The town of Gjirokastra in southern Albania is a well-preserved example of an Ottoman Balkan town, distinguished by its residential architecture but also notable for what is absent: unusually for an Ottoman town, it has only one minaret—the rest having been destroyed during the communist era. Declared a ‘museum city’ in 1960, Gjirokastra’s architectural heritage was preserved and maintained well by its Institute of Monuments for several decades.
Details, images and video at: AKAA 2010 Cycle, Shortlisted Projects, Conservation of Gjirokastra, Albania
Ismailimail 