A city of legends, but also very interesting history, and great food. It is the northernmost city of Albania, Shkoder.

Travel agency AVE tours takes you on a trip to the neighboring country of Albania with many surprises and new knowledge about the country that has been closed for 50 years. On this interesting trip you will find out when Albania opened its borders and why it is becoming more and more interesting for tourists from year to year.

The fact is – until the early 1990s, Albania was under the most repressive communist regime of Enver Hoxha, completely isolated from the rest of the world. After the death of Enver Hoxha, Albania opens its borders, and the land of eagles, the mystical and unknown country attracts the attention of people from all meridians.

Albania has about 3 million inhabitants, a third live in Tirana and about 150,000 in Shkoder.

The border crossing is Sukobin and is unique in Europe due to the fact that the police and customs of the two countries are located in the same building.

This border crossing has practically no “nobody’s” land. Such was the decision of the EU to donate the construction of the crossing to create stronger connections between the two countries that have been so far apart for years even though they are geographically close.

Testimony of the rule of Enver Hoxha is the bunkers.

Albania has about 750 bunkers more than Montenegro has citizens.

We will see one of those 750,000 as soon as we cross the border.

Church of the Nativity of Christ

Ebu Bekr mosque

Shkoder was founded by the Illyrians and throughout history the city has developed under the influence of different cultures and civilizations.

Shkoder shared its fate like most cities in the Balkans – a turbulent history with frequent changes of rulers, from Byzantium, Venice, the Serbian Nemanjic dynasty, and the Ottoman Empire, and for a short time less than a month Shkoder was part of Montenegro.

It is one of the oldest and culturally and economically most important cities in Albania.

During the tour of Shkodra, we will see the Square of Democracy, the Midjeni Theater, three religious buildings in the center of the city, the promenade where east and west met. In the main street is the Museum of Photography – Marubi.

Shkoder is an important industrial and educational center. Shkoder houses the Pedagogical Institute – University, Cultural Center, Association of Writers and Artists, Midjeni Theater, Art Gallery, Historical and Archaeological Museum, and the main library contains 250,000 books.

It is interesting that there are no traffic lights in Shkoder. Traffic is solved by roundabouts…

..

LEGEND

One of the saddest legends is related to the construction of Shkoder.

For years, mothers without milk have been coming to Shkodra above Bojana to pray in a chapel in the tunnel of a mighty fortress on top of a 130-meter-high rock.
What scientists see as the glistening white calcite oozy through the grey stone blocks for people from Shkoder have been drops of milk from Rozafa’s breasts, alive walled up in the city walls, sacrificed so that the fairies would not destroy it anymore.