Pogradec, the “Pearl” of the Lake in south-eastern Albania

SWANS, KORAN TROUT AND MULTICOLOURED FLOWERS: THIS IS POGRADEC, THE ENCHANTING TOWN FOR ALL SEASONS

Whenever Pogradec comes to mind, everyone thinks of the beautiful lakeside town where nature has created one of its "pearls". This is the place where the ever-present blue of the water's surface, the fiery red of the sunrise, the year-round greenery and its warm-hearted, hard-working people welcome you with a smile to spend a few days' holiday.

It is no accident that Lasgush and Kuteli once wrote about this enchanting place, that Zengo and Taso gave it colour and brushstrokes, and that Misto Cici and Fezollari captured it on celluloid, with many other artists immortalising this pearl of Albania in the memory of generations.

And it is strange but entirely true that anyone who has been to Pogradec once cannot resist the urge to return. Some have even settled here for good, buying a house or building a holiday villa. This is the magic of this big-hearted town, which welcomes everyone into its embrace, Albanians and foreigners alike.

The Town

With an area of 13 km ² and a population of 40,000, Pogradec is a town that can be explored entirely on foot. Spread across the hills like an amphitheatre whose tiers descend towards the lake, it stands out for its large green spaces.

Pogradec has wide promenades where you can still find the traditional evening stroll, the "xhiro", typical of Albanian towns. Among them are the Lasgush Poradeci and Fan Noli promenades and Reshit Çollaku Square, where the main institutions are located. The "Ten Martyrs of Pojska" promenade, meanwhile, stands out for its length. It starts in the town centre and runs east towards Tushemisht. The whole shore along it is used in summer for bathing, walking, running, sport, fishing and so on. The shore is sandy, with a thick layer of white sand. This is where you will find the hotels, apartments, holiday homes, government residences, the weather station and more.

Among the mayors who have led the town we can mention Zhani Treska, Elida Cane and Bashkim Myrtezai. The longest-serving mayor is the current one, Artan Shkëmbi, who is halfway through his third term. Under his leadership Pogradec has undergone great and profound changes in every field.

Some of the notable figures who have come from this town are the writers and poets Llazar Gusho and Dhimitër Pojanaku, the writer Dhimitër Pasko, Archbishop Dhimitër Kokoneshi, head of the Autocephalous Orthodox Church of Albania, the academic Kopi Kyçyku, the scholar Luan Starova, the filmmaker Esat Oktrova, the translator Meri Lalaj, the actress Marjeta Ilo-Ljarja, the singer Ermira Babaliu, the photographer Ardian Fezollari, and the painters Anastas Kostandini, Vangjo Vasili, Skënder Lako and Gentian Zeka.

At the end of the 1970s the writer Ruzhdi Pulaha, one of the best-known figures of Albanian drama, also worked in Pogradec for a short period. Here he wrote some of his finest works, such as "Maro Mokra", "Zonja nga Qyteti" (The Lady from the City) and "Shoqja nga Fshati" (The Comrade from the Village), which, once adapted for the screen, entered the golden collection of Albanian cinema.

Important cultural institutions active in the town include the Palace of Culture, the Sports Club, the Library, the Museum, the Art Gallery and others. Other cultural events held in Pogradec are the Opening of the Tourist Season, the Poetic Autumn competition, the annual Exhibition of Fine Arts, the Lasgush Poetry Evenings and the Wine Festival, which, on the eve of the great Christmas and New Year holidays, is held with the ritual opening of the wine barrels. The "International Puppet Theatre Festival" is another important event, which grew out of the excellent tradition of this theatre in Pogradec.

As one of the most beautiful towns in Albania, Pogradec has always been a favourite with filmmakers. A number of films show the lake, the landscape and the hard-working, generous people of this area. Among them we can mention "Mëngjese Lufte" (Mornings of War), "Zonja nga Qyteti", "Shoqja nga Fshati", "Duaje emrin tënd" (Love Your Name), "Rrethimi i vogël" (The Small Siege) and others.

History

Pogradec was inhabited in the Neolithic period, when pile-dwelling settlements were built along the lake shore at Buqeza. Later, in antiquity, the area was inhabited by the Illyrian communities of the Dassaretae, who populated today's Mokra, and the Enchele, who lived on what is today the Buçimas (Pogradec) plain. Their towns, Pelion and Enkelana, became important urban centres in the 4th–3rd centuries BC.

With the creation of the Illyrian state after the middle of the 5th century BC, power passed from the Taulantii to the Enchele. History tells us that the first Illyrian king was Sirras of the Enchele. From the marriage of his daughter Eurydice to Amyntas III of Macedon was born the future king Philip II, father of Alexander the Great.

In 167 BC the Pogradec area came under Roman rule and, administratively, became part of the provinces of Macedonia and Epirus Nova. Byzantine rule followed, whose legacy is the ruined basilica of Lin. In the central Middle Ages, between the 9th and 11th centuries, Pogradec also went through a period of Bulgarian rule, from which it inherited a number of Slavic place names, including Pogra-Dec itself, meaning "the town below the castle", since even today the town lies beneath its ancient and medieval castle. Pogradec later became part of the Principality of the Muzaka family, whose fall opened the way to the long Ottoman occupation, which lasted until 1912.

The first Albanian-language school opened in 1887; it was the second in Albania after the one in Korça, and its teacher was Koço Sotiri.

At the beginning of the 20th century Pogradec began its rapid urbanisation. The town's main streets were built by the municipality following the designs of a French engineer. The project began with the lakeside road, which today starts at the entrance to the town and ends at Tushemisht. Next came the second road, known as "Korça Road". It started at the same point as the first and continued east, climbing up the hill of the town. Between these two roads, links were made with other secondary streets laid out on a grid system. They created the shape of the future Pogradec as a town with a modern layout and green spaces. Along them rose two-storey houses and the first holiday villas, which in the 1930s also marked the beginnings of tourism.

During the Second World War, Pogradec went through Italian, Greek and German military occupations.

After the war, Pogradec experienced the industrial revolution of the communist period. The exploitation of the coal and iron-nickel mines began, giving priority to the mining industry. To transport the ore to processing plants, the town was connected to the Albanian railway network in 1978. Guri i Kuq station, a few kilometres from the town, is the very end of the eastern railway line, Durrës–Pogradec.

The People

The people of Pogradec are warm and approachable by nature. Simplicity and modesty are other traits of these hospitable, hard-working people. They speak a distinctive dialect of southern Albanian, close to that of Korça, which sounds beautiful and makes conversation warm and friendly. Accustomed to a long tradition of tourism, they welcome and see off dozens of visitors and tourists in every season of the year. But the first to experience this feeling are the artists, who come here constantly to take part in the many cultural and artistic events.

Ethnographically, Pogradec consists of two sub-areas, Mokra and the Starova (Pogradec) plain. In the past, the people of Pogradec dressed in traditional folk costume. Men's clothing consisted of a white shirt with wide sleeves, a woollen waistcoat (xhamadan) and woollen breeches (poture) with a sash worn over them, while on their heads they wore a white or black fez. Women wore a long, high-necked shirt. Over it they wore an embroidered sleeveless waistcoat, and on their feet woollen socks and tasselled leather sandals (opinga). The woman's costume was completed by a headscarf decorated with beads, coins or embroidery.

Tourism

Pogradec lies 140 km from Tirana, while the distance from the port of Durrës is 172 km. From the other port city, Vlora, the distance is 212 km, while the distance from Kapshtica, the border crossing with Greece, is 60 km.

Pogradec can be reached by road via several routes, such as the Tirana–Pogradec and Rrogozhina–Pogradec highways. You can also travel by train. To get here, the line passes through one of the longest railway tunnels, the 3,015-metre tunnel at Qafë Thana, which emerges at the lakeside and then runs along the Pogradec riviera.

Tourism here can be enjoyed in all four seasons of the year, each offering different landscapes and endless, varied opportunities for recreation.

From family-run tourism in Tushemisht and Lin, along the whole shore there are dozens of hotels, motels, resorts and holiday villas offering modern, pleasant facilities such as fully equipped rooms, bars, pizzerias, restaurants, piers and platforms built over the water, boats for excursions, parking, internet, water sports, tourist guides and more.

Every summer the town's population doubles with the many holidaymakers, mainly from Tirana, Korça and Elbasan. The beautiful scenery, the lake, the climate, the attractive surroundings and the hospitable people bring holidaymakers back here every summer. The local authorities also play their part in this. In 2012 Pogradec won the Albanian Tourism Award for the best tourist offer.

Cuisine

The produce of the land and the lake makes Pogradec a standout destination for both traditional and refined cuisine. We can mention lakror, a two-layer pie baked under a saç (iron baking lid), qullnik, byrek pies, kulaç bread, pastërma (cured meat), baked vegetables with rice, and fish or meat casseroles baked in the oven. The koran, the famous fish of the lake, alone has ten recipes, which only local masters know how to cook. Among traditional desserts, baklava remains the favourite.

In the many restaurants and hotels you can enjoy the cuisine of the lake, grilled or baked in a clay dish. Poultry cooked under the saç and game dishes, including wild duck, coot and wild hare, are a speciality in their own right. International cuisine is also interesting, with its wide variety. All this can be enjoyed with grape, mulberry or plum raki and the famous Pogradec wine, which is kept in wooden barrels.

Koran Gut

The reply that the German lake guard gives to a group of Albanian guerrillas in the film "Mëngjese Lufte", set during the war in Pogradec, is famous. The koran, "king" of the lake, is so renowned that it reaches us even through such reminiscences from history. Also very well known is the remark by Queen Elizabeth of England: "The Queen of England comes to meet the Queen of the Lake", which she made after tasting this rare fish on the shores of neighbouring Ohrid. Together with the belushka, the eel and the chub, it makes up the dishes tourists like best. But scientifically, too, it is a unique case: a distinctive endemic species that grows only here.

WHAT YOU CAN VISIT

The Lake of Pogradec

Formed around 2 million years ago when a tectonic basin filled with water, Lake Ohrid is the second-largest lake in Albania after Lake Shkodra. Lying at an altitude of 695 m, it has an area of 365 km², of which only 111.4 km² belong to Albania. It is also the deepest lake in the Balkan peninsula, with a depth of 287 m. Its basin is known for the transparency of its waters, in which a rich flora and fauna thrive. The purity of the water is another characteristic of Lake Ohrid. This is because it is fed by the karst springs of Saint Naum, Drilon and Tushemisht, as well as by underground channels from the lake of Great Prespa. Lake Ohrid also has an outflow, since the Black Drin, 172 km long and one of the branches of the River Drin, rises from it at Struga. Along its shore lie the town of Pogradec and the villages of Lin, Hudenisht, Memëlisht and Tushemisht, where fishing for the koran and the belushka, the two best-known of the 17 species of fish that live in it, has developed. Because of its many values, Lake Ohrid has been declared a UNESCO heritage site.

Drilon

Drilon, or Voloreka as the people of Pogradec call it, is one of the wonders that nature has created here. It lies 5 km east of Pogradec, right next to the tourist village of Tushemisht. Drilon is a karst spring made up of three streams that flow a few dozen metres before emptying into the south-eastern shore of the lake. One of them, the main one, forms a large pool where you can stroll, go boating and enjoy the beauty of the rich flora and fauna. The alder, plane, poplar and weeping willow trees and the reed beds make the air you breathe fresher and cleaner. The cafés and restaurants, the wooden bridges, the swans and the other birds that live here, as well as the fresh fish and red wine served in the nearby eateries, let you become one with nature.

Tushemisht

Tushemisht is another favourite with tourists. It has been mentioned since the 9th century, when Saint Naum, a local saint whose monastery lies a few kilometres away, visited the village and blessed its cows. Today Tushemisht is known not only for its dairy products but also for koran farming, its fruit trees and tourism, which has developed greatly in recent years.

Its streets, houses and other spots were once immortalised in scenes from the well-known Albanian films "Zonja nga Qyteti" and "Shoqja nga Fshati", which were shot here. To commemorate this, the house of the main character of these cinematic masterpieces, Ollga, has been preserved, and her bust stands in the central square of Tushemisht, now called "Ollga" Square.

Lin

The Lin peninsula is the first to reveal its beauty as soon as you start down from Qafë Thana, the pass that separates the Prrenjas basin from the Pogradec basin. From above, Lin looks like the palm of a hand reaching into the lake. Archaeologists have documented that this rocky peninsula has been inhabited since the Iron Age. The village lies on its western side and forms a remarkable symbiosis between people and nature. Fishing boats are moored in the sheltered bay on the northern side, while on the eastern side of Lin lie the "zagragje", the villagers' gardens: small plots enclosed by stone walls in which vegetables are grown. Known as the "family shops", they produce, depending on the season, tomatoes, peppers, lettuce, cabbages and above all the red onions of Lin, used to cook the famous fish casserole. The whole village is crossed by a single long street, lined on both sides with two-storey houses.

Family-run tourism has developed here, with village houses converted into holiday homes. As well as beaches, clean fresh air, beautiful nature, local cuisine and dishes cooked under the saç, Lin also offers walks and nature excursions along the hill paths. Among its many beaches, the largest and most beautiful is that of Neli Resort. Set at the foot of the Barkalica rock, it stands out for its clear water, tranquillity, boats and diving boards. In front of its shore opens a breathtaking panorama in which, across the mirror of the water, you can clearly see Ohrid with its hilltop fortress, Saint Naum and Mount Galičica (Mali i Thatë).

The Basilica of Lin is an early Christian place of worship built at some point in the 6th century. Architecturally it is triconch and consists of a naos, a baptistery, an atrium and three small chapels on the northern, north-eastern and southern sides of the naos. The basilica had a stone iconostasis, and its floors were decorated with multicoloured mosaics featuring floral, animal and geometric motifs.

The Town Castle

The castle stands east of the town on a hill rising 205 m above Pogradec. It also gave the town its name, at some point during the Bulgarian occupation in the 9th–11th centuries. The word Pogradec comes from the Slavic for "below the castle", meaning the town below the castle. The castle's main function was to control the whole surrounding region, and it was in use from the 5th century BC until around the 11th century. Today only a small part of its walls survives, and lovers of art photography can take wonderful pictures there of the surrounding panorama, including the town and the lake.

Pojska

On the road from Pogradec to Qafë Thana lies Pojska, the historic site of the battle of 16 July 1943 between Albanian partisans led by commander Reshit Çollaku and the occupying Italian forces. This is commemorated by the memorial dedicated to the ten martyrs of Pojska.

The Tombs of Selca e Poshtme

Archaeological excavations that began in 1969 brought to light the first finds on the hill of Gradishta, which was inhabited continuously from the Neolithic period until late antiquity. Situated at an altitude of 1,040 m above sea level, above the village of Selca e Poshtme, the small ancient town covered an area of 6 hectares and was enclosed by walls of squared stone. Today it can be visited for its five monumental rock-cut tombs, uncovered by archaeologists, which have an attractive and distinctive architecture.

Golik Bridge

Golik Bridge was used by people on foot and by caravans to cross the River Shkumbin. It was built at some point in the 18th century, replacing an earlier bridge that had been ruined by time. The bridge consists of two arches of different sizes, between which there is also an opening to let floodwater through. The structure is 37 m long and 7.5 m high. Built of stone bound with mortar, the bridge is still in use today.

Guri i Kamjes

Guri i Kamjes (the Kamje Rock) is a natural monument in the Mokra area, near the village of Dardhas, at an altitude of 1,461 m. From afar it looks like a warship that has just put out to sea. Corrasion, as the action of the wind is otherwise known, has created a natural wonder here. The rock massif is a block measuring 100 m long, 80 m wide and 70 m high.

The Monastery of Saint Marina

The Monastery of Llënga is a cultural monument built in 1660. Its church, dedicated to Saint Marina, was rebuilt in 1754 and decorated with frescoes and icons by the distinguished master Kostandin Shpataraku.

The feast of Saint Marina is celebrated on 17 July every year, when dozens of believers make a traditional pilgrimage. After visiting the cave of Saint Marina and bathing in the waters of the nearby spring, they spend the night at the monastery, following the annual ritual.

ILIRJAN GJIKA