GEEO Albania Google Earth Presentation

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USA

Today I’d like to share a great experience I had while traveling to Albania through a non-profit organization called GEEO. GEEO helps educators travel abroad so that they can learn more about different cultures to share with their students. I was joined on my trip by educators and retired teachers from all around the United States.

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Europe

We traveled across the Atlantic Ocean from North America to Europe. Europe and Asia share a long land border to the east, but Europe is conventionally understood as a separate continent—one of seven on Earth. The ancient Greeks are the ones who created the concept of continents as we think of them today.

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The Balkans

One of the most fascinating regions of Europe is the Balkans, the easternmost of Europe’s three great southern peninsulas—the other two are the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal) and the Italian Peninsula. (A peninsula is a piece of land almost completely surrounded by water, but still connected to the mainland.)

The Balkan Peninsula gets its name from the Balkan Mountains in Bulgaria. The region typically includes Albania, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, and Slovenia, as well as portions of Greece and Turkey.

The Balkans have an incredibly complex and rich history. For thousands of years, this region has been a crossroads where different civilizations, cultures, and empires have met and interacted. The Ancient Greeks, the Romans, the Byzantine Empire, and the Ottoman Empire all left their mark here. This mixing of cultures over centuries has created the unique character of the Balkans today.

One thing that makes the Balkans special is that it is incredibly diverse. Over 20 different languages are spoken here, and three major religions—Christianity (both Eastern Orthodox and Catholic), Islam, and Judaism—have coexisted for centuries. Each country in the Balkans has its own distinct culture, traditions, and history, yet they also share many common influences.

The 20th century was brutal for the Balkans. The region experienced two Balkan Wars (1912–1913), both World Wars, and the Yugoslav Wars (1991–2001). In some towns you can still see bullet holes in buildings from the 1990s. Because of the wars, many of these countries are relatively new—younger even than your parents! Kosovo became independent in 2008, and neighboring North Macedonia only changed its name in 2019.

Today, the region is much more stable, with many countries joining or working toward European Union membership.

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Albania

Albania is a small country about the size of Maryland with a population of roughly 3 million people. Albanians call their country Shqipëria (pronunciation)—often translated as “Land of the Eagles”—and refer to themselves as shqiptarë (pronunciation). The Albanian language is a branch all its own on the family tree of European languages, unrelated to the languages of Albania’s neighbors.

Albania has a beautiful coastline along the Adriatic and Ionian Seas, with sandy beaches and lagoons. It is also one of the most mountainous countries in Europe: about 70% of Albania consists of mountains and hills. This rugged terrain historically kept communities somewhat isolated from one another, which is one reason so many local traditions survived.

Many historians believe that Albanians are descended, at least in part, from the Illyrians, an ancient people who lived across the western Balkans more than 2,000 years ago. Later, for nearly 500 years—from the 15th century to the early 20th century—Albania was part of the Ottoman Empire, a vast Muslim empire ruled from what is now Turkey. During this period, many Albanians converted to Islam, though Christian communities continued to exist. This is why, even today, Albania is home to Muslims, Orthodox Christians, and Catholics living side by side—and why the country’s towns are dotted with both mosques and churches.

Albania’s national hero is Gjergj Kastrioti (pronunciation), known as Skanderbeg (“Lord Alexander”). In the 15th century, Skanderbeg led a 25-year resistance against the Ottomans, repelling more than a dozen invasions and becoming a symbol of Albanian independence celebrated all across Europe. His black double-headed eagle became Albania’s national symbol and still appears on the country’s red flag today.

Albania declared independence in 1912, but its borders were drawn by other European powers, and about half of all ethnic Albanians ended up living in neighboring countries. In the 20th century, Albania endured a monarchy, an Italian invasion during World War II, and then nearly 50 years of communist rule under Enver Hoxha (pronunciation)—one of the most repressive and isolated communist regimes in the world. Hoxha cut Albania off from almost every other country and, fearing invasion, had hundreds of thousands of small concrete bunkers built across the countryside; you can still spot them today.

When communism fell in 1991, Albania began transforming into a democracy and opening up to the world. Today it is one of Europe’s fastest-growing travel destinations and is working toward joining the European Union.

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Tirana

Albania’s capital and largest city is Tirana (pronunciation). The city is home to roughly one million people in the greater metropolitan area. (A metropolitan area is a major city plus its suburbs and nearby towns that share strong economic and social ties. [Can you use your city or a nearby city as an example?])

Tirana sits in a valley ringed by mountains, including Mount Dajti (pronunciation) to the east. It was founded as a city by the Ottomans in 1614, though the area had been inhabited since ancient times. Tirana became Albania’s capital in 1920, shortly after independence. During the communist era, it was a closed city with very limited contact with the outside world. Since the fall of communism, it has transformed dramatically.

One of the most striking things about modern Tirana is its colorful buildings. In the early 2000s, the city’s mayor—an artist by training—launched a project to paint drab apartment blocks in bright, vibrant colors. This was done partly to improve the city’s appearance, but also to lift people’s spirits and symbolize Albania’s emergence from its gray communist past.

Because of its layered history, Tirana today mixes Ottoman, Italian, communist-era, and sleek modern architecture. The city’s beating heart is Skanderbeg Square.

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Skanderbeg Square

Skanderbeg Square is the enormous central plaza at the very center of Tirana. Named for Albania’s national hero, it covers about 40,000 square meters—big enough to fit five and a half football fields—and in 2017 it was rebuilt as a vast, car-free pedestrian space paved with stones brought from every region of Albania and the Albanian-speaking lands beyond its borders. The gentle slope of the square drains rainwater into a thin sheet, creating a giant mirror after a storm.

At the center stands a bronze equestrian statue of Skanderbeg on horseback (an “equestrian” statue is one showing a person riding a horse). Around the square sit some of the most important buildings in the country, representing each layer of Albania’s history: the Ottoman-era Et’hem Bey Mosque and its clock tower, Italian-built government ministries from the 1930s, the communist-era National History Museum with its giant mosaic mural, and the modern National Opera and Ballet Theatre.

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Durrës

West of Tirana is the coast of the Mediterranean Sea and the city of Durrës (pronunciation), the most ancient city in Albania, with almost 3,000 years of history. It was founded in 627 BC by Greek settlers from Corinth and the island of Corcyra (modern Corfu), who established a colony in the territory of an Illyrian tribe called the Taulantii. They named it Epidamnos, later known to the Romans as Dyrrachium.

Durrës grew powerful because of its location at the western end of the Via Egnatia, a great Roman road that ran clear across the Balkans to Byzantium (later Constantinople, and today Istanbul). Think of it as an ancient superhighway: armies, traders, and travelers landed at Durrës by ship and then marched east along this road. That made the city one of the busiest and richest ports in the entire Roman world.

Today Durrës is Albania’s second-largest city and its main seaport. It has ancient ruins, a long sandy beach, and a modern harbor where huge ferries connect Albania to Italy—continuing the city’s role as Albania’s doorway to the west, just as it was 2,000 years ago.

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The Durrës Amphitheatre

The most impressive sight in Durrës is its Roman amphitheatre, the largest in the Balkans. It was built in the 2nd century AD, during the reign of the emperor Trajan, and once held as many as 20,000 spectators. An amphitheatre is a round or oval open-air arena with seats rising on all sides—the Latin prefix amphi- means “on both sides.” The most famous example is the Colosseum in Rome; the word “arena” itself comes from the Latin word for sand, which was used on the floor of amphitheaters to soak up blood from gladiator fights.

Here at the Durrës Amphitheatre, ancient crowds watched gladiator contests and other public games. Gladiators were fighters—often enslaved people, prisoners, or paid volunteers—who battled one another, and sometimes wild animals, for the entertainment of the crowd. Later, after the Roman Empire became Christian, part of the amphitheater in Durrës was turned into a small chapel and decorated with a beautiful wall mosaic that you can still see today.

Remarkably, the amphitheater was lost and forgotten for centuries. Houses and gardens were built right on top of it, and it was only rediscovered in 1966. Much of it still lies buried beneath buildings, waiting to be excavated.

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Vlorë

Vlorë is another Albanian city further south along the coast (pronunciation). The port city looks directly west across the Adriatic Sea, so it is a perfect spot to watch the sun set over the water. Vlorë sits near the point where the Adriatic Sea meets the Ionian Sea, roughly where Albania’s coastline turns from long sandy beaches into the dramatic cliffs of the Albanian Riviera.

Vlorë holds a special place in Albanian hearts because it is the birthplace of modern Albania. On November 28, 1912, in a house in this very city, the patriot Ismail Qemali (pronunciation) raised the national flag and declared Albania’s independence from the Ottoman Empire after nearly five centuries of Ottoman rule. That date, November 28, is still celebrated every year as Albania’s Independence Day, and Vlorë is home to the National Museum of Independence and the towering Independence Monument that honors the moment.

Like most of the Albanian coast, Vlorë’s roots reach back to ancient times. It was founded around the 6th century BC as a Greek colony called Aulon, and it has been a harbor town ever since.

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The Muradie Mosque

One of the most important landmarks in Vlorë’s old town is the Muradie Mosque, sometimes called the Lead Mosque. It was built in 1537, during the height of the Ottoman Empire, and it is prized for its beautiful, colorful brickwork and its elegant stone minaret—the tall, slender tower beside a mosque from which the call to prayer is traditionally announced.

The mosque is believed to have been designed by Mimar Sinan (pronunciation), the most celebrated architect in Ottoman history. (“Mimar” simply means “architect” in Turkish.) Sinan served three different sultans and designed hundreds of buildings across the empire, including grand mosques, bridges, and schools; his masterpieces in Istanbul are still considered some of the finest buildings ever constructed. To find a small work attributed to such a famous architect here in Vlorë shows just how connected Albania was to the wider Ottoman world.

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Tragjas & the Shepherd Outpost

Not far from Vlorë, in the mountains that rise steeply from the sea, sits the old village of Tragjas (pronunciation). From here, a hiking trail climbs a few kilometers up to a mountain shepherd outpost, where visitors can meet local families and learn about a way of life that has continued in these hills for centuries.

For generations, many Albanian mountain families have practiced transhumance—a word for the seasonal movement of herds. Shepherds guide their sheep and goats up to cool, green high pastures in summer, then bring them back down to warmer valleys in winter. It is demanding work, and it produces the milk that becomes Albania’s prized cheeses and yogurt.

Villages like Tragjas also carry difficult history. Old Tragjas was destroyed during World War II, and many residents later moved down toward the coast, which is why some mountain hamlets in Albania today feel half-abandoned.

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The Albanian Riviera

South of Vlorë, the coastal road climbs over a high mountain pass and then plunges toward the sea, beginning one of the most spectacular drives in Europe: the Albanian Riviera. A “riviera” is a scenic stretch of coastline, and this one runs along the Ionian Sea, where steep mountains covered in olive and citrus trees drop straight down to turquoise water and pristine beaches.

The Ceraunian Mountains that tower over this coast have a dramatic name. The ancient Greeks called them the Keraunia, meaning “thunder-split,” because their jagged peaks were so often struck by lightning during storms. Sailors in ancient times feared this rocky coast, but today it draws visitors from all over the world.

For most of the 20th century, this coastline was almost completely closed off to outsiders under Albania’s communist government. That isolation, difficult as it was for the people who lived here, meant the Riviera was never covered in big resorts and highways. It has stayed strikingly unspoiled compared to other Mediterranean coasts—one of the reasons it is now considered one of Europe’s last “undiscovered” seasides.

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Himarë

A favorite stop along the Riviera is the seaside town of Himarë (pronunciation), whose roots stretch all the way back to Illyrian and ancient Greek times. Himarë has two parts: a lively lower town along a seaside promenade, lined with beaches and Mediterranean-style taverns, and an atmospheric old town on the hill above, crowned by the ruins of a hilltop castle.

Climbing up to that castle rewards you with sweeping views of the coast to both the east and west. Fortresses like this were almost always built on high ground for that very reason: to spot enemy ships far out at sea and to make the settlement easier to defend from all directions. For centuries, coastal towns all along the Mediterranean lived under the threat of pirate raids, so people often built their homes uphill and out of sight of the water.

Himarë is also known for being home to a community that speaks Greek as well as Albanian—one more example of how, in the Balkans, a single small town can sit right at the meeting point of two languages and cultures.

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Ksamil & Ali Pasha’s Castle

Near the very southern tip of Albania lies Ksamil (pronunciation), a village famous for its small islands and some of the clearest, most turquoise water in the country. Just downshore, perched on a rocky peninsula guarding the channel between Albania and the Greek island of Corfu, stands a fortress known as Ali Pasha’s Castle.

The castle is named for one of the most colorful figures in Albanian and Ottoman history: Ali Pasha of Tepelena (about 1740–1822). Ali Pasha was an ethnic Albanian who rose from the son of a minor local lord to become the powerful, semi-independent ruler of a large territory covering southern Albania and northern Greece. He governed his lands so independently—negotiating directly with Britain, France, and Napoleon—that he was sometimes nicknamed the “Muslim Bonaparte,” after Napoleon Bonaparte. He was known for being clever and capable, but also ruthless.

Ali Pasha fascinated Europeans of his time, and he found his way into famous works of literature. The English poet Lord Byron visited his court in 1809 and wrote about him in the long poem Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage, and the French novelist Alexandre Dumas (author of The Three Musketeers and The Count of Monte Cristo) featured Ali Pasha’s family in his writing. He built a string of coastal fortresses like this one to control trade and defend against rivals, and their dramatic locations make them some of Albania’s most popular landmarks.

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Butrint

Tucked among forests near Ksamil is Butrint (pronunciation), one of the most important archaeological sites in the entire Balkans and Albania’s first UNESCO World Heritage Site (added to the list in 1992).

Do you know what a UNESCO World Heritage Site is? It is a place recognized by the United Nations as having such outstanding cultural or natural value that it belongs, in a sense, to all of humanity and should be protected for future generations. Albania has several in addition to Butrint.

What makes Butrint so special is that it is like a layer cake of history. The site was lived in for thousands of years, and each civilization built on top of the last. It began as a settlement of the Illyrians and other local peoples. It was expanded by the ancient Greeks, who built a temple to the healing god Asclepius and a theater. The Romans turned it into a thriving port city with baths and grand houses. And later, the Byzantines built churches, including a great baptistery with a beautiful mosaic floor. Venetians and Ottomans left their marks too.

Walking through Butrint, you pass from a Greek theater to Roman baths to a Christian basilica, all within a short stroll. Eventually, earthquakes and rising water forced people to abandon the city, and the ruins were slowly buried under centuries of mud and silt. That burial actually helped preserve them, which is why so much survives today. An archaeologist—a scientist who studies the past by carefully uncovering and examining what people left behind—can learn an enormous amount from a site like this, and much of Butrint is still being excavated.

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Gjirokastër

Inland from the coast, in a river valley beneath the mountains, sits the remarkable town of Gjirokastër (pronunciation), nicknamed the “Stone City.” Gjirokastër is another UNESCO World Heritage Site (added in 2005), recognized as one of the best-preserved Ottoman-era towns anywhere.

The nickname comes from the town’s distinctive look: the steep hillsides are covered with grand old houses whose walls and roofs are made of grey stone slates. These aren’t ordinary houses—many are kullë (pronunciation), tall tower-houses built like small fortresses, with thick stone lower floors and comfortable living quarters, often decorated with carved wood and painted walls, on the upper floors. They were built mainly in the 17th through 19th centuries by wealthy landowning families, in a style found across the Balkans during the Ottoman period. Visitors can tour some of the houses to see how these families lived. In the old bazaar, you’ll also find a stone obelisk (a tall, narrow, four-sided monument that tapers to a point) that commemorates the first Albanian-language school in the region, a proud symbol of the fight to teach and write in the Albanian language.

Gjirokastër is also the hometown of Albania’s most famous writer, Ismail Kadare (pronunciation), who set his novel Chronicle in Stone in the town. It tells the story of a young boy growing up during World War II, as different armies take turns occupying his hometown. Through his eyes, you can see what everyday life was like in Albania during a time of war, and how ordinary people experienced fear, change, and hope.

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Gjirokastër Castle

Looming over the Stone City is Gjirokastër Castle, one of the largest fortresses in the Balkans. A castle has stood on this hilltop since at least the 12th–13th centuries, and it was greatly expanded over the years—including, once again, by Ali Pasha in the early 1800s. Its long stone walls and towers stretch nearly a kilometer along the ridge, guarding the valley below.

The castle has served many purposes across its long life. It has been a stronghold, a garrison, and—during the 20th century, under both the monarchy and the communist government—a grim prison for political prisoners. Today it houses a museum inside those former prison halls, displaying weapons and armor from across Albanian history. The castle grounds also hold the wreckage of a United States Air Force reconnaissance plane that was forced down over Albania in 1957, during the tense years of the Cold War (the long standoff between the communist East and the democratic West), which the communist government kept on display as a trophy.

From the castle walls, the view sweeps across the sea of grey slate rooftops below and out over the whole Drino valley—the best possible place to understand why the town grew up exactly here, in the shelter of its fortress.

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Berat

Further north in inland Albania is the riverside city of Berat (pronunciation), yet another UNESCO World Heritage Site (added in 2008) and one of the oldest continuously inhabited towns in Albania—its story reaches back to the Illyrians and the 4th century BC.

Berat’s famous nickname is the “Town of a Thousand Windows” (sometimes “a Thousand and One Windows”). It comes from the town’s most beautiful feature: rows and rows of white Ottoman-era houses climbing steeply up the hillsides above the Osum River, each one with large wooden windows that seem to be stacked one above another. When the sun hits them, hundreds of windows glint at once. The oldest neighborhoods, Mangalem (pronunciation) on one bank and Gorica (pronunciation) on the other, face each other across the river, connected by an old stone bridge.

Berat is a wonderful example of Albania’s tradition of religious coexistence. Historically, Muslim and Christian families lived here side by side for centuries, and mosques and churches stand close together in the same small city—a peaceful mix that UNESCO specifically recognized when it protected the town.

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Berat Castle & Onufri

High above the town stands Berat Castle (called the Kala in Albanian), a fortress unlike most others. A castle has stood on this hill for well over 2,000 years—the earliest walls date to the 4th century BC and enclose the ancient stronghold of Antipatrea—and the fortress you see today was largely built up in the 13th century. What makes Berat Castle so unusual is that people still live inside its walls! It is one of the few inhabited castles in the world: families reside in stone houses along its lanes, just as their ancestors did for centuries.

Within the castle walls are the remains of many old churches and mosques. The most famous building is the Church of the Dormition of St. Mary, which today houses the Onufri National Iconographic Museum. This museum is named after Onufri (pronunciation), the most celebrated Albanian painter of the 16th century.

Onufri painted icons—sacred images of holy figures used in Orthodox Christian worship. He is remembered for two things. First, he broke with the strict, formal style of his time to give his figures more lifelike, individual, emotional faces. Second, he invented a brilliant, glowing shade of red so distinctive that it is still called “Onufri’s red” to this day; the secret recipe for mixing it was never written down, and it is said to have died with him. Onufri was alive not long after Skanderbeg’s death, when the Ottomans had taken control of Albania, so for a Christian artist to keep painting beautiful icons was a way of keeping his culture alive.

— Stop 20 —

Overview

This journey wound its way from the colorful capital of Tirana, down the ancient ports of Durrës and Vlorë, along the dramatic cliffs of the Albanian Riviera, out to the ruins of Butrint near the southern border, and back up through the stone town of Gjirokastër and the thousand windows of Berat. Along the way, you could trace the whole sweep of Mediterranean history in a single small country.

A few themes stand out when we learn about Albania:

• Layers of history: Albania has been home to Illyrians, Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Venetians, and Ottomans, each building on top of the last. That layering is visible everywhere—in the ruins of Butrint, the amphitheatre of Durrës, and the castles that crown nearly every town.
• Ottoman influence: Nearly 500 years as part of the Ottoman Empire shaped Albania’s architecture, food, town design, and religious makeup. The tower-houses of Gjirokastër, the white houses of Berat, and the mosques throughout the country all trace back to that era.
• Religious coexistence: Muslims, Orthodox Christians, and Catholics have lived side by side in Albania for centuries. In towns like Berat, mosques and churches stand within sight of one another.
• Isolation and reopening: For nearly 50 years, communist rule sealed Albania off from the outside world. That painful isolation kept places like the Riviera unspoiled, and today Albania is rediscovering the world—and being rediscovered by it.
• Resilience and pride: Albanians have lived through invasions, dictatorship, and dramatic change, yet they remain deeply proud of their language, their heroes, and their homeland—the Land of the Eagles.

The world is an enormous place, and I’m excited to have had the opportunity to explore some of it—I encourage you to do the same!