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UNESCO · SOUTHERN ALBANIA

Roots Albania in Gjirokastra: audio stories about 15 places

Roots Albania has audio stories about 15 places in Gjirokastra (Albanian: Gjirokastër), a UNESCO World Heritage site in southern Albania. The app covers 211 places in ten Albanian cities, in 28 languages, and needs no account: open Gjirokastra, pick a place and play its story.

Published 15 September 2026. Markdown: gjirokastra.md

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The 15 places in Gjirokastra with audio stories

In the order the app shows them, with the Albanian name after the English one.

  1. Kadare House (Shtëpia e Kadaresë)
  2. Old Bazaar (Pazari i Vjetër)
  3. Cold War Tunnel (Tuneli i Luftës së Ftohtë)
  4. Bazaar Mosque (Xhamia e Pazarit)
  5. Skenduli House (Shtëpia e Skëndulatëve)
  6. Gjirokastra Ethnographic Museum (Muzeu Etnografik i Gjirokastrës)
  7. Gjirokastra Castle (Kalaja e Gjirokastrës)
  8. National Weapons Museum (Muzeu Kombëtar i Armëve)
  9. Gjirokastra Memorial Museum (Muzeu Memorial i Gjirokastrës)
  10. Zekate House (Shtëpia e Zekatëve)
  11. Obelisk of Education (Obelisku i Edukimit)
  12. Meçite Church (Kisha e Meçites)
  13. Viroi Lake (Liqeni i Viroit)
  14. Antigonea
  15. Labova e Kryqit

Is there an audio guide for Gjirokastra Castle?

Yes, as audio stories. Gjirokastra Castle (Kalaja e Gjirokastrës) is place 7 of the 15 Gjirokastra places in Roots Albania: it has a short introduction and a story of about six minutes, in 28 languages, with a male and a female voice.

In one line: The second-largest castle in the Balkans, with early ancient roots whose dating remains disputed, and its present form given by Ali Pasha of Tepelena between 1812 and 1821.

The National Weapons Museum, opened in 1971 inside the castle, and the Cold War Tunnel have their own stories too.

Roots Albania is not a guided tour: you choose the place on the city's map of places and play its story yourself.

How to use Roots Albania in Gjirokastra

Open Roots Albania and choose Gjirokastra. The city has its own map of places with all 15 places on it; tap a place to play its short introduction or its story of about six minutes. You can listen in 28 languages, in a male or a female voice, and there is no account.

Download a city's audio, then it plays without a connection. The stories are written by local people.

The other nine cities

All 15 places in Gjirokastra, with coordinates

Every place below has a short introduction and a story of about six minutes in the Roots Albania app. The names, the coordinates (latitude, longitude), the type, the period and the one line descriptions are taken from the app's catalogue on 15 September 2026; a place without a one line description here has none short enough to print.

1. Kadare House

Albanian name
Shtëpia e Kadaresë
Coordinates
40.0761754, 20.1362659
Type of place
cultural
Period
modern
In one line
The house where Ismail Kadare was born in 1936, the writer who carried Albanian literature out into the world.

2. Old Bazaar

Albanian name
Pazari i Vjetër
Coordinates
40.0742447, 20.1385205
Type of place
cultural
Period
Ottoman
In one line
The Ottoman commercial heart of Gjirokastër, with cobblestones, white limestone walls and black slate roofs, rebuilt after the fire of the nineteenth century.

3. Cold War Tunnel

Albanian name
Tuneli i Luftës së Ftohtë
Coordinates
40.07469, 20.1398934
Type of place
historical
Period
communist
In one line
An underground shelter built by Enver Hoxha's regime in the 1970s, with 59 rooms and around 800 metres of corridors, for 300 people in the event of a nuclear attack.

4. Bazaar Mosque

Albanian name
Xhamia e Pazarit
Coordinates
40.073889, 20.138056
Type of place
religious
Period
Ottoman

5. Skenduli House

Albanian name
Shtëpia e Skëndulatëve
Coordinates
40.0751993, 20.1353572
Type of place
architectural
Period
Ottoman

6. Gjirokastra Ethnographic Museum

Albanian name
Muzeu Etnografik i Gjirokastrës
Coordinates
40.07555556, 20.13472222
Type of place
museum
Period
modern
In one line
Built between 1964 and 1966 on the plot where Enver Hoxha was born, after the 1916 fire that destroyed the original house.

7. Gjirokastra Castle

Albanian name
Kalaja e Gjirokastrës
Coordinates
40.074, 20.141
Type of place
historical
Period
medieval
In one line
The second-largest castle in the Balkans, with early ancient roots whose dating remains disputed, and its present form given by Ali Pasha of Tepelena between 1812 and 1821.

8. National Weapons Museum

Albanian name
Muzeu Kombëtar i Armëve
Coordinates
40.073232, 20.140008
Type of place
museum
Period
modern
In one line
Opened in 1971 in the cells of Zog's prison inside the Castle, it covers mainly the period from the 1912 independence to the end of the Second World War.

9. Gjirokastra Memorial Museum

Albanian name
Muzeu Memorial i Gjirokastrës
Coordinates
40.07452, 20.13942
Type of place
museum
Period
contemporary

10. Zekate House

Albanian name
Shtëpia e Zekatëve
Coordinates
40.0748, 20.1323
Type of place
architectural
Period
Ottoman
In one line
A masterpiece of southern Albanian architecture, built between 1811 and 1812 by Beqir Zeko, the local general administrator of Ali Pasha of Tepelena.

11. Obelisk of Education

Albanian name
Obelisku i Edukimit
Coordinates
40.07444444, 20.13805556
Type of place
cultural
Period
modern
In one line
A monument of 124 stone blocks brought from Progonat, seven metres tall, raised to honour the teachers of Liria, the first Albanian school, opened in Gjirokastër in 1908.

12. Meçite Church

Albanian name
Kisha e Meçites
Coordinates
40.076122, 20.140279
Type of place
religious
Period
Byzantine
In one line
An Orthodox church in the Mëçitë quarter, built in 1784 with a modest facade to respect the Ottoman rules.

13. Viroi Lake

Albanian name
Liqeni i Viroit
Coordinates
40.1004119, 20.1234016
Type of place
natural
Period
ancient
In one line
An artificial lake of about 17 hectares, 3 kilometres north of the city, created in the 1950s and declared a natural monument in 1982.

14. Antigonea

Albanian name
Antigonea
Coordinates
40.087299, 20.222267
Type of place
archaeological
Period
ancient
In one line
A Hellenistic city founded around 295 BCE by King Pyrrhus of Epirus in honour of his wife Antigone.

15. Labova e Kryqit

Albanian name
Labova e Kryqit
Coordinates
40.07388889, 20.28916667
Type of place
religious
Period
Byzantine
In one line
The Church of the Dormition of Saint Mary, one of the oldest in Albania, with a cross-in-square plan and nine layers of Byzantine frescoes.