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EveryParampara

Traditions of Gjirokastër

A stone town of the south with tall fortress-houses, the home of the folk festival of Albania.

Gjirokastër is called the city of stone, for its grey slate roofs and fortress-like houses of the Ottoman period. It is a World Heritage site, a town where traditional Albanian customs are rooted and the National Folklore Festival has been held since 1968. Its old bazaar sells local honey, wool and crafts.

Gjirokastër: Gjirokastra
Photo: ich, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The folk festival

Every five years, the festival brings musicians, dancers and singers from all over Albania and the diaspora to the castle, in colourful costumes. Songs of the south are polyphonic and sung by men with a bass drone. Women make embroidered clothing and carpets. The town's famed tower houses have rooms for receiving guests.

At the table

Qifqi, rice balls with herbs fried in their own juices, and local lamb baked in a clay pot are the town's specialities. Lakror, a pie of leeks, is made on feast days. Gjirokastër is known for baklava and for tulumba, syrup-soaked fried dough. Raki is drunk with meze.

Signature traditions of Gjirokastër

Also part of it, and being written: Gjirokastër (The old town.), Albanian folk music (The tradition.), Qifqi (The rice balls.).

A trail idea for Gjirokastër

  1. Gjirokastër Castle See the old fortress.
  2. Skenduli House See an Ottoman house.
  3. Old Bazaar Browse crafts.
About this page

Written by the EveryParampara desk with AI assistance. Opening hours, markets and festival dates change; check locally before travelling. Customs differ from place to place and family to family. If this is your tradition and we have it wrong, tell us.

KindSpiritualFestivalRite of passageTable customSeasonalDressPerformanceEtiquetteCraftGameFolkloreHomeCeremony
MealBreakfastLunchDinnerSupperTea-time and snacking customsTea, coffee and drinking ceremoniesSweets given and sharedFeasts and festival mealsFasting and breaking the fast
🇦🇱 Gjirokastër, Albania and 2 moreAlbanian iso-polyphonyIso-polifonia Multi-part Albanian singing with a held drone, kept across the southPerformance 🇦🇱 Gjirokastër, Albania and 5 moreDodola and Perperuna A rainmaking ritual kept across Southeast Europe, where children dressed in greenery lead processions to call for summerSpiritual

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