Gjirokastër

Gjirokastra and Antigonea Tour

A short city tour to see and to learn more about their history and main interesting sight as Gjirokaster and Antigonea city. Get much more of this city tour to learn and te see more about it. Meet the group at hotel lobby. Depart for a daily tour to the main interesting sight as Gjirokastra & Antigonea, ancient city.

Gjirokastra - the "Stone City", situated in the southern part of Albania only 1 hour far from Saranda city, on the eastern slope of mountain Mali i Gjere. It is a commercial center in South Albania, it produces foodstuffs, leather, and textiles. There are several 18th-century mosques and churches and an old citadel (rebuilt in the 19th cent.) in the town. Dating probably from the 4th cent., Gjirokastër passed to the Turks in the 15th cent. It was captured (1811) by Ali Pasha and was the center (late 1800s) of anti-Turkish resistance. In World War II it was occupied by Italy, Greece, and Germany in succession. What strikes the visitors most in Gjirokastra are its typical and characteristic houses which resemble little fortresses, clustered one above the other. Their exterior combines roughness with the beauty of windows, small rooms and light pillars supporting the roofs protruding from the walls. The most attractive feature is the stone which has been masterfully elaborated by the builders. Once Gjirokastra has been called the "city of one thousand steps" or "the stone city".

Good to know:

  • Location: Gjirokastra

  • Duration: 9 hours

  • Schedule Times: the tour will start at 09.00 pm and finish at 18:00pm

  • Available days/Dates: Tuesday, Wednesday

  • Pick up/Drop off: Tirane

  • Service type: Escorted bus tour with professional guide

  • Difficulty: Moderate

Including:

  • Transportation AC vehicle, including all taxes, parking and road tolls

  • Professional Local Guide English speaking – according to the program

   Not Including:

  • Extras out of program

  • Lunch or refreshment drinks

  • Gratuities

Entrance fees as detailed in the program

  1. Mother Teresa (Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu) is generally celebrated as the only Albanian to win a Nobel Prize, though born in Skopje in 1910 (now in Macedonia but then in the Ottoman Empire).
  2. Between 1950 to 1985 around 600,000 bunkers were built in Albania, they are nearly impossible to destroy so many are still in existence.
  3. Noding your head in Albania is a disagreement while shaking the head means “yes”, so it can get pretty confusing for tourists.
  4. At its closest point Albania is only 10km away from Corfu across the Ionian Sea.
  5. Hoxha’s official title was ‘Comrade-Chairman-Prime Minister-Foreign Minister-Minister of War-Commander in Chief of the People’s Army’ – quite a mouthful!
  6. Under the leadership of Enver Hoxha, Albania was declared the world’s first atheist state in 1967.
  7. Xhiro is the name for an evening walk in Albania. Some of the towns close roads to cars at certain times of the evening so locals can talk their daily stroll.
  8. Norman Wisdom was a cult figure in Albania where he was one of the few Western actors whose films were allowed in the country under Hoxha’s dictatorship
  9. Officially 70% of Albanians are Muslim but the number who actively practice is much lower.

  1. George Kastriot Skanderbeg
  2. Mother Teresa
  3. Fan Noli
  4. Pope Clement XI
  5. Gjon Mili
  6. Ismail Kadare
  7. Ferid Murad
  8. Inva Mula
  9. Eliza Dushku
  10. John and Jim Belushi
  11. Ermonela Joha

Gjirokaster

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