Historical tourism is attracting an increasing number of local and foreign visitors to Gjirokastra.

Tourists, mostly foreigners, prefer to get to know the rich history of the stone city. The evidence of the period of communism and the Cold War is particularly attractive to them.

“For this period, we have a dedicated tour that is the tour of the Cold War within the city and connects the tour with the key points of the Cold War tunnel, the house of the former dictator Enver Hoxha and the Weapons Museum in the castle, we try to give an image as clear as possible for the period of communism” said Marko Nurçe, tourist guide.

“Visitors here visit all the historical parts of the city such as its Bazaar, the castle and various museums but this is also one of the most visited places here as is the Cold War tunnel because it was built during the communist period and they want to see the part of that period, the history of that period” – stressed Olsi Sinani.

“I come from Great Britain and I am surprised by the visit to Gjirokastra, I studied the history of the Cold War and here I encountered interesting evidence and received satisfactory information about this historical period”.

During the spring season, Gjirokastra has been visited by about 30 thousand tourists. This year, a higher number of tourists is targeted compared to 2023, the year in which the stone city hosted around 300,000 local and foreign visitors.