Mountains and Coast
The Accursed Mountains in the north, the Riviera in the south, and the Vjosa running between them, in 2023 declared Europe's first wild-river national park, undammed along its whole length. Theth and Valbona, long separate parks, were merged in 2022. This facet is the land itself: the coast, the lakes, the high valleys that kept the north beyond the reach of every empire that claimed it.
Part of Albania
16 moments in this segment.
- - The Drin below the Vizier's Bridge, 1905. The Drin running through its gorge near Ura e Vezirit, photographed by Franz Nopcsa in 1905. The river and its crossings governed every journey into the northern Albanian interior.
- - The Cukali mountains from the Gomina valley. The broken limestone country of Cukali in the district of Puka, recorded by Franz Nopcsa in 1907. Nopcsa mapped the geology of these ranges while also compiling notes on the tribes who lived in them.
- - Maja e Jezerces, 1907. At 2,694 metres Jezerca is the highest summit of the Albanian Alps, photographed by Franz Nopcsa in 1907. His climbs in these mountains were the first properly documented survey of the range.
- - Valbona in June. The Valbona valley in the Albanian Alps, photographed on the day the summer tourist season opened in 2012. Valbona and neighbouring Theth became the country's first mass hiking destinations after 2000.
- - Permet in the Vjosa valley. The small southern town of Permet, photographed in November 2012. It sits on the Vjosa, the river that later became the centre of Albania's wild-river conservation fight.
- - The lake at Kukës. The Fierza reservoir below Kukës, in the far northeast. The lake was created by damming the Drin in 1976 and drowned the old town, which was rebuilt on higher ground.
- - Bajram Curri in the northern highlands. The town of Bajram Curri in Tropoja, gateway to the Valbona valley and the peaks of the Albanian Alps, photographed in 2013.
- - The Llogara pass above the Vlorë coast. The Llogara pass, where the Ceraunian mountains drop straight to the Ionian sea. The road over it is the gateway to the Albanian Riviera.
- - The old bridge on the road to Prizren. The bridge near the former Luma tower once carried the road from old Kukës to Prizren. Built in 1918 under Austrian occupation, it stayed in use until 1976, when the Fierza reservoir flooded the town it served.
- - Mount Shkëlzen in Tropojë. The bare limestone summit of Shkëlzen, at over two thousand metres one of the high points of the Tropojë highlands. The mountain gives its name to the surrounding pastures.
- - The coast at Himarë. The shoreline at Himarë on the Ionian coast, where the Ceraunian mountains meet the sea. The stretch between Llogara and Sarandë is the core of the Albanian Riviera.
- - Buying in the old bazaar of Kruje. Visitors browse the restored wooden bazaar below the castle of Kruje. The bazaar sells carpets, copper and antiques and is now one of the busiest stops on the Albanian tourist route.
- - The coast at Cape Rodon. The headland of Kepi i Rodonit and the bay of Lalzi on the central Adriatic coast. Skanderbeg built a castle on this cape in the 1450s as an escape route to Italy.
- - Village school at Sotirë. The school building in the village of Sotirë in southern Albania, part of the Greek-speaking minority area of the Dropull and Vurg valleys. Community schools like this one carry minority-language teaching in the far south.
- - Over the pass from Valbona to Theth. A complete account of the day-long walk between Valbona Valley and Theth national parks, filmed along the trail. The crossing is the main way through the Albanian Alps and has reshaped both villages.
- - Over the pass from Theth to Valbona. A multi-day crossing of the Albanian Alps from Theth over the pass to Valbona and north to Cerem near the Montenegrin border. The route runs through high summer villages and empty limestone country.
