About 10 miles from the sea, in a village of Shijak, which no one could think of, wooden floating boats are made.

This is the workshop designed by the Italian Claudio Causin in the village of Pjezë, where these boats bearing Albanian names are made.

At a time when handcrafts and woodworking are in danger of “extinction”, ax masters aim to keep alive one of the oldest crafts in the world.

“The idea came from a passion of mine a few years ago. When I moved here years ago, I wanted to promote an Albanian product of excellent quality at the level, not only local, but above all European.  The idea was precisely to reevaluate wood as a material, applying it precisely to these new technologies, to bring it to the fore, given that in recent years this material has been reduced by fiberglass and plastic”, says Claudio Causin, the originator of the project.

“We have brought here the Venetian tradition, but interweaving it with the Albanian tradition. Therefore, our boats bear the names ’Zana’, ‘Shtriga’, ‘Illyria’, etc. They are made of fine wood, completely ecological and above all, handmade, down to the smallest detail”, says Francesco Bressan, organizer of the company.

Regarding the prices, without fear they can be considered luxury products, says one of the company’s Albanian partners.

“Our products, necessarily being artisanal and personalized, belong to luxury products. Prices vary in size and depending on customer requirements. They start from 20,000-250,000 euros and above”, says Marko Elezi, Albanian partner.

From 5 to 18 meters long, the company’s future projects include the production of luxury watercraft up to 60 meters, but also boats inspired by ancient Illyrian ships. This is intended to be achieved after solving the biggest penalty so far, the positioning of the construction site in an area with access to the sea.