An aerial view of Gjirokastra town in southern Albania, a Unesco World Heritage Site. — Photos: HEKTOR PUSTINA/AP
Seeing city streets in 2019 flooded by tourists enjoying its beauty was a dream come true for residents of Gjirokastra, a city in southern Albania recognised as a Unesco World Heritage Site for its Ottoman-period architecture.
It ended precipitously when the world locked down.
Called “the city of stone” due to its two-story houses with turrets dating back to the 17th century, Gjirokastra and a second Albanian town, Berat, were inscribed as a Unesco Heritage Site in 2005 as “rare examples of an architectural character typical of the Ottoman period”.