Festival to promote Gjirokstra’s heritage

TIRANA, July 30 – Music and visual arts events, gastronomy fairs, and visits to archeological and cultural sites have been scheduled in the southern Albanian UNESCO World Heritage site of Gjirokastra in the first edition of the three-day Traku Fest.
The festival which kicked off on July 31 is offering a series of activities aimed at promoting the southern UNESCO town and its cultural heritage through a festival and holiday concept.
In addition to musical performances and exhibitions in downtown landmarks, the festival will also promote local dishes and the ancient towns of Antigone and Adrinapolis. The three-day festival will conclude with a performance by internationally renowned Fanfara Tirana brass band.
Inscribed on UNESCO as a rare example of an architectural character typical of the Ottoman period, Gjirokastra, in the Drinos river valley in southern Albania, features a series of outstanding two-story houses which were developed in the 17th century. The town also retains a bazaar, an 18th-century mosque and two churches of the same period. The 13th-century citadel provides the focal point of the town with its typical tower houses.
The historic town of Gjirokastra is a rare example of a well-preserved Ottoman town, built by farmers of large estates. The architecture is characterized by the construction of a type of tower house (Turkish ‘kule’), of which Gjirokastra represents a series of outstanding examples, according to UNESCO.
The history, culture and traditions of Gjirokastra and its Drino valley are featured in the newest museum that has opened at the southern Albanian town which has been under UNESCO protection since 2005. Situated in the indoor premises of the local Argjiro fortress, the museum documents Gjirokastra’s 2000-year-old history, bringing evidence of the life of its inhabitants, its most prominent figures and archeological remains discovered in the Drino Valley, especially in the Hadrianapoilis Park.