Northern Greece, Albania & Macedonia: Ancient Lands of Alexander the Great Day 10

Day 10 - Thursday, October 19, 2017 - Explore Gjirokaster; City of Stone; Kalaja Castle; Skenduli House Museum; Lunch in Dhoksat; Late Afternoon on Our Own

Our group met Ilir in the lobby at 9:00. Our mission this morning was to visit the Kalaja Castle. The road was too narrow for our big bus, so Anna arranged for taxis to take people to the top of the mountain over looking the city of Gjirokaster.

Instead of riding in the taxi, five of us took the challenge and hiked up the winding cobblestone path. At the top, Ilir told us the castle has been in use since before the 12th century. It was a main fortress of the Ottoman Turks in the 19th century.

As an important defense of the city in World War I and World War II, there were German and Italian cannons, tanks, and other artillery in the central hall. After the Communist takeover it was a prison until 1963. After the fall of Communism it was turned into a museum.

We walked to a breathtaking overlook to see the growing city below us. In 2008 the city became a UNESCO World Heritage Site and since that time the Albanians, with help in the form of money and volunteer labor from other countries, has begun reconstruction and renovation.

The nickname of the city was the “City of Stone” because of all of the white limestone buildings. Unfortunately, in the times of the Communist Block, sterile looking apartment buildings were built that dotted the horizon of the new area of town.

Gjirokaster was always a very tolerant city, now 50% are Christian and 50% are Muslim. There used to be many mosques but there was only one now. After we walked to the staging area of the National Folkloric Festival held every five years, we hiked down the hill to the ethnographic museum.

Walking past the birthplace of the Albanian Dictator, Enver Hoxha, the whole hillside neighborhood boasted of mansions from the Ottoman era. At the Skenduli House we met Nesip, a 9th generation son of the original Turk merchants and the original owners of the four-story home.

In the garden a couple were sharing Raki, a very strong distilled alcohol they were making from grapes. Vic and Keith were polite enough to accept a glass of their liqueur while the rest of us started the tour.

Mr. Skenduli took us on a personal visit through his ancestral home, beginning with the cellars used for storage, an armory, and a bunker for protection during attacks. We also saw the laundry, kitchen, reception rooms, and bedrooms.

Connecting the rooms were back passageways because the women in the home were not allowed to be seen. They had to do their work secretly and serve the men through closet-like doorways behind the screens.

The number of fireplaces and chimneys was the measurement of a family’s status – the Skenduli House had nine of them. About 30 people, three generations, would have lived in this home during one time for the hundreds of years the Skendulis owned it.

Taken over by the Communists in the 1900’s, it took Mr. Skenduli many years and much political maneuvering to get the home back in his family’s rightful possession. He also talked about the arranged marriages during those days and how difficult it was to live under the oppressive rule of the dictator.

We thanked our host for his openness and then walked back to the hotel. At 12:10 we left again for the 30-minute ride to the small farming mountain village of Dhoksat. We met the owner of the farm, Landhi who talked to us about his sheep and goats, their vegetable garden, and the production of several cheeses made on the farm.

After a fantastic lunch of cheeses, grilled veggies, homemade bread, and wine from his vineyards, we met the rest of the family. There were many small farms like his, but Landhi said more and more people were moving from the rural life and into the cities.

Several of us brought small gifts for the family and after thanking them all we traveled back down the mountain road and back to Gjirokaster.

We got back to the hotel at about 3:30 and began our work on the journal. Anna had suggested a little get-together on the hotel patio at 7:00 so we did a bit of laundry and then walked to the small grocery store to buy a few things to share with the group.

Dinner was on our own, but after our large lunch and the wine and cheese party, we did not go out for more food.

Paranoid that the USSR would attack Albania, Enver Hoxha’s, the Communist dictator, decided to do the only rational thing he thought possible: build bunkers. He built an estimated 173,000 concrete bunkers. Now the bunkers dot the landscape like huge gray mushrooms.

http://www.atlasobscura.com/places/bunkers-of-albania

Accommodations: HOTEL ARGJIRO - - - Meal: B & L