A city of serenades - Korca

Ko*rça is a city and municipality in southeastern Albania and makes the sixth largest city of the country. The city is very famous for its architecture, low houses and villas that stand along the stone streets and it's considered to be the center of cultural life in Albania. Many festivals and concerts are being organised there and for this very reason, Korça attracts lots of visitors,albanians and foreigners*.

Korça is the city where the largest carnival in Albania is organized, taking place before Orthodox Easter and people from all around the country go there to celebrate and enjoy the atmosphere that the city gives .Also, Korça is known for its local songs called Serenata and if you visit different taverns around the city you will notice that in each of them everyone is singing these lyrical songs. Also in these taverns you have the chance to try some traditional cooking such as various types of pie combined for sure with the traditional drink, Raki.

The city contains in itself a lot of history too. There you can visit a large range of museums which I will mention. Starting with National Museum of Medieval Art.

In this museum a large of historical objects are presented for anyone who is interested to know more about the city's history. Collections of paintings from the Korça school, are on display here, as well. Housed in what was the Korça Cathedral, the museum is a must see attraction for history and art lovers.

This museum shows the history of Albanian writing, the numerous alphabets up to the present one, decided in Manastiri Congress in 1908. It also displayed albanian book history starting from the first primer of albanian language complied by Naum Panajot Bredhi.

"The Old Bazaar contains a mixture of cultures; its Ottoman inheritance, the mixture of Albanian, Vlachs, Macedonians and Romani people. It also has a touch from Venice, Paris and lands overseas due to the exchanges with these places. You can find all sorts of things in the market, clothes, pans, electrical appliances, anything. In the bazaar you can find various hans, which are very traditional and the owners are very friendly."

Also,if you happen to be in Korca during the summer, don't miss the Beer Festival which takes place around 10-14 august each year.