Monthly Archives: May 2011

Getting to Know Gjirokastra

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At Adventures in Preservation, we are excited about Gjirokastra. The City of Stone, as it’s known, is chock full of history, architecture, and culture.

Gjirokastra Photo: J BroekerWhen we were first contacted about working there, I had never heard of it, and I’d never been to Albania. People from my days at CARE had worked in Pristina and Kosovo, but Gjirokastra was completely new to me. When I started doing a bit of background research and learning about the city, I was amazed to find such a gem. Any traveler heading there will too!

Photographs tell the story best. The Fotopedia Heritage app,  a compendium of stunning photographs of World Heritage Sites, contains eleven gorgeous photos of Gjirokastra.  There’s also a video story board by AlbaniaRepublic that puts the city in its landscape context.

Another way to experience the city is via literature. Try reading Chronicle in Stone – the story of prize-winning author Ismail Kadare’s boyhood in Gjirokastra in the early 1940s.

The kullë houses which characterize the city each contain approximately three million stones. Chris Hassler recently posted a series of videos showing renovation work. They offer insight into how these massive buildings are constructed.

AiP has been working to help the people of Gjirokastra preserve their architectural heritage since 2008.  If what you’ve seen here has inspired you to go see the city in person, join us at the Skenduli House project beginning in May 2012.

Buildings in Bhutan: One Form, Many Functions

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Bhutan is a unique place for many reasons. There’s the way the tourism is structured, with a set per-person fee of US$200 per day. There’s the government’s focus on Gross National Happiness. And there are the buildings.

Control Tower at Paro Airport

The first buildings most visitors see are those at Paro airport. You know right then that you have arrived at a special place.

As in any place, the buildings of Bhutan are a reflection of their physical and cultural environment. With extensive forests and wide rivers that have cast up tons of stone, materials are there for the taking and in plentiful supply. Thus, Bhutanese buildings are built of stone, mud and wood, and very occasionally brick. They feature complex roof structures and elaborate door and window surrounds. They also have very wide floor boards!

Bhutanese buildings are generally square in shape, built of either rammed earth or stone between timber frames.

Typical HouseHouses are of several stories. Traditionally, the ground floor was used for cattle; the first floor for grain and other storage and the second floor for living space. The living space, as we learned from our visit to the Folk Heritage Museum, consists of a kitchen, a living space, and a shrine room. Roofs are raised, with open space to allow the wind to go through. In the summer time, the open area at the top of the house is used for sleeping.

Punakha Dzong

Temples have the same basic form, just larger, and zhongs (religious and administrative centers) are larger still, with walled courtyards surrounding the central core. Buildings with a religious function have a band of red punctuated by circles of either yellow or white, representing, respectively, the sun and moon. The band is a clear sign a building is a temple rather than a house. The other indication is the gold top. On houses, the symbol of having conquered the evil spirits is a white flag; temples are topped with gold.

On the other end of the scale are utilitarian buildings. Water-run prayer wheels occupy similar structures, just much smaller. The continual chiming of the wheel adds yet another element of charm to your experience.

One of many new hotels being built, still using traditional styles

Water-powered prayer wheel on trail to the Tiger's Nest, Paro