1. Geographic Position
The region of Korça lies in the Southeast of Albania, on the eastern side of the Central Mountains.The region includes three cities: Korça (the capital of the region), Bilisht and Maliq, as well as 27 smaller communes.The City of Korça is one of the major cities of Albania.It lies in the southeast of the region at the foot of the Morava Mountains, with an elevation of 869 meters above sea level. The region is surrounded by rugged mountains and foothills—the city itself is bordered by the Morava Mountains to the east and the rugged mountains of Gora, Voskopoja and Vithkuq to the west.Towering to the north is Oak Mountain (Mali i Qarrit), and bordering to the south is Dry Mountain (Mali i Thate).Lower areas include the valley of Korça, one of the area’s largest, as well as the valley of Upper Devoll.The region of Korça is rich with underground water resources and lakes, the most important of which is the Devoll River, including the Dunavec and Osumi tributaries.This zone includes the headwaters of three Albanian rivers (Devoll, Shkumbin and the Osum).Major lakes in the area include Great Prespa and Little Prespa.
Korça is bordered on the north by the city of Pogradec (41 kilometers away), on the south by Erseka (45 kilometers away) on the east by Bilisht (27 kilometers away), and on the west by Skapari.The City of Korça itself is 181 kilometers from the Tirana, Albania’s capital city.
2. When to Visit
Each of the four seasons offersits own beauty for a trip to Korça.In the winter, Korça offers beautiful views of a city under a pristine blanket of snow.In the fall, you can enjoy the changing colors of leaves in the mountains as well as the famous apples that grow around charming villages in the rich agricultural plain. For all that prefer a mountain climate, Korça offers a fresh and cool escape from the hot summer, with clean air and beautiful nature.Throughout the entire year, Korça offers activities, cultural events, festivals and fairs that will make your stay in Korça even more pleasant.Best known among these fairs include the celebrations for Orthodox Easter, Christmas, Carnival, and the Beer Festival, which never fail to attract many visitors to the city.
3. Climate
Korça is characterized by a climate that is part Mediterranean mountain, and part continental, with cold winters and hot and dry summers.The average yearly temperature is 10.6ºC.The coldest month is January, and the hottest month is August.The wettest month is November, with average rainfall totals of 104 millimeters, while the average yearly total for rain is 720 millimeters.The region is characterized by different local winds such as the Voskopoja wind, Southwest wind, and winds from Morava, Devollka, and other places.
4.Population
The population of the City of Korça is 130,531.Following the 1990s, the city experienced significant emigration of the population both to other places in the country and abroad.In addition to ethnic Albanians, the region around Korça includes Aromanians, Slavs and Roma.
5.Religious Faith
Korça is predominately comprised of Orthodox Christian and Sunni Muslim adherents.In addition, there are other faiths in the region, including Bektashi Muslims and Evangelical Christians.Korça is considered by many to be a symbol of interfaith harmony and understanding.
6.Transport
Korça is an important transportation hub linking Central Albania with roads to the regions of Devoll, Kolonje, Permet and Pogradec. In addition, Korça is connected by the national road with Greece including the nearby cities of Thessaloniki, Larisa and others.The main automobile routes include Korça-Elbasan-Tirana, Korça-Erseka, and Korça-Bilisht-Kapshtica.
7.Traditions and Customs
The ethnographic provinces of the region are: Gora, Opari, Devolli, and Prespa.Local craft traditions include working with wool (felt, cloaks, shirts and carpets), thick leather goods with cotton, or woodworking.Voskopoja was traditionally known for its export of felt, Dardha for woodworking, Bradovica for its clay pottery, Progri for house building, and Opari for its woodworking and cobblestones.
8. Types of Dwellings
Traditional dwellings in Korça are made in the Turkish style, with a semi-open upstairs veranda- a style which was popular in the villages as well.Iron railings and stone sculptures are a typical feature of Korça’s architecture.Additionally, the City of Korça is known for its beautiful courtyard gardens with flowers (roses, tulips, hydrangeas and other flowers), as well its city squares with historical public wells. Another characteristic of the city of Korça are the cobblestone streets that wind through traditional buildings in the older neighborhoods.
9. Traditional Clothing
Until the end of the 19th century, the most common men’s clothing was a traditional kilt. For women, the most common clothing was a long shirt with an apron.Also characteristic for Korça women are belts adorned with intricate metal decorations.Traditional men and women’s shoes with plumes were renowned for their beauty and comfort, leading to the spread of this style of shoe throughout Albania and in other countries including Greece.
10.Serenades
The serenades of Korça are songs characteristic to the region, usually sung with guitar and mandolin accompaniment.This particular style of song, though unique to Korça, is famous throughout all of Albania. The songs usually reflect on the sweetness of sadness of true love, and represent an original and local way of musical expression.Famously, these songs would be sung by a love-struck man, standing under the balcony of the mischievous girl he desired, or beside the iron railing of a courtyard garden, or around the evening table filled with traditional food and drink.Serenades reached their peak popularity in the 1930s, but continue to be sung today with live music in bars and restaurants, and in the homes of Korça families.
11.Cuisine and Drinks
Korça is known for its delicious traditional cooking., including byrek or lakror (savory pie) with two layers cooked in a wood fired oven, special preparations of the wild carp native to Lake Prespa,the famous dried and salted cironka (bleakfish), as well as the cooking of wild game and fowl.Traditional Korça dishes include savory pies baked over woodfires (petanik, lakror and përvëlak) and small spiced sausages. The village of Vithkuq is famous for its walnuts and tea, roasted meat and dairy, while the village ofDardha is most known for its take on the local savory lakror pie with two layers, baked in a wood fire oven.Particularly unique local flavors include the ligavece from Dardha, snails, local mushrooms and lakror pie with cornmeal. Of course, no visit to Korça would be complete without trying the famous Korça Beer, still brewed locally at the first brewery to ever open in Albania.
12. Short History of Korça
Korça, founded in the 15th century, is the largest administrative center of southeaster Albania, and the largest city in the region. While the city itself was created in the late middle ages, the surrounded region has hosted residents for many centuries before.This long history helps make the region of Korça one of the most important cultural and economic centers in Albania: birthplace of music and the first Albanian language school, home to natural beauty and lakes, and mountain region with national parks.
Studies have shown that the zone where the current exists has been home to residents since ancient times. During the epochs of antiquity, life flourished her, concentrated in the hills surrounding the present day city. After the coming of Iliaz Bej Panaritit in the village of Peshkepi located near the city, Korça underwent great changes.He built great mosque in the city in 1496 as well as the famous Bazaar of Korça (both which stand to this day).In the 17th to 19th century, the city expanded, particularly following the destruction and burning of neighboring Voskopoja.By the second half of the 19th century, Korça had become one of the most important economic, market and cultural centuries in the country, with a large busy market that earns itself a place among other monuments of Albania. During the National Renaissance many local heroes contributed to the creation of the Albanian identity and state, including by founding the first Albanian language school.On December 10, 1916, the short-lived Autonomous Republic of Korça was founded by the patriotic acts of Korça resident Themistokli Germenji. In the early years of the formation of the Albanian state, Korçadistinguished itself among other Albanian cities for being a leading example of economic, cultural and urban development.By the first decade of the 20th century, Korça , Korça had become one of the most flourishing cities for culture and education, including by the establishment of a French Lyceum in October, 1917, which prepared a generation of intellectuals to leave their marks on national culture and history.During the period of communism that followed (as was the case everywhere in Albania) the cultural richness of Korça was negatively impacted, with the regime fighting fiercely against intellectual and economic forces in the city. Today Korça continues its old tradition of culture and education, and is regarded by many to be the finest city in Albania.