Gjirokastra “The City of Stone”
A city with a rare beauty and history is visited every year by millions of tourists because of the old bazaar, beautiful castle, stone houses and its legends.
You can easily find all the information in a Google, but today I will tell you what you can’t find anywhere.
1-) 3 friends decided to have a picnic and one of the guys from Tirana promised to bring all the food, the other guy from Vlora promised to bring all the drinks and the guy from Gjirokastra said, I’m calling my brother. So, the people who live in Gjirokaster are a bit stingy people.
2-) The Cold War Tunnel Museum is an underground bunker that served as an emergency shelter in the latter part of Albania’s communist era (1944-1990). This bunker, and the innumerable small bunkers found throughout the country, reflects the paranoia of Albanian’s communist dictator, Enver Hoxha. He feared a foreign invasion, especially after Albania’s breakup with Soviet Union in the early 1960s. Built in secret in the early 1970s, the bunker is 800 m long and has 59 rooms. Gjirokastër’s bunker is in its original state, making it less informative but much more atmospheric and genuine.
3-) During the restoration of the old bazaar, an owner of a souvenir shop accidentally found a well about 17 m deep with 6 m of potable water. Everyone is surprised because the city is built on a hill and the possibility of finding water on the hill is almost impossible. The citizens of Gjirokaster, a long time ago, provided water from the rain and this well is a very strange case.
4-) Religious harmony in Albania is unique in the world. First of all, I want to apologize to my Muslim friends, but in Gjirokaster is a mosque with a pub underground. After praying, people go down to the pub and get drunk. Haha, Muslims never drink but other people.
