The 15th century Kruja Hammam in the historic town of Kruja, which was restored by the Swedish foundation Cultural Heritage without Borders (CHwB) in cooperation with the Institute of Monuments of Culture and financed by the Government of Sweden during the years 2013-2015 opened its doors to visitors for the first time.
“In Kruja, the hammam was for many years a forgotten relic. The restoration of this monument of culture, a key vestige of the local community and potential tourism attraction, is an important step toward developing a larger network of service-based heritage sites across Albania and the Balkans,” according to CHwB.
For a long time, the Ottoman public bath has been an important part of the inhabitants’ social life. After its restoration was finalized in 2015, various debates whether restorers managed to preserve the hammam’s originality or not sparked on social networks.
Albania has inherited a various number of thermae and hammams from the Roman and Ottoman Empire such as the Roman thermae in Durrà«s (1st century AD); the hammam of Shkodra (1540); the hammam of Lezha (1560); the hammam of Tirana (1614); the 17th century Baazar hammam in Elbasan and hammam of Sinan Pasha Castle; the 15th century hammam inside the castle of Kruja, the Gjirokastra’s hammam, etc.
