Roofing in Albania

Albania's most famous roofs are the grey stone roofs of Gjirokastër, the "City of Stone", whose Ottoman-era houses are covered with flat dressed stones. Together with Berat, a town of tiered houses on steep slopes, it forms a UNESCO World Heritage site. In the north, fortified stone tower houses (kulla) are characteristic.

Climate and hazards

The coast is Mediterranean and the interior mountainous, with harsh winters. Albania is highly seismic. On 26 November 2019 a magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck north-western Albania, killing 51 people; in early 2020 the government reported more than 11,000 buildings destroyed and 83,000 damaged. Much of the damage was blamed on building-code violations and substandard construction dating from the early post-communist period. In Berat, houses rebuilt after an 1851 earthquake kept stone lower floors with timber upper floors.

Roofing history

Berat's castle has origins in the 4th century BC, though it is mostly 13th century, as are many of the Byzantine churches in its citadel. Fortified towers in Gjirokastër date to the 13th century, before Ottoman rule; the Ottoman period in Berat began in 1417. Most of Gjirokastër's existing buildings date from the 17th and 18th centuries, and Berat's vernacular houses mainly from the late 18th and 19th centuries. The first northern kullas were built in the 17th century in the Dukagjini region.

Traditional and vernacular roofs

• Gjirokastër house: a tall stone block of up to five storeys, thought to derive from the fortified country houses of southern Albania. The lower storey holds a cistern and stable, the upper storeys a guest room and family rooms. Roofs are covered with flat dressed stones; a similar roofing style is found in the Pelion district of Greece. UNESCO notes that many Gjirokastër houses date from the 17th century, with more elaborate examples from the early 19th century, often with richly painted interiors.
• Berat house: tiered houses climbing the slopes, designed to use daylight.
• Kulla: stone towers of three or four storeys with small windows and loopholes, mainly in the north, with southern examples in Berat, Gjirokastër, Himarë and Këlcyrë. In Theth, "locked towers" (kulla ngujimi) served as refuges during blood feuds.

Roofing today

Many Gjirokastër houses are being reconstructed, but others are decaying from lack of investment, abandonment or inappropriate renovation, partly because local craftsmen are often excluded from projects.

Codes, standards and regulation

After the 2019 earthquake Albania drafted a law imposing prison terms of 7-15 years on investors, supervisors and architects who violate construction rules.

Notable roofs

• Gjirokastër (UNESCO since 2005, nominated 1988): more than 500 houses protected as cultural monuments; the 1757 mosque dominates the bazaar.
• Berat, added to the same UNESCO property as an extension.
• Lake Ohrid shore, added to the Ohrid UNESCO property in 2019.

Local roofing terms

• kullë / kulla - tower house
• kulla ngujimi - "locked tower"
• frëngji - narrow wall openings

Sources and gaps

Data on modern roofing materials, current building codes, information on domestic roofing manufacturers, and the source and laying methods of the stone used on Gjirokastër roofs were not found in published sources.