About Gjirokastra

Gjirokastra is a UNESCO World Heritage Site built entirely from local limestone, earning it the name Qyteti i Gurtë (the Stone City). The town's defining feature is its Ottoman-era stone mansions — two- and three-storey tower houses with distinctive slate roofs — that cascade down the Drino Valley hillside beneath a vast 12th-century castle. The castle houses Albania's National Armaments Museum and an abandoned US Air Force T-33 jet, a relic of Cold War paranoia. Gjirokastra is the birthplace of Ismail Kadare, Albania's most celebrated writer, and a centre of iso-polyphony, the traditional a cappella singing recognised by UNESCO as Intangible Cultural Heritage. The town sits 30 minutes from the Greek border, making it a natural stop on a Tirana-to-Saranda route. The nearby archaeological site of Antigonea and the thermal springs of Benja add variety to a 2–3 day visit.