century. Later the upper section of the narthex was built and
at the same time in the middle of the 14th century the Chapel of the St.
John the Forerunner was built. The external narthex with its gallery on the
west facade of the church was built in 1313 at the time of Archbishop
Gregorius, as is stated in an inscription in the bricks running the length of
the facade. It is considered to be a masterpiece of mediaeval architecture.

The archeological complex of Plaonik

St. Kliments and St. Panteleimon is a monastery situated on Plaonik.
It is attributed to Clement of Ohrid, a disciple of Saint Cyril and Saint
Methodius. Archaeologists have come to believe that the monastery
was the site where the first students of the Glagolitic alphabet (used to
translate the Bible into Old Church Slavonic) were taught. This is an Early
Christian Episcopal Church that was excavated between 1961 and 1964.
The church was constructed in the 5th century and erected in the shape
of a trefoil. Mosaics, which are a part of the church, were excavated and
preserved. This is considered as one of the most important archaeological
locations in the country.
The monastery stands on a hill which is now known as Plaonik
overlooking Lake Ohrid. St. Clement built his monastery on a restored
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church and a Roman basilica

of five parts (the remains of the
basilicas can still be seen outside
the monastery). Sources say that
St. Clement was not satisfied
with the size of the church and
therefore built a new one over
it and assigned St. Panteleimon
as its patron saint. Clement
personally built a crypt inside
the monastery in which he was
buried after his death in 916, his
tomb still exists today. From15th
to 17th century the monastery was ruined and turned into mosque few
times (called Imaret Mosque).
Apart from the monasterys many reconstructions during the Ottoman
Empire, it has recently undergone extensive reconstruction and excavation.
Reconstruction started on 2000 and the physical church was fully
reconstructed by 2002. Most of St. Clements relics were returned to
the church. A partially ruined bell tower was restored on the right side
of the monastery and the floors of the interior of the church have been
reconstructed with marble. Reconstruction was carried out by hand using
materials used to build the original church in order to preserve the original
spirituality of the monastery. Machines were only used to polish the
interior during the reconstruction of
the monastery.
On October 10, 2007, a depot of
approximately 2,383 Venetian coins
was discovered by archaeologists
while excavating the monastery.
The coins are of special significance
because they indicate that Ohrid
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and Venice were commercially

linked.
As the monastery is the most
sacred of all the churches in the
fYROM, thousands of Macedonian
orthodox Christians gather at
Plaonik during large religious
holidays such as Easter and
Christmas to celebrate and take
part in the liturgies.

The Church of St. John the Theologian at Kaneo

Built and decorated towards the end of the end of 13th century, the
donor of the church and the painter of its frescoes are unknown. The
churchs architecture is of great relevance to a study of Ohrids mediaeval
monuments as it is a highly successful combination of Byzantine and
Armenian elements. The church stands on one of the finest spots on the
lake shore, on a high cliff over looking the one - time fishing settlements
of Kaneo (a latin word wich means in Macedonian - spoken in the fYROM
bleech or sparkle) in the old part of Ohrid.
St. Jovan at Kaneo, one of the landmarks of old Ohrid, was restored to
its original form in the course of 1963 and 1964 when the belfry and
the porch - both 19th century additions were removed. It was on that
occasion that the frescoes in the dome were uncovered.
The frescoes in the dome and in the altar space have been preserved
although they are considerably damaged. The reason for this is that for a
lengthy period between the 17th century and 19th century the church was
partially ruined and was abandoned, and a large number of the frescoes
were then destroyed and lost forever.

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The Church Holy Mother of God Perivleptos

According to an inscription on the inner wall of the narthex above the
main entrance, the church was built under the name of the Holy Mother
of God Most Glorious (Perivleptos) in 1295 by the Byzantine military
commander, Progon Zgur, a relative of the Emperor Andronicus II
Palalogus. After the church of St. Sophia had been converted into mosque,
the church of the Holy Mother of God Perivleptos became the cathedral
church of the Archbishopric of Ohrid.
The paintings in the church of the Holy Mother of God Peribleptos mark
a new chapter in mediaeval paintings. They ushered in a new trend in
Byzantine art which came to be known as the Palaeologus Renaissance.
They are also the earliest known works
of Michael and Eutychius, distinguished
mediaeval fresco painters, whose creations
can be followed through nearly three
decades.
The church is cruciform in shape and
surmounted by an octagonal - based dome
decorated on the outside with cylindrical
friezes. The narthex and the central part
were built at the same time. It is built of
brick and travertine in a masterly combination producing an extraordinarily
decorative effect and at the same time an impression of perfect harmony.
Indeed, the church of the Holy Mother of God - Peribleptos ranks among
the most outstanding achievements of mediaeval architecture.
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The Church of St. Nicola Bolnicki

The church is of interest both in
terms of its architecture and its
frescoes. Remains of the town
walls which stretched down from
Samuels Fortress to the lakeside are
to be found in the churchyard. The
church has semi - circular vaulting.
The belfry on its western side is
unique in the fYROM and was built
under the influence of architecture
of the Adriatic coast.

The Church of The Holy Mother Bolnicki

This church was first decorated in 1368. It was redecorated towards the
end of the 14th and it most probably took on its present form in the 15th
century. Further mural paintings were added in the 19th century. The
iconostasis, richly decorated with stylized floral, fruit and bird motives
was carved in 1833 and is the work of the national woodcarver Nikola
Darkovski Karadzovic of Lazaropole.

The Church of St. Nicola Chudotvorec

Among the inhabitants of the old part of Ohird this church is well-known
as St. Nikola Chudotvorec - Chelnichki because it is situated in the
vicinity of St. Bogorodica - Chelnica. It was built on the remains of an
early Christian temple. The church has been reconstructed and painted
with frescoes during many centuries. It is listed among the rare galleries
where the wall painting has been preserved in fragments in the period
from the 11th to the 14th century and on. For five years, from 2000 to
2005, numerous century old fresco painting fragments were cleansed and
conserved.
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Islamic Monuments
Hadzi Durgut (Cross) Mosque
The well known Cross Mosque (Hadzi Durgut), which is considered to be
located on the place of the former church St. Nedela, is the oldest mosque
in Ohrid, built in 1466. In the
crescent on the top of the minaret
there is a small cross located there
at present as well, and the legend
says that when the Turks were
raising the minaret, after throwing
the cross in the lake, it reappeared
on the top of the minaret. When
they threw the cross again, the
minaret crashed and when they
raised it again, the cross reappeared
on its position. This occurrence
repeated many times until someone
dreamt that the minaret will not fall
down only if they do not remove
the cross from the top. At that time,
the Turks placed the cross in the
crescent and so the minaret persists
until today.

Ali Pasha Mosque

Ali Pasha Mosque is located in the old bazaar, near to the old plane.
According to the historical data we posses and on the basis of the
foundation itself from an architectural point of view, it was built late XV or
at the beginning of the XVI century by the vizier Ali Pasha.
According to Ohrids vakufnama (a document in which the Islam property
is listed) from 1491, it is apparent that there were palaces (sarai) and
vakafi which belonged to Ali Pasha. From the previous we conclude
that among the many things that Ali Pasha built, there was a mosque as
well. Ottomans had a custom according to which every pasha should
build a mosque in the place he was sent to. That fact is confirmed by the
specificities of the mosque because Hajdar-Kadi Mosque in Bitola, FuadPasha and Ali Pasha Mosque in Istanbul contain the same specificities
which are immanent to Ali Pasha Mosque in Ohrid.
All the mosques built between XV and XVI century are similar: they
are without columns which are a specific of the first beginnings of the
Ottomans classical architecture. The roof at the cube is suppressed and
the holes are very narrow, that is a characteristic of the local buildings
and that speaks in contribution to the fact that its builder was some local
constructor, probably from Ohrid.
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With the building of an individual object next to the Ali-Pasha Mosque

in 1999, during the excavation of the foundations, floor mosaics were
discovered which continue under the mosque itself. The mosaics originate
from the early Christian basilica, and at the same time walls of medieval
sacral objects are discovered, which confirm the presumption that this
was the location of the church St. Nicola. With the new archaeological
further excavations a project study was conducted which envisages total
conservation to the mosaics that will be presented to the public together
with the new-built facility

Zejnel Abedin Teke and Mosque

The dervish teke from the order Halveti was built in the first half of the
XVII century on the part of Zejnel
Abedin Pasha as a regular mosque
and a religious school (medresa).
At present, as part of the monastery
complex, here exists a burial chapel
(turbe), in which the central place
is taken by the grave of Hadzi Muhamed Hajati, who was of Persian
origin and was the first dervish leader
(sheyh) in Ohrid.

Sinan- Chelebi turbe (tomb)

In close proximity to the church
St. Clement and Pantelejmon at
Plaoshnik there is a turbe (tomb)
with the grave of Sinan Chelebi, the
founder of the charity facility Imaret
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(kitchen) for the poor which

existed up until 1912. He
died in 1493, and beside his
grave in the turbe, is placed
a grave of Tashula and her
baby, who was the wife of
the owner of the city in the
XIX century, Dzeladin Bey.

The Clock Tower

The Clock Tower, built in the
foothills of the eastern part of
the Ohrid hill in 1726, stroke
every passing hour according
to Ala Turka until 1912. The
Clock Tower was closely
connected to the old bazaar
and it was important to the
Muslim people because their
daily prayer in the Islamic
temples five times a day.
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Old City Architecture

The old-town architecture
of Ohrid holds its rightful
place in the cultural
heritage of this town,
especially due to the fact
that the typical look of
an oriental town house
from the XVIII and XIX,
with its stylish features,
has been preserved.
Such architecture can
be found in other places
as well, not only in
the country; however,
this architectural style
has developed into an
original, local feature,
created under the
European influence. The
lack of air and light in the
alleys is due to the big
houses with many floors,
each of them being
bigger from the previous
one, and all of them
having a lot of windows facing south, towards the lake. The limited space
for construction resulted in narrow streets among the houses; some of the
alleys are so narrow that hardly two people can pass without rubbing their
shoulders against one another.
The few preserved houses from the XIX century can be found in denselypopulated streets, scattered all over the old part of the town, each of
them having its own glamour. The
preserved facilities of the old Ohrid
housing architecture are admirable
monuments of the Macedonian past
and they present inspiration for the
contemporary architectural creativity.
The building of the first Robevi House
was finished on the 15th of April 1827,
as witnessed by the inscription in
Greek on the marbled flagstone. This
famous Ohrid merchant family lived in
the house for 35 years and in 1862 a
famous criminal from Ohrid Ustref Beg,
burnt it to the ground. Two years later,
in 18631864 the house was rebuilt. It
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was divided in two parts: left and right. Konstantin Robev lived in the left
part of the house and his brother Atanas Robev in the right part. The main
builder was Todor Petkov who built the house from scratch. The family
lived in the newly built house until
1900 when they moved to Bitola
and used the house as a summer
residence.
From 1913 till 1919 in the time
of the Balkan Wars and the First
World War, the house hosted
Serbian soldiers. Some damages
were found in the house after
they left, part of the carvings was
taken to Serbia (Nish). The house
has been protected as a culturalhistoric museum of the country
since the Second World War
ended. The last reconstruction
of this marvelous building was
made in the 1990s. At present,
the largest part of the museum,
the archeological collection
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that demonstrates the archeological treasure of the Ohrid region from

the prehistory until the present is located in the architectural beauty of
Ohrid, in the house of the Robev family. In the shirvan (under ceiling)
of the house, which is promoted into an Ohrid residence and the Ohrid
carving is displayed. The memorial floor of the Robev family with original
material details from their time is situated in the east wing of this beautiful
construction which carries within the marks and the traditions of the
exciting XIX century.
The Krapche House represents a unique artistic achievement. It is a
typical representative of the house from the XIX century as part of organic
urbanism, using minimal space on a given location, near the lake and near
the church of St. Sophia. The building has a height of ground floor and 2
floors. Stone ground floors and light wooden bondruchna construction.
The roof of the building was originally painted with old Turkish style

tiles. Stone western facade wall is only 2.62 meters wide and forms the
rhomboid dimensions to the east. The floors are omitted overhang so that
increase useful surfaces of first and second floor. The most characteristic
element is the tympani on western facade which increases the spatial
structure of the house creating harmony of the walls.
The building was originally preserved except interior changes, but time
has done its own and is needed permanent protection. There were static
disorders / cracks / of the walls. Extensive conservation works was done to
be preserved as an object in its original form. In 1968 due to static disorder
of the building by the owners made a set of steel sections such as beams
and columns on the south facade of the building. In 1999 was made a
change to the overall carpentry facility, conservation of the facades, and
horizontal and vertical linings and other interventions in the interior.
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The House of Patchev is located in the old city core in Ohrid called Varos,
in the Car Samuel street no. 60, surrounded by dense urban structure
of the houses around clinging to each other separated by narrow lanes,
oriented towards the south and the lake. The surrounding complex of
houses is one of the few authentic examples of old architecture in Ohrid.
The visual effect is created by the houses of the street front is often the
inspiration for photography and painting, postcards, various publications,
and even postage stamps as a symbol and something unique, authentic,
recognizable only to Ohrid.
The house was built in the late XIX century (probably built in the same
period as the house Robevci). The ground floor is built of stone with one
part stuck in the ground, has two inputs as a result of the former divide the
house into two parts, which has been revitalized to the craft store isolated
from the rest of the house. The floors are constructed of wood system and
have retained the same function with the same layout of the premises,
with floor plate construction of wooden beams and wooden ladders.
The roof construction is wood and the covering is tile Turkish style. The
faade is performed in the typical old traditional style, painted white, with
a richly profiled cantilever of storey. The general physical condition and
preservation is good, because there was repaired works in 2009.
The House of Bojadjievi is located in the protected core of the city. House
is the southern part of a fraternal house, originally preserved specimen
from the Ohrid old town architecture. Characteristic of this facility is
that it is one of the few who do not follow the street line, but is set free
location, pulled in its intimate yard. According the overall dimensions and
architecture, is a typical example of meeting the program requirements
in context of wealthy man. The way the building is typical of the era,
the ground floor from stone walls
with fugue and construction of the
wooden walls covered with plaster.
Floor plate and roof construction
are wooden, made from boards and
roof cover with old Turkish style
tile. The interior is richly decorated,
particularly the representative guest
rooms (profiled plaster ceilings
decorated with corners and central
rosettes of secondary plastics, richly
molded plastic showcase chicheklac
and fireplaces, decorative wood
paneling on the walls and profiled
angled batten, fitted cupboards with
characteristic richly decorated doors
with profiled horizontal and vertical
linings and rosettes, representative
entrance doors).
Performed in conservation and rehabilitation interventions on the facade
and the interior is preserved all the original property. The interior is in poor
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condition, is ruined
and damaged.
Essential is its
conservation and
restoration in order
to authentically
preserve. The
building was
declared as a
cultural monument
in 1951.
The Gallery of Icons
in Ohrid is situated
in the museum complex of the Church Noly Mather of God Peribleptos.
The collection consists of some thirty icons from the Ohrid region which
posses the highest artistic qualities thus making this gallery part of the
three most famous such galleries in the world.
Most of the icons in this collection have been created between the XI
and XIX century in the artistic workshops in Ohrid while some of them
were brought here from the Byzantine and Thessalonica workshops. The
unknown painters reached a genuine perfection in the painting of the
icons which are characterized with refined drawing, tender modulation
and harmonic colors. A special place in this collection belongs to the
processional icons (litii), painted on both sides, which impress with their
plastic treatment of their making and the expression of the inner life of the
painted saints.
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Ohrid Handicrafts
The Ohrid Bazaar and its old crafts started developing long time ago,
as a logical horizontal conclusion along the hill that was the residential,
religious and cultural centre.
The Ohrid territory was rich in
products wanted outside the
borders, and many important
traffic arteries of the Balkans
Peninsula, including the Via
Egnatia road, passed through
it. During that past period,
although without urbanists
and architects, the city erected
and developed into a unique
harmony, without tendency
to usurp the space and views,
developed in characteristic geographic, historical, ethno-social conditions
of living and working. The people of the Ohrid possess a special artistic
spirit, and numerous crafts have been practiced here for centuries. Today
these traditional skills are still performed in much the original manner.

The Ohrid pearl

A secret that has been carefully kept for almost a century. It is the
brightness and the uniqueness of the one-of-a-kind Ohrid pearl, a jewel
that the city is famous for far and wide. In the old bazaar in Ohrid you
can hear many tangled stories about the creation of the pearl. The Talevi
family is considered to be one of the rare families that fervently guard the
tradition and the single recipe for the manufacturing of this beautiful and
unique jewelry.
The secret story of the pearls origin begins with the scales of the Ohrid
fish Plasica, but the manner of elaboration and the recipe for the glazing
is a family secret passed on only to the male descendants. It is only known
that the recipe was bought in the distant 1924 from a Russian soldier who
was staying in Ohrid and the material was brought from Bethlehem by the
Talevi family. Undoubtedly the wonderful pearl carries the secret of its
manufacturing hidden within its beauty.
Since 1924 the Talev family has been designing Ohrid pearls. The secret
of preparations of the emulsion has been transferred from father to son,
with no exception only to male successors, whilst the females are trained
for assistance if necessary. The emulsion used to cover the Ohrid pearl has
natural origin and it is made by taking out the silver from the skin of the
plasica fish, which exists only in Lake Ohrid. Kliment Talev is the second
generation who designs Ohrid pearls. His son Vane is the third and the
grandchildren Kliment and Mihajlo will be the forth generation.
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A significant place in the Ohrid pearl design belongs to the Filev family
which is among the candidates for the King of Ohrid pearls with a family
tradition dating from 1923. In the remote 1923 Mihajlo Filev finds out
the secret of pearl production from the skin of plasica - an endemic fish
species in Lake Ohrid. The Filev family begins with pearl design transferring
this craft from generation to generation. More than 80 years the pearl
jewelry of Filev as a leading souvenir in the city of Ohrid updated by each
new generation, becomes a part of the jewelry collections of many people
in country and worldwide.

Filigree
A review of the holy and cultural sites in Ohrid wouldnt be completed
without mentioning Vangel Dereban, whose filigree workshop is a
living museum of this traditional filigree craft in designing jewelry. The
silversmiths craft, that is, the filigree is a centurys long tradition in Ohrid.
In the Dereban family as well as in other families that are involved in
silversmiths craft this craft is transferred from father to son.

Woodcarving
The woodcarving achieves its culmination in the first half of the 19th
century with the design of the iconostasis in the church St. Spas in Skopje
and monastery St. Jovan Bigorski situated in the Valley of Radika River. In
that time, besides Petar Filipovski from the village Gari, the most famous
woodcarving was his brother Marko and Makarie Negriev Frckovski. They
worked together for a period of time.
The period of the 19th century becomes a century of Macedonian
peasants woodcarving and fresko painters (zografi). Gathered in a
number of teams they would leave their villages Galicnik, Lazaropole, Gari,
Osoj and Tresonce in spring time and would work through on the Balkan
in order to earn for living. Late in autumn they would come back on the
slopes of the mountain Bistra and other mountains in the valley of Radika
river.
The woodcarving from Debar vicinity decorated with woodcarved
iconostasis the churches of St. Bogorodica Bolnicka and St. Bogorodica
Kamensko in Ohrid. They are considered among more significant
accomplishments. By working on the iconostasis, the woodcarvers as
unique artists in the Christian east region, pondered in the heart of the
wood searching for its most melodic expression.
In the period before and after the First World War, the craft of
woodcarving began to decline sharply. In 1928 in order to renew this
artistic activity the academic sculptor Branislav Jovancevik founded the
artistic woodcarving school in Debar. In 1930, this school was transferred
to Ohrid. After the Second World War a school for woodcarving
was founded in Ohrid which later on was transferred to Skopje as a
department of the school for applied art.

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Woodcarving in Ohrid was launched again in the second period of the

20th century. Thus, in the course of many years of work in the artistic
atelier for woodcarving school in Ohrid and Debar as true followers of the
rich woodcarving traditions in the country, created a number of pieces of
extraordinary artistic value. The last generations of woodcarvers from the
first years of the 20th century live and work in Ohrid: Ljupco and Saso
Djambas, father and son, Ajri Doko, Dimce Janko, Koco Ainoski and other
followers of the woodcarving traditions in the country.

School of Byzantine Painting

Ohrid has been a city with rich medieval painting tradition for centuries.
Apart from Sinai and Altos, Ohrid holds the richest collection of Byzantine
icons from 11th - 19th century. The Ohrid collection displayed in the
Gallery of icons in the museum complex of the church of Holy Mother
of God Peribleptos consists of over thirty icons with outstanding artistic
qualities. Most of the icons were composed in the Ohrid craft stores, and
some were sent as presents from Constantinople or Thessaloniki during
the course of centuries.
Almost all icons of the present Ohrid gallery composed until the 15th
century are characterized by their superb colorful solutions and with
beauty of the painters
final touches. They
seem as if they were
woven with subtle
combinations of
golden, violet and
blue color and yellow
tones with no accent
that might spoil
the colorful unity.
Some of these icons
were composed for
religious processions,
thus being painted
on both sides. The
icons for the religious
processions from
the Ohrid collection
are listed among the
best pieces of art
in this collection of
Byzantine icon script.
The Ohrid icons
are masterpieces of
fresco painters from
different generations
and followers of all
possible existing
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movements of the Byzantine medieval painting within duration of several

centuries. They are painted in different techniques. Most of them are
painted in tempera on wood, and those that were composed in a mosaic
technique, hammered as reliefs in silver or wood carved are rarity. Most
of the Ohrid fresco painters at the same time did icons for the churches
of Ohrid. Even though the fresco painters did not leave their signatures,
today by great amount of certainty, we could follow the work of certain
painters who did frescoes and icons simultaneously. Later on, the Ohrid
fresco painters used the characters from the frescoes in the church St.
Bogorodica Perivlepta from the 13th century to serve as models when
painting icons.
Ten of the icons of the Ohrid collection are decorated with silver frames.
These frames have a distinctive significance for the study of the applied art
in the medieval age, especially for the study of the activity of the medieval
artistic craft stores. Characters of saints and prophets and compositions
of the Old and New Testament in miniature, the symbols of the gospel
as well as flora and geometrical ornaments are presented on the frame
covers of the Ohrid icons. The frame covers of the Ohrid icons are piece
of work of the artistic craft from the 11th century and on. The high artistic
values of these silver frame covers are expressed in the precise work of the
reliefs in miniature. Their composers were artists with the highest creative
possibilities of the time.
The present collection of the Ohrid icons is completed after the Second
World War. Special merits for this belong to the painter and conservator
Zdravko Blazik. Most of the Ohrid icons that were damaged blackened
or later on unprofessionally repainted were found by him in the state
of irretrievable destruction. The painter Blazik, having done a detailed
examination, decided that the greatest enemy of the wood on which the
icons were painted was a type of a worm known as Anobium. This worm
destroys the icons in such a degree that the core of the wood turns into
spongy material.
As a result of
this, a procedure
for replacing
the damaged
wood had to be
undertaken in
order to save the
Ohrid icons. The
blackness from the
smoke melted by
the polishing cover
would not allow
the recognition
of the real artistic
qualities of some of the most significant Ohrid icons. In such condition
was found the well-known icon of the apostle Mateo from the XIII century,
as well as the widely-famous icon of Bogorodica Psichosotrija (Soul saver),
with the opposite side presenting the composition of Blagovestenie.
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Later in time, most of the Ohrid icons

vanished forever. A considerable number
of Ohrid icons are displayed in different
museums and collections. However, it is very
difficult to determine how many icons is part
of other collections. Additionally, it is very
difficult to determine how many icons there
were in Ohrid in the time when the city of
Kliment achieved its artistic prosperity.
In collaboration with the painter Vladislav
Kocarev Ohrid, in 2005 was opened the
first school for Byzantine icon painting.
All medieval art lovers during a ten day
beginners course with theoretical and practical lectures on icon painting
have the opportunity to produce icons following the original Byzantine
tradition and they are able to take them home as their souvenirs.

Copper products by the Marinov family

The tradition of copper products
by the Marinov family from
Ohrid has lasted for nine
centuries. Slave Marinov as
a third generation and his
daughter Maria Marinova as the
fourth generation in this craft
successfully follow the century
long tradition: they manufacture
cooper and brass items and
jewelry by hand carving and
hammering.

The Metal Obsession of Anastas

Dudan
The craft of producing works of
art of metal is more than 2,600
years old in the Ohrid region. As
early as the sixth century BC, the
people of the Trebenista cultural
area produced, with great
inventiveness, brilliant artifacts
that still excite art lovers. With his works in metal, Anastas Dudan from
Ohrid revives the historical art object as reminiscence, aiming to achieve
the artistic values of the old masters. He is not the sole artist in Ohrid
who expresses himself in metal, but he is the only one who has achieved
excellent results `reviving the exceptional values of the Macedonian
mediaeval icon and fresco painting environment, capturing the essence of
those works through the beating and hammering of metal surfaces. Dudan
has achieved enviable results using his technological knowledge and
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expertise in decorations adorning the mediaeval icons of the famous Ohrid

Collection. He has also managed to recreate the illuminating artistic value
of old Macedonian manuscripts with a rare creative devotion originating in
the depths of his soul.

Manufacturing leather products

In the old Ohrid charshija there is a well-known workshop of the
brothers Gorgi and Milcho Belevi for manufacturing leather items. They
are well-known in the Netherlands. Dutch visitors often visit them by
recommendation and they usually buy souvenirs of leather dancing shoes
or some other products.

Handmade Paper
The tradition of making a paper in the country begins from the second
half of 16th century in the monastery of St. Naum. It was used for internal
needs in limited quantity. The national Workshop for Handmade paper St.
Climent Ohridski, Ohrid continues this tradition. It has started its work on
23.10.2002. The workshop is placed in the magnificent part of the old city,
next to the National Museum - Robev family house.

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Management
The Management plan will provide a vision for the future of the cultural
and natural heritage of the Ohrid and region using the status of a world
heritage with universal values as a strategic potential for improving the
local community and the good
of all its citizens. The World
Heritage of Ohrid region, with
the awareness of the value of the
natural and cultural heritage it
possesses, will build its prosperity
based on a contemplated
management policy, in a way that
will satisfy the needs of the present
generations, and with the aim to
pass it on to the future generations
with all its beauty, diversity and
authenticity. The development of
the Ohrid region should be based
on balanced and harmonized
relations between the cultural
and natural heritage and the new
contents on the areas of the land
and lake, and the social needs,
economic activities in the cultural
and natural surroundings.
Thanks to the rich heritage of
these areas, the tradition of
celebrating the religious holiday
marking the days dedicated
to certain saints who receive

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Zone: up to 1000m from the Core

Zone: up to 500 m from the Core
Zone: Monument Core
Border / edge of the Monumental Zone

international significance continues even today. In addition there are also

musical - cultural events with a long tradition of existence such as the
Ohrid Summer Festival and the Balkan Festival of Folk songs and games.
Emphasis is placed on the seminar for Macedonian language - spoken in
the country with the participation of worldwide experts slavists that is
already held for many years.
The awareness of the importance of the region and the need for its
protection is expressed through the establishment of several institutions
of the region under the protection of UNESCO as natural and cultural
heritage. The potential monument value of the urban integrity of Ohrid
is a lot more meaningful than the generality of the preserved material
data. The old matrix of the ancient solutions and urban agglomerations
is kept, but the total cultural, historical, architectural and artistic potential
is not fully determined even for the most valuable architectures in the
region which are known as individual monuments. The valorization of the
cultural heritage has a double objective: to accentuate the value of the
architectural entity, and to estimate its role in expanding our knowledge
about the genesis of the urban agglomerations.
Based on previous research of the urban past and heritage of the city as
well as the analogue experiences in the studies prepared for the city so far,
the initial scale of valorization has been made:

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1. Cultural properties: ensembles and structures with high cultural,

historic, architectural and artistic potential, source of data for the
past events in the city, social events and influences by the developed
spiritual centers, complex value of the heritage: architecture, church
movables, ecclesiastic archive etc. Besides the most important
sacred and other buildings, the archaeological remains are of special
importance, as well.
2. Architectural stylistic ensembles as spatial unions raised through
multiple chronological stylistic periods, preserved important
architectural elements of authentic statements.
3. Individual objects from the residential architecture preserved in its
original form, arranged along the ancient elite city streets.
4. The Neolithic architecture represented through sacral and residential
architecture as well as buildings of public character dated form the
period of the late XIX and the early XX century.
5. Rich fund of preserved fragmented plastic stone significant for the
old-time genesis of the architectures and urban integrities discovered
during archaeological researches or during excavation of soil for
construction of new buildings.
6. Ambient values of the profane architecture with all stylistic features
located on the steep terrain embedded in the grassland or in the
coastal part of the city.
7. Variance with the ambient: construction of multiple storey buildings
with bulky volumes and inappropriate architecture disproportional
with the small architecture of the city

Vision
The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia1 will promote the world
significance of Ohrid as a protected region by using the status as a
strategic potential for sustainable development and progress of the local
community and its citizens.
The region of the World natural and cultural heritage of the Ohrid Region
which has a completely built awareness about the natural and the cultural
values that it possesses will base its development and prosperity on a
well-thought policy for managing the natural and cultural heritage for the
purpose of satisfying the needs of the today generations which will leave
beautiful, authentic and diverse inheritance to the future generations.
The development of the protected area will be based on the balanced
and harmonic relations between the natural and cultural heritage and its
content, both in the space of the lake shore and the wide belt around it
and in the lake itself, between the social needs, the economic activities
and the natural and cultural environment
1 In the context of the United Nations, the European Union and some other countries,
the State is recognized under the term the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. The
government of this country is using the term Republic of Macedonia for itself, which is
also recognized by a number of countries.

186

Strategic Objectives & Relevant Issues

Strengthening the legal and institutional infrastructure in order to
preserve and protect the universal values of the region.

Providing an efficient application of the laws and planned

documentation for protection of the natural and cultural heritage from

uncontrolled urbanization.
Valorisation and revalorization of the natural and cultural heritage.
Integral protection of the natural and cultural heritage trough
permanent control of the local urban development.
Economic development of the protected region trough exploitation of
the potentials on the sustainable growth principle.
Strengthening the human recourses potential at all levels, by
educating new, or further education and specialization of the current
professional staff.
Sustainable cultural and scientific growth of the region by restoring
the ancient authentic functions of certain areas, introduction to
new archaeological, important contents and by implementing new
compatible content within the area, as its support. 2

2 Natural and Cultural Heritage of the Ohrid region World Heritage Site Management plan.
187

Management Problems
The World heritage site is sensitive to the changes and growth, but these
two are both inescapable and desirable for the development and the
life in that site. However, the uncontrolled and excessive change of the
character and essence of the protected area can endanger the values
due to which the natural and cultural heritage of the Ohrid region is
found on the World heritage list. A particular danger for the area is the
excessive and uncontrolled urbanization that is taking place continuously,
so that, as ascertained by the UNESCO-ICOMOS-IUCN mission back in
1998, the construction of many buildings along the coastal zone of the
Ohrid Lake, from the village of Radozda ranging to St. Naum, leads to
a permanent change in the existing structure of the settlements on the
coast, the landscape itself and, more or less the untouched coast, which
was identified as a risk and which could jeopardize the universal value
of the World Heritage area of the Ohrid region. In addition to this, the
current urbanization and increased construction of individual buildings as
well as accelerated economic development, are negatively affecting the
preservation of old urban architecture as well as the structure of the old
part of Ohrid and the surrounding areas where historical monuments are
found.
The historic city center of Ohrid is a vivid example of how two justified
goals can come into conflict with each other: on the one hand the goal to
preserve the cultural heritage in a form as authentic as possible, and on
the other hand to improve
the living conditions of the
people who inhabit the
town. When Ohrid became
a World Heritage in 1979,
mostly of the houses were
the original buildings an
ideal situation from the
point of view of authenticity
and integrity. However,
these houses were more
than 100 years old, and
many of them were close
to collapsing. Furthermore,
they did not have some of the basic facilities which would make them
inhabitable according to modern standards, and over the years most of the
owners demolished their houses and built new ones in their place.
While UNESCO protested against these activities, the government tried to
ensure in most cases successfully - that the new houses would be built
in the same historic style as the old houses had been, even though the
materials used for the new houses were not those of the historic buildings.
While most of the scientific experts complain about the deplorable loss of
authenticity, one could say that at least its integrity has been preserved,
and the old town, different from others such as Dubrovnik, continues to be
a living residential area inhabited by its.original population.
188

189

The Plaoshnik Project (3D)

Another interesting and very controversial case is the Plaoshnik

Project. Plaoshnik is a large archeologic and historic site on the forested
hill to the west of old Ohrid, bearing witness of all the cultural eras from
prehistory to the Ottoman but most importantly, it has been the site of the
first Slavic-Orthodox School, established by St. Kliment in 893. This school
became one of the most important centers for the spread of Christian
Orthodoxy in the Balkans and all Eastern Europe.
In an attempt to revitalize this great ancient tradition and to re-establish
Ohrid as a center of learning, the government is planning to build a new
Slavic University virtually on top of the ruins of the ancient school. While
the idea to re-establish an ancient institution itself is very much in line with
UNESCO requirements for revitalizing historic sites, and certainly would
contribute greatly to the continuing Orthodox tradition of Ohrid, there
are fears that the project may be oversized, alter the present character of
the site and create traffic problems in the old town, restrict access to the
archaeological sites and overshadow the non-Orthodox cultural heritage.
In both of the cases mentioned, dialogue and compromise are needed in
order to preserve the values of the World Heritage while at the same time
allowing Ohrid to remain a living and changing urban organism which
has to provide opportunities for its inhabitants.
It is necessary to provide the adequate mechanisms of protection and
management of the area in order to avoid changes or diminish as much
as possible those changes that could be detrimental to the area of
World Heritage. Moreover, what is indispensable is an adequate policy
in this area, legal and institutional infrastructure, cooperation between
the political, professional, private and civil society, as to all parties in
190

the system of protection and management of the area can monitor and
control changes to preserve the universal values of World Heritage area.
There are many opportunities offered by the World Heritage status as, for
example: improving the management and condition of the area, improving
its accessibility and utilization, as well as contribution to the cultural and
economic life of the local community and the visitors.

Bibliography
Archaeological map of Macedonia, Volume 2 - Skopje, 1996.
W. Blazhic: Cleaning and conservation of the frescoes in the church in Ohrid Sv. Kliment, 1951
E. elebi: Travelogue, 1657
B. Chipan: Macedonian cities in the nineteenth century and their urban perspective, MANU,
Skopje, 1978
B. Chipan: Old town architecture in Ohrid, Macedonian book - Skopje, 1982
B. Chipan: Cathedral of the Archbishopric of Ohrid - St. Sofia, 1995
V. Dereban: Macedonian jewelry, Bitola, 2001.
H. Gelyer: The Patriarchate of Ohrid, 1902.
A. Grabar: The bed of Solomon 1963
A. Graber: The Byzantium, Byzantine art of the Middle Ages, Paris, 1963
A. Graber: The Art of the Middle Ages in Eastern Europe, Paris 1968
D. Grabrijan: Macedonian house, Ljubljana, 1955
F. Grivec: Ohridska slika , Slovo, Zagreb, 1960
C. Grozdanov: Ohrid Notes, 1969.
C. Grozdanov: Portrait of Clement of Ohrid in medieval art, 1966.
Institute for Protection of Cultural Monuments and Museum - Ohrid, Museums in Ohrid, 2001.
Institute of National History: Ohrid and Ohrid region through history. Book 1 and 2, Skopje 1985
D. Kornjakov: After conservation works in the church Virgin Perivleptos, 1961.
Pasko Kuzman, Macedonian Cultural Heritage, OHRID world heritage site, Skopje 2009
R. Kuzmanovski: D. Shaljikj, Ohrid - Belgrade, 1966
R. Ljubinkovic: Masters of old Serbian painting, 1957
Lychnidos V - Proceedings, Ohrid, 1983. :
J. Mano Zisi: Small contributions of paintings of the 14th century church of the Ohrid, 1931.
N. Mavrodinov: Old Bulgarian paintings, 1946.
F. Mesesnel: Ohrid - Skopje, 1934
France Mesesnel: Ohrid, the town and the lake, Skopje, 1934
Q. N. Miljukov: Christian antiquity in Western Macedonia, 1899
P. Milkovic Pepek: The work of Michael and Eutihij, 1967
P. Mitreski: Student colony in Ohrid 1938, 1940
P. Mitreski: Crafts in the Ohrid - Struga region (1918-1970), NIO Student Word, Skopje, 1983.
Q. Mitreski: The development of handicrafts in the Ohrid - Struga region (1919-1929)
B. Nusic: On the shores of Lake Ohrid - Travelogue - Belgrade, 1894
Vlagimjezh Pjanka: Toponyms of Ohrid - Prespa basin, Skopje, 1970
V. Plevnes: Saddlemaker craft in Ohrid, Lychnidos-annual collection of the National Museum in
Ohrid, book 2-3, 1959.
V. Plevnes: Ohrid-developed craft center in the past, (1962-1987)
V. R. Petkovic: Frescos with show of Wisdom, 1929
D. Talbot Rice: Byzantine Art, London, 1953
D. Talbot Rice: The Beginnings of Christian Art, London, 1957
D. Talbot Rice: Art of the Byzantine Era, London, 1963
D. Talbot Rice: Byzantine Painting: the Last Phase, New York, 1968
A. Salih: Boilermaker craft in Ohrid
I. Snegarov: History of the Archbishopric of Ohrid, 1924.
D. Stefania: To trade names and surnames of Ohrid Bazaar of the nineteenth century
I. Stojanoski: Speak not to forget. Radio Ohrid, 1996 and 2003.
Jovan F. Trifunovski: Ohrid and Struga area-Belgrade, 1992
A. Urosevic: Ohrid - geographical monograph, Skopje, 1957
Sources from the Internet:
http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/99/documents
http://www.ohrid.com.mk/index.asp

191

The Authors

Vassilis Birbos
Vassilis Birbos, born in Ioannina in 1979, is an engineer graduated in Spatial
Planning, Urban Planning & Regional Development from the School of Engineering
of the University of Thessaly. He is currently operating a Technical Office in
Ioannina where he elaborates studies in various fields such as spatial planning and
urban planning, environmental protection and environmental after-effects, local and
regional development. He was previously working as a technical consultant for the
Department of Environment and Spatial Planning of the Region of Epirus and for the
Regional Development Agency EPIRUS SA for 5 years.
vmpirmpos@yahoo.gr

Stephan Doempke
Stephan Doempke, born 1955 in Muenster, Germany, studied psychology, cultural
anthropology and science of religions in Muenster, Wichita/Kansas and Berlin.
Throughout his life he has committed himself to the preservation of natural and
cultural heritage, first for the indigenous peoples of North America and the Pacific.
In 1989 he joined the founding team at the House of World Cultures in Berlin,
and from 1993-1998 coordinated the Russia and Central Asia Programme of the
German Nature Conservation Union (NABU). He supported the revitalization of feltmaking in Kyrgyzstan and was a free-lance consultant for rural income-generation
in Mongolia, Ethiopia, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Montenegro. In 2008 he became
UN Programme Coordinator for Culture and Heritage in Albania, and since then has
been an expert for UNESCO World Heritage in Gjirokastra, Albania.
Contact: PANDoempke@t-online.de

Maximilian Hartmuth
Maximilian Hartmuth (Ph.D.) is a historian and art historian focusing on the Balkan
region. Currently a research fellow of the Turkish Cultural Foundation, he has
edited three volumes dedicated to the study of that regions Ottoman-period
heritage (Centres and peripheries in Ottoman architecture, 2011; Images of imperial
legacy, 2011; Monuments, patrons, contexts: papers on Ottoman Europe presented
to Machiel Kiel, 2010) and has authored a number of independent studies on the
same topic, most recently The history of centre-periphery relations as a history of
style in Ottoman provincial architecture (2011), Turkish coffee and bton brut: an
architectural portrait of Skopje (2010, co-authored by I. Toli), and Insufficiently
oriental? An early episode in the study and preservation of the Ottoman
architectural heritage in the Balkans (2010).
Contact: kielarchive@nit-istanbul.org
192

Varvara N. Papadopoulou
Varvara N. Papadopoulou is serving as director of the 8th Euphorate of Byzantine
Antiquities (Regional Service of the Hellenic Ministry of Culture) with jurisdiction in
the Prefectures of Ioannina and Thesprotia and of the Byzantine Museum of Ioannina.
She completed her graduate studies in Archaeology and History of Art at the Aristotle
University of Thessaloniki. She received her postgraduate degree in Middle Age
Studies from the University of Ioannina and is currently a Ph. D. candidate at the
aforementioned university. Recently she has also taken up the management of the
18th Euphorate of Byzantine Antiquities whose jurisdiction includes the Byzantine and
Post Byzantine monuments of the Prefectures of Arta and Preveza.
Contact: vpapadopoulou@culture.gr

Goran Patchev
Goran Patchev, born 1967 in Ohrid, fYROM, graduate architect engineer in Ss. Cyril
and Methodius University - Faculty of Architecture in Skopje. His experience since
1996 gained in a variety of companies that deal with architectural design through
urban planning and environmental protection in his hometown. The last 7 years to
date find its place as employed in National Institute for Protection of Monuments
of Culture and Museum - Ohrid, as an authorized conservator for protection of
immovable cultural heritage. From 2006 he is a member of ICOMOS MK as a
president of subcommittee for digitalization of monuments of culture. From 2009
member of the Chamber of certified architects and engineers of the Republic of
Macedonia and a member of the Association of Architects of Macedonia (AAM).
Contact: patcevg@yahoo.com

Bariu Zenelaj
Bariu Zenelaj, born in 1964 in Suharek, Kosovo, studied English-American
Language and Literature at Prishtina University. For over 10 years, he has worked
as a cartoonist and illustrator for all Kosovo newspapers. Bariu gained valuable
professional experience working for international relief agencies and other civil
society organizations for over 14 years.
He is currently managing the Academy for Training and Technical Assistance, a
non-for profit organization working in the fields of culture and European Integration.
Bariu Zenelaj is married to Leonora, and they have two children, Zell (17) and Alp
(7). They live and work in Prizren.
Contact: bari@atta-ks.org

193

Photo and Map Credits

8th Ephorate of Byzantine Antiquities: 78c,

79, 80, 82a, 82b, 83b, 84c, 85a, 85b, 88a,
89a, 89b, 90a, 92a

Stephen Fenner: 111a, 111b

Srdjan Adamovic: 170a

Friends of Macedonia: 152b

Archive of the Comintern: 31c

Milco Georgievski: 169a, 170b, 180b, 181a

Boris Chipan: 150c, 153

N. Gkioulis: 91c

BBC: 115a

Google Earth: 25

Chris Hassler: 26b, 32b, 43a, 51b, 66b, 67d,
68b, 72b

Vasileos Birbos: 106

Cultural Heritage without Borders: 144
Stephan Doempke: 10, 24, 26a, 27, 28, 30b,
33, 34b, 36b, 37e, 38a, 39a, 39b, 39c, 40a,
40b, 40c, 41a, 41b, 42a, 42b, 43b, 44a, 44b,
46, 47, 48b, 49a, 49b, 49c, 50a, 50c, 51a,
53a, 53b, 54a, 54b, 59a, 59b, 59c, 60a, 60b,
60c, 61b, 62a, 62b, 62c, 64a, 64b, 65b, 65c,
66a, 67a, 67c, 68a, 68c, 69a, 69b, 70a, 70b,
71, 72a, 72c, 73a, 73b, 73c, 76a, 76b, 81,
83a, 83c, 83d, 84a, 84b, 84d, 85c, 85d, 85e,
86a, 86b, 87, 88b, 90b, 91a, 91b, 92b, 94b,
95b, 96, 99b, 100a, 101b, 102a, 103, 105a,
105b, 108, 119a, 119c, 120, 122a, 122b,
122c, 122d, 124a, 126a, 126b, 126e, 128a,
129b, 130b, 131, 132c, 133a, 133b, 134a,
134b, 134c, 138, 148b, 152a, 154a, 155, 157,
159, 162a, 162b, 162c, 163b, 163c, 164,
165a, 165b, 165c, 166b, 166c, 167a, 167b,
168a, 168b, 169b, 171b, 171c, 172a, 174a,
177a
Stephan Doempke/Kreshnik Merxhani: 34a,
50b
Stephan Doempke/GCDO: 36a/37a
Ezilon: 112
GCDO: 30c, 31d, 32a, 35a, 37b, 37d, 38b,
45, 48a, 63, 65c

194

Edward Finden: 82c

Hellenic Library: 78b

Institut du Monde Arabe: 29a
Institute for Monuments of Culture
(Prizren): 114, 117, 119b, 125a, 126c, 126d,
127a, 127b, 127c, 129a, 132a, 132d, 139a,
140a, 140b, 141a
A. Karadimou-Gerolimpou: 100b
Konstantinos Ignatiadis: 74, 82d
Alket Islami: 35b, 61a
Albert Kasi: 32c
Tony Lumb: 37c, 48c
Macedon1998: 151
Macedonia FAQ Development Team: 152c
Olivera Misheva: 174b, 177b, 179, 180a,
181b, 182b, 183a, 183b, 183c
Klairi Moustafellou: 75, 94a, 95a, 97a, 97b,
97c, 97d, 98, 99a
Municipality of Prizren: 118, 143

National Institute for Monuments of Culture

and Museums - Ohrid: 149a, 149c, 154b,
156a, 156b, 178a
Numismatic Museum of Athens: 78a
Ohridski Biser: 178b
Goran Patcev: 149b, 150a, 160, 161, 163a,
169c, 172b, 175, 176a, 176b, 182a, 184a,
185, 187, 188, 189, 190
Prizren 360: 110
Clara Puech: 101a
Emin Riza: 55a, 55b, 56a, 56b, 56c, 57a, 57b,
57c, 58a, 58b
Stojan Saveski: 147
Arben Shala: 121b, 121c, 123a, 124b, 125b,
128b, 129c, 130a, 132b, 133c, 136a, 136b,
136c, 136d, 137a, 137b, 137c, 137d, 139b,
141b, 141c, 142b
Roland Tasho: 64c, 65a, 67b
UNESCO: 70c
Marian Vare: 146, 166a
Adjola Vrekaj: 171a, 173a, 173b
Wikimedia Commons: 29b, 31a, 31b, 115b,
148a, 184b
www.exploringmacedonia.com: 178c
www.literaryhistory.com: 30a
www.travbuddy.com: 150b
Petros Xenikos: 102b
Bariu Zenelaj: 121a, 132b, 135a, 135b, 142a

195

EVAH Partner Contact Details

Partners
Gjirokastra Conservation and
Development Organization
Mr. Sadi Petrela
Obelisku, Qafa e Pazarit
Gjirokastra
Albania
Tel: +355 842 67-077
info@gjirokastra.org
Academy for Training
and Technical Assistance
Mr. Bariu Zenelaj
Qazim Berisha No:43
20000 Prizren
Kosovo
Tel +377 44 155-323
info@atta-ks.org
EGNATIA EPIRUS Foundation
Anthrakitou 5 & Tsechouli Street
45221 Ioannina
Greece
Tel +30 26510 72-315
eef@forthnet.gr
Macedonian Artisan
Trade Association
Mr. Zoran Todorovski
Cedomir Kantardziev, 3
1000 Skopje
the former Yugoslav Republic of
Macedonia
+389 2 273-4170
zoran.t@matacraft.org.mk

196

Associate Partners
City of Regensburg
Matthias Ripp, World Heritage
Management
93047 Regensburg
Dr.-Martin-Luther-Str. 1
Germany
+49 941. 507-4611
ripp.matthias@regensburg.de
City of Ioannina
Town Hall, 5 A. Papandreou
Square
45221 Ioannina, Epirus
Greece
+30 26510 79921-5, 26272
press@ioannina.gr
A Soul for Europe
Ms. Stephanie Maiwald
c/o European House for Culture
Place Flagey 18
1050 Brussels
Belgium
+49 30 2639 22947
maiwald@asoulforeurope.eu
Mozaik Community
Development Foundation
Soukbunar 42
71000 Sarajevo
Bosnia and Herzegovina
+387 33 266-480
info@mozaik.ba

197

Useful Addresses

Useful Addresses in Albania

Useful Addresses in Greece

Ministry for Tourism, Culture, Youth

and Sports
Rr. e Kavajs
1000 Tirana
Albania
Tel +355 4 222 9072
informacion@mtkrs.gov.al
www.mtkrs.gov.al

Ministry for Education, Religious Affairs,

Culture and Sports
20-22 Bouboulinas St.
10682 Athens
Greece
Tel +30 210 820 1444
info@culture.gr
www.yppo.gr

Institute for Monuments of Culture

Rr. Aleksandr Moisiu 76
1000 Tirana
Albania
Tel +355 4 450 4153
imk@albmail.com

8th Ephorate for Byzantine Antiquities

Its Kale, Kastro
45221 Ioannina
Greece
Tel +30 26510 25989
8eba@culture.gr

Municipality of Gjirokastra
erciz Topulli Square
Gjirokastra
Albania
Tel +355 842 63 500

City of Ioannina
Town Hall, 5 A. Papandreou Square
45221 Ioannina
Greece
Tel +30 26510 79921-5, 26272
press@ioannina.gr

Cultural Heritage without Borders

Qafa e Pazarit
Gjirokastra
Albania
Tel +355 84 26812
info@chwb.org
www.chwb.org

198

Center of Ioannina Traditional

Handcraft
11 Arch. Makariou St.
45221 Ioannina
Greece
Tel +30 26510 27650
info@kepavi.gr

Useful Addresses in Kosovo

Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports
Nna Terez Square p.n.
10000 Prishtina
Republic of Kosovo
Tel +381 38 211 637
info@mkrs-ks.org
www.mkrs-ks.org
Institute for the Protection of
Monuments in Prizren
Marin Barleti no. 11
20000 Prizren
Republic of Kosovo
Tel +381 29 244 487
qrtkpz@hotmail.com
Cultural Heritage Foundation
Qazim Berisha no. 43
20000 Prizren
Republic of Kosovo
Tel +381 29 233 959
info@heritage-ks.org
www.heritage-ks.org
Association of Artisans and
Businessmen
The Artisan Center p.n.
20000 Prizren
Republic of Kosovo
Tel +381 29 222 323
info@shzap.org
www.shzap.org

Useful Addresses in the former

Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia
Ministry for Culture
Gjuro Gjakovic 61
1000 Skopje
The former Yugoslav Republic of
Macedonia
Tel +389 2 324 0600
info@kultura.gov.mk
www.kultura.gov.mk
Cultural Heritage Protection Office
Gjuro Gjakovic 61
1000 Skopje
The former Yugoslav Republic of
Macedonia
Tel +389 2 328 9703
contact@uzkn.gov.mk
www.uzkn.gov.mk
National Institute for the Protection of
Monuments of Culture and Museum
Ohrid
Boro Shain 10
6000 Ohrid
The former Yugoslav Republic of
Macedonia
Tel +389 46 262 498
zimohrid@t-home.mk
City of Ohrid
57 Dimitar Vlahov St.
6000 Ohrid
The former Yugoslav Republic of
Macedonia
Tel +389 46 262 489
protocol@ohrid.gov.mk
www.ohrid.gov.mk

199

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