The picturesque Rehova, located at the foot of the Gramozi Mountain, southeastern Albania, has been recently declared a protected historic site by the National Restoration Council. The village of Rehova is well-known throughout Albania for its handicrafts, hospitality, special cuisine and its well-preserved rich and beautiful heritage.
The proposal to classify the village as a historic site aims to preserve Rehova’s historic, urban and architectonic values, thus allowing it to play an important part in the development of tourism in the Kolonja district, say culture officials.
The historic site preserves the urban, architectonic values of the village, wherein different genres of buildings are comprised, such as social buildings, cult objects and traditional houses. The green areas of the village are also included within the protected area.
Rehova’s historic site includes all the existing buildings and is comprised of a compact traditional composure that spans around the church and the village’s main square. The ensemble of buildings features an interesting typology, particularly on the way urban spaces have been created and also includes a significant number of variegated houses and a cobblestone-paved road system. The buildings, constructed in limestone, are mostly two-storey ones, and their gates are high arched.
On her recent visit to Rehova, Culture Minister Mirela Kumbaro, praised the preservation of these details, congratulating the locals on not giving in to the temptation of modernizing their houses.
The Ministry of Culture in collaboration with the Institute of Cultural Monuments, and along with other institutions for heritage preservation have created a special touristic destination: “the pathway of the gates” – a door-to-door itinerary across the streets of Rehova, where the gates of the houses are regarded as a tourist attraction itself. With the stonework traditional houses and their arched gates, taking a walk along the cobbled Rehova streets feels like taking a journey back on time.
The Church, located in the heart of Rehova, was built in 1820. Its iconostasis, created by the contributions of Rehova people, can be visited nowadays at the National Museum of Medieval Art in Korà§a, which houses some 7,000 items of immeasurable historical and cultural significance.
