Culture of Albania

Albanian culture or the culture of Albanians ( ) is a term that embodies the artistic, culinary, literary, musical, political and social elements that are representative of Albanians. Albanian culture has been considerably shaped by the geography and history of Albania, Kosovo, parts of Montenegro, parts of North Macedonia, and parts of Northern Greece, traditional homeland of Albanians. It grew from that of the Paleo-Balkan cultures, including Proto-Albanian, Illyrian, Thracian, Dacian, with their pagan beliefs and specific way of life in the wooded areas of far Southern Europe. Albanian culture has also been influenced by the Ancient Greeks, Romans, Byzantines and Ottomans.

The name 'Albanian' derived from the Illyrian tribe of the Albanoi and their capital in Albanopolis that was noted by Ptolemy in ancient times. Previously, Albanians called their country ''Arbëri'' or ''Arbëni'' and referred to themselves as ''Arbëreshë'' or ''Arbëneshë'' until the sixteenth century as the toponym ''Shqipëria'' or ''Shqypnia'' and the endonym ''Shqiptarë'' or ''Shqyptarë'' gradually replaced ''Arbëria'' and ''Arbëresh''. The terms ''Shqipëria'' and ''Shqiptarë'' are popularly interpreted respectively as the "Land of Eagles" and "Children of Eagles" / "Eagle-Men".

Medieval Latin name of the country called by its inhabitants Shqipëri (literally "land of eagles," from shqiponje "eagle") is also believed to come from Medieval Greek 'Albania', possibly stemming from a pre-IE word *alb "hill" (also proposed as the source of Alps) or from the PIE root *albho- "white".

Therefore, the lands of the Albanians might be named after the hills or mountains, or white snow-peaked mountains.

Another connection between the etymology of 'Albanian' and the word "white" might be found in 'alb', one of the liturgical vestments of the Roman Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, Methodist, Presbyterian/ Reformed and Congregational churches, an ample white garment coming down to the ankles and is usually girdled with a cincture (a type of belt, sometimes of rope similar to the type used with a monastic habit, such as by Franciscans and Capuchins), from the Latin albus, meaning white. It is simply the long, white linen tunic used by the ancient Romans. As a simple derivative of ordinary first-century clothing, the alb was adopted very early by Christians, and especially by the clergy for the Eucharistic liturgy. In early Medieval Europe it was also normally worn by secular clergy in non-liturgical contexts. Nowadays, the alb is the common vestment for all ministers at Mass, both clerics and laypersons, and is worn over the cassock, but underneath any other special vestments, such as the stole, dalmatic or chasuble.

The most dominant traditional Albanian folk costumes and dresses are indeed white with black vertical lines, same colors as the liturgical Christian vestment, the 'alb', which might be what the people whose traditional fold costumes resemble the 'alb' were named after.

In addition to the connotations to 'white' color in garments, costumes and dresses, the word 'white' is found in traditional Albanian phraseology (traditional phrases like "Fat bardhë", "faqe bardhë", "ardhshit të bardhë", etc. ) and Albanian oral traditions and mythology ("Bardha", figure of Albanian mythology similar to Zana, white maidens or spirits of the mist).

The word 'white', both in its figurative meanings and the white color in traditional Albanian costumess, dresses and clothing are certainly one of the recognisable element of traditional Albanian culture.

The double-headed eagle is the national and ethnic symbol of all Albanian-speaking people. The symbol appears in a stone carving dating from the tenth century as the Principality of Arbanon was established. It was also used as a heraldic symbol by a numerous noble families in Albania at that time. The double-headed eagle appears as a symbol for bravery, valor, freedom and heroism.

Albanians can be culturally and linguistically separated into two groups such as the northern Ghegs and southern Tosks. The line of demarcation between both groups, based on dialect, is the Shkumbin River that crosses Albania from east to west. Outside of Albania, Gheg is mostly spoken by the Albanians of Kosovo, northwestern North Macedonia, Montenegro and Croatia ( Arbanasi). On the other hand, Tosk is spoken by the Albanians of Greece (Arvanites, Chams), southwestern North Macedonia and southern Italy (Arbëreshë). The diversity between Ghegs and Tosks can be substantial, both sides identify strongly with the common national and ethnic culture.

Home of Muslims and Christians, religious tolerance is one of the most important values of the tradition of the Albanian people. It is widely accepted, that Albanians are well known about those values, about a peaceful coexistence among the believers of different religious communities in the country.

Thanks to its long history, Albania is home to many valuable monuments such as among others the remains of Butrint, the medieval cities of Berat and Gjirokastër, the Roman amphitheatre of Durrës, the Illyrian Tombs and Fortress of Bashtovë. Other examples of important contributions to architecture may be found in Apollonia, Byllis, Amantia, Phoenice, Shkodër and many others.

Despite being a small country, Albania has three sites on the UNESCO World Heritage Site List and one Intangible Cultural Heritage element. The Codices of Berat are eminently important for the global community and as well the development of ancient biblical, liturgical and hagiographical literature. Therefore, it was inscribed on the UNESCO's Memory of the World Register in 2005.

Lifestyle

Kanun

The Kanun, a comprehensive compilation of Albanian traditional customs and cultural practices, was codified by Lekë Dukagjini in the Middle Ages. Scholars have conjectured that the Kanun might have derived from Illyrian tribal laws, while others have suggested that it has retained elements from Indo-European Prehistoric eras. The Kanun reflects notably the historic development of Albanians through its turbulent history and encompasses in a real statute regulating various aspects of life including customs, traditions and wisdom in Albania.

Besa, "to keep the promise", is the Albanian code of honor and a major component of Albanian culture. It is among the highest and most important concept of the Kanun with a moral and ethic connotation. The term contains the given word or keeping of a promise or obligation and the guaranteed agreement among honorable men.

Most notably, Besa means taking care of those in need and being hospitable to every single person. Albania saved and protected almost 2000 Jewish people during the Holocaust. Rather than hiding the Jews in attics or the woods, the Albanians gave them clothes, gave them Albanian names and treated them as part of the family.

Fis (clan)

The traditional Albanian social structure is based on clans ( sq, fise) characterized by a common culture, often common ancestry and shared social ties. In past times most of them defended their territory and interests against other clans and external forces.

The Albanian tribal society clearly crystallized in the mountains of northern Albania and adjacent areas of Montenegro, and it was also present in a less developed system in southern Albania. One of the most particular elements of the Albanian tribal structure is its dependence on the ''Kanun of Lekë Dukagjini''.

This social structure was inherited from the ancient Illyrians, thrived until the early years of the 20th century, and remained largely intact until the rise to power of communist regime in 1944.

Oda

''Oda'' is a typical large room in an Albanian traditional house used by the host to receive and entertain the guests.. Traditionally, the host and the guests in the ''oda'' are old men and married men. Till the end of the 20th century, woman and young boys were not allowed to enter the room. In the ''oda'', the men talk, take political discussions and sing epic songs until late hours. During an ''oda'' "session", historical events and traditions are transmitted orally through discussions and songs.

Holidays

In consideration to the long and eventful history of Albania, there are several cultural and religious holidays throughout the country. Albanians, either in Albania, Kosovo and other countries, celebrate their Independence and Flag Day on November 28. Various ceremonies, festivals and concerts take place to celebrate the historic day in major cities amongst them in Tirana and Pristina, holding festive and military parades.

Christmas is celebrated by those following the religion of Christianity. Bajram is considered by Muslims as the holiday of forgiveness, moral victory and peace, fellowship and unity. They sacrifice a sheep for this holiday, giving the meat to their family, friends and to the poor people.

Another pagan holiday is Dita e Verës, particularly popular in Elbasan and Gjirokastër. It is celebrated on March 14 and is intended to commemorate the end of winter, the rebirth of nature and a rejuvenation of spirit amongst the Albanians. The ritual of the day begins on the previous day with the preparation of sweets such as ballokume cooked in a wood oven. During the evening ballokume, dried figs, walnuts, turkey legs, boiled eggs and simite are distributed to members of the family.

Dita e Mësuesit is celebrated on March 7 since 1887 and is regarded by many Albanians as one of the most important holidays of the country. It honors the opening of the first school that taught lessons in Albanian in Korçë.

Cuisine

The Albanian cuisine, a representative of the Mediterranean cuisine, has developed through the centuries of social and economic changes and more importantly referable to different factors that stands in close interaction with each other such as the small and mountainous territory of the country with virgin forests, narrow valleys, vast plains and a favourable climate that offers excellent growth conditions for a variety of vegetables, herbs and fruits.

Food is for Albanians an important component of their culture and is deeply rooted in the history, traditions and values of the country. The cooking traditions of the Albanian people are diverse and nevertheless olive oil is the most commonly used vegetable fat in Albanian cooking, which has been produced since antiquity throughout the country particularly along the coasts.

Albanian cuisine uses a variety of ingredients which include a wider availability of vegetables such as zucchini, eggplant, peppers, tomatoes, cucumberes, cabbages and spinach, as well as cereals such as wheat, sweetcorn, barley and rye. Herbs and spices include oregano, mint, garlic, onion and basil. Widely used meat varieties are lamb, goat, beef, veal, chicken and other poultry and pork. Considering the direct proximity to the sea, seafood specialties are particularly popular along the Albanian Adriatic and Ionian Sea Coasts.

Hospitality is a fundamental custom of Albanian society and serving food is an integral to the hosting of guests and visitors. It is not infrequent for visitors to be invited to eat and drink with locals. The medieval Albanian code of honour, called Besa, resulted to look after guests and strangers as an act of recognition and gratitude.

Religion

Christianity, Islam and Judaism are the traditional religions of Albania. The constitution extends freedom of religion to all citizens and the government generally respects this right in practice. Albania have always been considered as a unique country in terms of religion and religious tolerance is one of the main characteristics of Albanians.

Christianity has a long and eventful history in the country whereby it belongs to one of the most ancient countries of Christianity. There are thought to have been about seventy Christian families in Durrës as early as the time of the Apostles. Paul the Apostle was the founder of the Archbishopric of Durrës while he was preaching in Illyria and Epirus. In the eleventh century, Albanians first appeared in Byzantine sources and at this point, they were already fully Christianized. The first known bishop of Albania was the Bishop of Scutari founded in 387 in Shkodër. In the late seventeenth century, Pope Clement XI served as the Pope from 1700 to 1721. He was born to an Albanian father descended from the noble Albani family from the region of Malësi e Madhe in Albania.

The history of Judaism in the country can be traced back to the classical era. Jewish migration from the Roman Empire is considered the most likely source of the first Jews on the country's territory. It may have first arrived in Albania in the first century BC. They build the first synagogue in Sarandë in the early fifth century. In the sixteenth century, there were Jewish settlements in most of major cities such as Berat, Elbasan, Vlorë, Durrës and as well as in Kosovo region.

Albania was the only country during the Holocaust in Europe where Jewish population experienced growth. After the mass emigration to Israel following the fall of communist regime, only 200 Albanian Jews are left in the country today. In 2010, a new synagogue "Hechal Shlomo" started providing services for the Jewish community in Tirana.

Islam arrived for the first time in the ninth century to the region, when Muslim Arabs raided the eastern Adriatic Sea. In the fifteenth century, Islam emerged as the majority religion during the centuries of Ottoman rule, though a significant Christian minority remained. After declaration of independence on November 28, 1912, the Albanian republican, monarchic and later the communist regimes followed a systematic policy of separating religion from official functions and cultural life. Albania never had an official state religion either as a republic or as a kingdom.

Arts

Painting

The art of Albania has a long and memorable history, represented in many forms such as painting, sculpture, mosaic and architecture. It show a great variety in style, in different regions and periods. Nonetheless, the country also has a tolerable heritage in visual arts, specifically in frescoes, murals and icons, which often can be seen in many of the older structures in the country.

The surviving monuments of Illyrian, Ancient Greek and Roman art are notable for a tradition concentrating on the human figure and decorations. Through the many archaeological discoveries, in different areas of Albania have been found numerous of pottery, terracotta and metalworking belonging to the Illyrians and several sculptures and mosaics belonging to the Ancient Greeks and Romans.

Albanian medieval art started with the Byzantine Empire that ruled the great majority of Albania and the Balkan Peninsula. The first paintings have been icons and frescoes with an admirable use of colour and gold. The most famous representative of Albanian medieval art were Onufri who was distinguished for its rich use of colours and decorative shades with certain ethnographic national elements that are more visible with his successors David Selenica, Kostandin Shpataraku and the Zografi Brothers.

Illuminated manuscripts were another significant feature of Albanian medieval art. The Codices of Berat are two ancient Gospels from Berat that dates from the sixth and ninth centuries. They represent one of the most valuable treasures of the Albanian cultural heritage that was inscribed on the UNESCO's Memory of the World Register in 2005.

In the fifteenth century, during the Ottoman invasion many Albanians migrated out of the area to escape either various socio-political and economic difficulties. Among them, the medieval painters Marco Basaiti and Viktor Karpaçi, sculptor and architect Andrea Nikollë Aleksi and art collector Alessandro Albani from the Albani family.

The Ottoman Empire ruled over the country and most of the Balkans for nearly five centuries. This influence were absorbed and reinterpreted with an extensive construction of mosques that opened a new section in Albanian art, that of Islamic art.

In the nineteenth century a significant era for Albanian art begins. The great liberation acts starting with League of Prizren in 1878, that led to the Independence in 1912, established the climate for a new artistic movement, which would reflect life and history more realistically and Impressionism and Realism came into dominance.

Contemporary Albanian artwork captures the struggle of everyday Albanians, however new artists are utilizing different artistic styles to convey this message. Albanian artists continue to move art forward, while their art still remains distinctively Albanian in content. Though among Albanian artist postmodernism was fairly recently introduced, there is a number of artists and works known internationally.

Architecture

The country's architecture reflect a rich variety of architectural styles and is rooted in its history, culture and religion. Influences from distant social, religious and exotic communities have contributed to the variety of the architectural landscape in Albania that is richly revealed by archaeological finds that nonetheless retains a certain amount of continuity across history.

Some of the earliest productions, notably from Illyrians, Ancient Greeks and Romans, are found scattered throughout the country. The best collection of Ancient architecture can be found in Butrint in the southwest, Apollonia, Durrës and Byllis in the west and Amantia and Phoenice in the south. Religion and kingship do not seem to have played an important role in the planning of these towns at that time.

In the Middle Ages a variety of architecture styles developed in the form of dwelling, defense, worship and engineering structures. The consolidation of Albanian principalities gave rise to Varosha, or neighborhoods outside city walls. Examples of such developments are centred in Petrele, Krujë, Tepelenë and Lezhë originating from the feudal castle. Some inherited historic structures were damaged by invading Ottoman forces. It is important to note that Ali Pashe Tepelena embarked on a major castle building campaign throughout Epirus.

Much earlier, the introduction of Christianity brought churches and monasteries which otherwhile became the center of most towns and cities in the country. Byzantine churches and Ottoman mosques are also on the best examples and legacies of Byzantines and Ottomans, which are specifically exemplified in Berat, Gjirokastër and Korçë region.

In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, Albanian medieval towns underwent urban transformations by various Austro-Hungarian and Italian architects, giving them the appearance of western European cities. This can be particularly seen in Tirana and Korçë. They introduced architectural styles such as Historicism, Art Nouveau, Neo-Renaissance and Neoclassicism.

Clothing

Traditional Albanian clothing developed as a result of long processes that has differentiated the country from other countries. Its recorded history of clothing goes back to the classical times. It includes more than two hundred different forms of clothing in all Albania and neighbouring countries that includes without limitation the Albanians in Kosovo, Western North Macedonia, Southern Montenegro, Italy and Greece.

Nothing less than each cultural and geographical region of Albania has its own specific variety of clothing being particularly colorful and rich in detail. The costumes are often decorated with pagan symbolic elements of Illyrians among others suns, eagles, moons, stars and snakes, but predominantly the zig-zag and concentric circles decoration, found in ancient times throughout the Balkans but also in national costumes of other Balkan peoples.

These clothes are most often worn with connection to special events and celebrations, mostly at ethnic festivals, religious holidays, weddings and by dancing groups. Some conservative old men and women mainly from the high northern as well as southern lands wear those traditional clothes in their daily lives.

They were made mainly of products from the local agriculture and livestock such as leather, wool, linen, hemp fiber and silk. The textiles nowadays are still embroidered in very elaborate ancient patterns. Among the most important parts of clothing includes the Qeleshe, or also known as Plis, the Albanian hat, the Qylafë, the Fustanella, the Xhubleta, the Xhamadan, the Brez, the Çorape, the Opinga and many others.

One of obvious common cultural trait of Gheg, Tosk and Cham Albanians is the predominance of white color in their national dress/costume, with variations in the shapes and designs (Gheg Albanians traditionally wore white trousers while Tosk and Cham Albanians traditionally wore white kilt). The white color seems to have a special place in Albanian culture, as many phrases include the term "white" ( alb. "bardh"), both literally and figuratively ( "fatbardh" -lit. "white fate"- fig. "good luck", "faqe bardh" - lit. "white" face - fig. "clean face" - "intact honor", "rrofsh sa male te bardha" - "May you live as long as white mountains" - "snow-peaked mountains", etc.).
The white Albanian scull cap, popularly knows as qeleshe, or plis, etymologically related to Greek Pilos or Pileus cap, is one of the well known Albanian cultural brands.

Music

The Albanian music is very diverse and comes from its indigenous sounds and heritage. Folk music is a prominent part of the national identity with major stylistic differences between the traditional music of the northern Ghegs and southern Labs and Tosks. The northern and southern traditions are contrasted by the rugged and heroic tone of the north and the relaxed form of the south. Albanian folk music has been influential in neighboring areas such as Kosovo, Greece, Bulgaria and Turkey, all home to significant numbers of Albanians.

The Ghegs are known for a distinctive variety of sung epic poetry. Many of the songs are about the ancient history of the country and the constant Albanian themes of honour, hospitality, treachery and revenge. In contrast, Tosk music is soft and gentle, and polyphonic in nature. Notably, Albanian iso-polyphony from the south has been declared an UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

Along with the def, çifteli and sharki are used in the north in a style of dance and pastoral songs. Homemade wind instruments are traditionally used by shepherds in northern Albania; these include the zumarë and lahuta. The southern people are known for ensembles consisting of violins, clarinets, lahuta and def as well.

Music in Albania extends to ancient Illyria and Greece, with influences from the Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman Empire. It is evident in archeological findings such as arenas, odeons, theatre buildings and amphitheatres, all over Albania. The remains of temples, libraries, sculptures and paintings of ancient dancers, singers and musical instruments, have been found in territories inhabited by the ancient Illyrians and ancient Greeks.

The tradition of church singing was performed throughout the Middle Ages in the country's territory by choirs or soloists in ecclesiastical