Albanian culture

Architecture 

The communist regime didn’t make enough to save the special architecture or cultural specifies of each city. Most of traditional houses couldn’t make it through time and war. Only in Gjirokastra and Berat you can see these old, traditional buildings.

Traditions

Traditional costumers are different from the North to the South. In the south the males wear the famous “fustanella”. This is like a long skirt; very similar to the white skirt wore by the Greek. The costumes in the North are heavier because of the low temperature in this area.

Males also wear a special kind of hat “qeleshe”, which is worn everywhere in Albania, but it shape differs. In some regions the top of the hat is flat and in some others it is pointy.

Catholic females in the north wear a special kind of dress that weights 15 kg (xhubleta). This dress has been carried through over the centuries from the Illyrians.

Traditional costumes are very important for Albanians. They consider them as very valuable and wearing these costumes is a matter of pride and honor. In special occasions or festivals the youngsters usually wear these costumes for celebrating.

The Albanian folklore is also very rich. Traditional songs are a very important part of this folklore. In the north the songs are mostly about heroes. These songs are accompanied by a musical instrument of only one cord named “lahuta”.

Songs of the south are listed in the UNESCO. This is polyphonic music of the region of Laberia. There are noticed some similarities between these songs and those of Corsica and Sardinia.