History & Culture

Castles, monasteries, ancient cities and the traditions still alive around them.

2 Nov 2026

Latin Bridge, Sarajevo: Where World War I Began

The Latin Bridge in Sarajevo, where Archduke Franz Ferdinand was shot on 28 June 1914: what happened, what to see today and photos of our group at the spot.

1 Sept 2026

Mesopotam and Phoenice: Two Sites Between Saranda and Delvina

A thirteenth-century monastery with carved stone beasts on its walls, and the hilltop capital of ancient Chaonia twenty minutes away.

24 Feb 2026

Libohova and Tepelena: Ali Pasha's Valley

Two castles, a 500-year-old plane tree and the story of the Ottoman governor who ruled southern Albania like a private kingdom.

20 Jan 2026

Preza Castle: The Village Fortress Above the Airport

Ten minutes from Tirana's airport, a fifteenth-century castle with a clock tower looks out over the plain to Krujë and the sea.

7 Jan 2026

Dardha: The Stone Village in the Mountains Above Korçë

At 1,340 metres above Korçë, a village of stone houses with a reputation for food, apples and the first snow of the year.

5 Nov 2025

Voskopoja and Vithkuqi: The Lost Cities of the Korçë Highlands

In the eighteenth century this village was one of the largest cities in the Balkans, with its own printing press. What remains are churches full of frescoes.

28 Oct 2025

Zvërnec: The Island Monastery in the Narta Lagoon

A wooden footbridge crosses the lagoon to a cypress-covered island, where a Byzantine monastery has stood since the thirteenth century.

14 Oct 2025

Ardenica Monastery: Where Skanderbeg Was Married

A thirteenth-century monastery on a hill between Fier and Lushnja, with some of the finest frescoes in Albania and a famous wedding in its past.

23 Sept 2025

Labova e Kryqit: One of the Oldest Churches in Albania

A domed Byzantine church in a village above the Drino valley, with foundations traditions trace to the sixth century.

26 Aug 2025

Elbasan: The Castle Quarter on the Via Egnatia

A Roman road, an Ottoman fortress with a neighbourhood living inside it, and one of the most underrated old towns in the country.

23 Apr 2025

Antigonea: The City King Pyrrhus Named After His Wife

A Hellenistic city above the Drino valley, founded around 295 BC, abandoned after the Romans burned it, and almost empty of visitors today.

26 Feb 2025

Petrela Castle: The Fortress Half an Hour From Tirana

A small triangular castle on a rock above the Erzen valley, fifteen kilometres from the capital and still largely unknown to visitors.