Experts petition against gov’t bypass project in UNESCO-listed Gjirokastra

TIRANA, March 7 – Architects, academics and culture heritage specialists have come together to strongly oppose government plans to build a bypass in Gjirokastra, a UNESCO World Heritage site in southern Albania, warning that the concrete modern structure ruins the town’s late Middle Ages architecture and poses a threat to the local landmark castle, already damaged by a late 2016 quake. The government insists the project will further boost tourism in town by easing traffic and creating pedestrian zones. “The project on the construction of a new road, the so-called bypass, destroys part of the museum city of Gjirokastra and…