Top Gjirokaster Arts & Design

Four Gjirokastër natives shaped this Albanian hill town — a guerrilla fighter, a novelist, a pasha, and a pioneering feminist writer. A communist dictatorship shadowed all of them. This self-guided audio tour follows their stories through the UNESCO-listed City of Stones. Starting at Çerçiz Topulli Square, where seven fighters once held off 200 Ottoman soldiers, you'll climb through the old bazaar to Ismail Kadare's childhood home. The 19th-century Skënduli House has 64 windows, four Turkish baths, and a pomegranate-carved wedding room. At Musine Kokalari's house museum, you'll learn how Albania's first female political writer paid for defending democracy with decades of exile. It ends at Gjirokastër Castle, above the ruins of ancient Antigonea, where a downed American spy plane sits on display. This tour is perfect for history lovers. Download the VoiceMap app and enter your voucher code from the confirmation email to start touring at your own pace.