UNESCO

Butrint National Park is one of the most important areas of our country’s cultural, archaeological, environmental and touristic heritage. The extraordinary variety of natural habitats (from marine and wetlands in the west to mountain habitats in the east) and their intertwining with rare archaeological, historical and cultural sites creates a very unique landscape ëith ëorld heritage. The land surface and the islands constitute wonderful sea and land landscapes, the most important area in the country, where the Mediterranean evergreen shrubs...

Gjirokastër is a city in the Republic of Albania and the seat of Gjirokastër County and Gjirokastër Municipality. It is located in a valley between the Gjerë mountains and the Drino, at 300 metres above sea level. Its old town is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, described as “a rare example of a well-preserved Ottoman town, built by farmers of large estate”. The city is overlooked by Gjirokastër Fortress, where the Gjirokastër National Folklore Festival is held every five years....

Berat, designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2008, comprises a unique style of architecture with influences from several civilizations that have managed to coexist for centuries throughout the history. Like many cities in Albania, Berat comprises an old fortified city filled with churches and mosques painted with grandiose wealth of visible murals and frescos. Located in central Albania, Berat bears witness to the coexistence of various religious and cultural communities down the centuries. It features a castle, locally known as...

Rrajcë is a village and a former municipality in Elbasan County, in eastern Albania. The village of Rrajcë is found within the boundaries of Shebenik-Jabllanicë National Park. The nearby forest was declared part of UNESCO’s transnational natural site, The Ancient and Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and Other Regions of Europe. “Since the end of the last Ice Age, European beech spread from a few isolated refuges in the Alps, Carpathians, Mediterranean and Pyrenees over a short period of a...

The Gashi is a 27-kilometre-long river located in Tropojë, northern Albania. It is a nature reserve, spanning an area of 3,000 ha. The nature reserve forms a part of the European Green Belt and has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site within the Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and Other Regions of Europe. “The integrity of the Gashi river is expressed by the structure of the forests (old trees and high deadwood share) and by the occurrence of the...

The Lake Ohrid region, a mixed World Heritage property covering c. 94,729 ha, was first inscribed for its nature conservation values in 1979 and for its cultural heritage values a year later. These inscriptions related to the part of the lake located in North Macedonia. The property was extended to include the rest of Lake Ohrid, located in Albania, in 2019. Lake Ohrid is a superlative natural phenomenon, providing refuge for numerous endemic and relict freshwater species of flora and fauna...

The codices of Albania are monuments of Christian culture and civilization and bear the stamp of the biblical-ecumenical space in which Albanians and their ancestors lived. “Codex Purpureus Beratinus φ” known by the name “Beratinus 1” is the oldest original manuscript preserved in Albania, one of the most important of the early Christian antiquity and one of the earliest manuscripts in the Gospel literature worldwide.  “Beratinus 1” is one of the seven purple codices stored in the world and appears in...

A traditional folk performance, which has been kept alive for centuries in our country: Iso-polyphony. A way of singing where several voices synchronize and give an incredible expression of either mourning or joy. Those songs that we usually hear in the southern areas of Albania carry in themselves a very valuable cultural heritage. No wonder it is included in the 50 most interesting attractions in the world and is protected as an intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO. Quite interesting is...