Heritage days in Gjirokastra

GJIROKASTRA, Oct.1- To commemorate International Tourism Day on September 27 and International Heritage Day on September 29, activities reflecting Albania’s historical heritage were held in the southern city of Gjirokastra. Heads of the regional directory of the Monuments and of the two coordinating offices for the museum city of Gjirokastra and the archeological park of Antigonea presented a range of cultural events to raise public attention and especially attract young people towards the promotion and protection of values and their use in cultural tourism. Raimond Kola, head of the administration and coordination unit for the museum city of Gjirokastra, said that Tourism Day presents a unique opportunity to raise the awareness of all interested citizens and groups to promote cultural tourism and to advocate those governmental initiatives that create the proper infrastructure that supports such tourism. Tour operators such as Sipa-Turist, EUROTIRANA-turist, and others were engaged in the activities and testified that 2007 saw three times more visitors to the city compared to 2006. The activities started out with a visit organized by school pupils and an international voluntary group of restaurateurs of the Swedish institution “Cultural heritage without borders” coordinated by the office of Preservation and development of the historical Gjirokastra. They were introduced to the archeological park of Antigonea and the Monastery of Spilea and the historical record of discoveries made there. The staff of Antigonea invited all the students and volunteers from Bosnia-Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia, Macedonia, Kosova, and Tirana to participate in an open debate about the contemporary methods of restoring and preserving archeological monuments. Another visit was performed by theater actors who improvised classic dramatic plays in the atmosphere of the ruins and encouraged further explorations in order to identify the site of the ancient theater stage of Antigonea. (Tirana Times Staff)