Gjirokastra, Berat not endangered to enter list of world heritage in danger

TIRANA, April 18 – The UNESCO World Heritage sites of Gjirokastra and Berat are not endangered despite the numerous challenges they face, say Albanian culture officials after a report by the International Council on Monuments and Sites, ICOMOS, described them as endangered by illegal constructions and at risk of being included on the List of World Heritage in Danger.
“The report comes at a time when the job has started. If you read the report, maybe not the whole of it but just the conclusions and suggestions they give, it is explicitly stated that there is no risk to join the list of endangered monuments,” said Arber Kadia, a heritage director at the Ministry of Culture this wek.
Apollon Baqe, the director of the Institute of Monuments of Culture admitted there were many problems. “You know that one of the main problems in Gjirokastra is that it is gradually turns into a ghost town. We have tried to attract more private capital in these issues but we have encountered the opposition of interest groups that have a particular stance,” said Bace.
Few days ago, ICOMOS sent a 50-page report to Tirana, which comes after an evaluation of the state of Berat and Gjirokastra last November.
Besides some progress evaluation, ICOMOS, as UNESCO did, places emphasis on illegal construction, the continuous depreciation of some uninhabited houses, monuments of Gjirokastra and the need for more funds at their disposal.
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has also expressed its concern over the lack of control for illegal constructions in both Gjirokastra and Berat and regrets that a long-term plan has not been established to rectify the violations that have already occurred in order to improve the value and integrity of the property. UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee says that no progress is being made to introduce a programme for archaeological interventions in case of implementation of major restoration, as well as for the lack of an agreed overall fire response plan for the entirety of the property.
The Committee also requests the State Party to invite a joint World Heritage Centre/ICOMOS reactive monitoring mission to assess the overall state of conservation of the property, progress in its management and whether the criteria for the possible inscription of the property on the List of World Heritage in Danger are met.
Berat and Gjirokastra are inscribed to UNESCO as rare examples of an architectural character typical of the Ottoman period. Located in central Albania, Berat bears witness to the coexistence of various religious and cultural communities down the centuries. It features a castle, locally known as the Kala, most of which was built in the 13th century, although its origins date back to the 4th century BC. The citadel area numbers many Byzantine churches, mainly from the 13th century, as well as several mosques built under the Ottoman era which began in 1417. 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.