Stone Roofs of Gjirokastër

Gjirokastër, in southern Albania, is a hill town below a large castle whose houses are roofed with flat dressed stones. The grey stone roofscape gives the town its nickname, the "City of Stone". Its historic core was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2005, after a nomination in 1988, as a well-preserved Ottoman town, and Berat was later added to form the joint property "Historic Centres of Berat and Gjirokastra".

The houses

Gjirokastër's typical house is a tall block of stone up to five storeys high, with external and internal stairs. Its design is thought to derive from the fortified country houses of southern Albania. The lowest storey contains a cistern and a stable; above are a guest room and a family room with a fireplace, and higher floors housed extended families. UNESCO describes the type as a tower house (kullë), with a raised ground floor, a first floor for winter and a second floor for summer use, and richly decorated interiors with floral paintings in the guest rooms.

Dates

Fortified towers existed in Gjirokastër in the 13th century, before Ottoman rule. Most of the existing houses date from the 17th and 18th centuries, with more elaborate examples from the early 19th century. The Ottoman bazaar was built in the 17th century and rebuilt in the 19th after a fire, and the Gjirokastër Mosque of 1757 dominates it.

The roofs

The roofs are covered with flat dressed stones. A similar roofing style is found across the border in the Pelion district of Greece, and stone-slab roofs are also characteristic of nearby Epirus.

Conservation

More than 500 houses are preserved as cultural monuments. Many are being reconstructed, but others are deteriorating through lack of investment, abandonment or inappropriate renovation, a problem made worse because local craftsmen are often excluded from restoration projects.

Sources and gaps

Details of the stone source, slab sizes and laying methods: published information is limited.