The Castle of Gjirokastra

Prioritized measures to address urgent safety concerns

for Integrated Urban and Tourism Development (PIUTD) which is financed through the World Bank. The PIUTD project support the Government of Albania to develop the economy and improve living condition in Southern Albania. Gjirokastra as a UNESCO Heritage Site, is part of this big project and The Castle is identified as a priority for different interventions and investments that need to be conducted within this project.

The castle of Gjirokastra is a major heritage asset. It is constructed of stone masonry for the fortified walls and towers with inter masonry and lime plaster finishes, but as there have been many phases of construction, modern materials are also present such as reinforced concrete. This condition makes the castle very sensitive in natural hazards such as earthquake or wildfire as well as current or future climate conditions. In order to improve all this, to protect this heritage asset and to make the Castle safer for the visitors, different innervations are proposed.

The innervations are divided in 3 packages:

• Package 1 Geology/Structural,

• Package 2 Visitors’ Content,

• Package 3 Museum Roof

To conclude in these proposals a huge work has been done in many aspects:

– Extensive inspection of the castle has been done

– Study of all data sources published and unpublished reports, creation of an historic timeline of the construction of the castle

– Discussions, both formal and informal, with experts outside the team- Numerous stakeholders have been consulted

– Numerous stakeholders have been consulted

– A detailed summary with drawings and photographs of every space of the castle is prepared.

All the innervations proposed within this project will not affect the values and authenticity of the city. The interventions in the Castle are also required as they protect the community and open additional areas of the castle for visitation – they contribute to improving knowledge of the castle as well as awareness-raising.