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<p>The foreground dwelling in this view, seen obliquely, has a porch (çardak) that may once have been open but is now enclosed by a rough infill of wattle and daub. The body of the house is built of stone with timber reinforcement bands, and the edge of its clay-tiled roof is visible. The house beyond is of newer construction, and has an open çardak.</p>
<p>Liqenas, officially known as Pustec, is a village near Lake Prespa and occupied by minority Macedonians. It lies within Prespa National Park. This two-story, symmetrically-composed house is similar to dwellings in the Prespa regions of Albania, Macedonia, and Greece, and notable for the central projecting porch, built of wood and called a çardak, which faces a garden. The walls of the house are built of stone interlaced with bands of wood and inset with wood-framed windows, and its shallow-pitched, hipped roof in clad with clay tiles.</p>
<p>Domgjon (Domgjoni) is a small village in Lezhe County. An abandoned stone building, perhaps once a farmhouse, sits at the edge of a cow pasture below an eroded hillside. Exposed timbers frame its former hipped roof.</p>
<p>This mosque was built in 1827 for the unmarried shop assistants of Berat. Among the painted decorations within the entry porch are these views of buildings with extreme projecting bays, or erkeri. Such exaggerated depictions suggest the importance of the erker feature to the painter and his viewers.</p>
<p>Berat's reputation for woodcarving is revealed in the interior of the Sultan Bayezid II Mosque, of the late 15th century and one of the oldest mosques in Albania. The delicate latticework and tracery of the railing contrasts with the bold angular design of the ceiling that transforms geometrically from the octagonal perimeter to the circular base of the dome.</p>
<p>Deep roof overlangs, supported on long angled brackets, shade the large chardak, the main living space for the family in warm weather. A raised sitting platform, or kiosk, projects from one corner, with views across the town below. The external stone staircase rises through the opening to the left of the kiosk. This chardak is open to the outdoors, while the chardaks of the later 19th century houses that fill most of the old town are glazed.</p>
<p>This late 18th century house was constructed of stone for the ground and first (mezzanine) floors, with limited openings to aid defense, and of stone and timber framed walls for the principal living floor with a large and deeply shaded çardak (chardak). A grand stone stair, supported on arched piers, leads to this top floor. This house was restored in 1979 and serves as an Ethnographic Museum.</p>
<p>Facing Skanderbeg Square, beside the Ottoman-era clock tower, this important mosque was spared the destruction of religious sites under Enver Hoxha. Dating from the late 18th century and completed in 1821, it is one of the few historic religious buildings remaining in the capital. It is notable for its delicate wall paintings, which form a frieze below the porch eaves on the exterior. The adjacent clock tower was built in the 1820s.</p>
<p>This abandoned 2-story stone house is like a small kulla, square with peaked roof. A large chimney is flanked by window openings, and larger stones reinforce the openings and building corners. A wooden barn sits beyond the house.</p>
<p>The mosque prayer hall interior is decorated with painted panels of intricate plant motifs and architectural scenes, which cover the upper walls and domed ceiling, viewed here from the balcony. The mosque is designated a Cultural Monument of Albania.</p>

Albania (BHBA)

Albania in antiquity was inhabited by Illyrian tribes, then came under the control of Greeks, Romans, Slavs and Bulgarians, was part of the Ottoman Empire until 1912, then conquered by Italy until it was freed in 1944 by communist partisans and became a republic in 1992. The majority ethnic group is Albanian with Greek, Slavic, Vlach and Roma minorities, and the dominant Albanian (Indo-European) language, spoken here and by Albanians elsewhere, is unlike any other. The cultural roots include Greek, Ottoman, Serb, Bulgarian, Macedonian, and Italian influences. The country, bordering the Adriatic Sea, has coastal lowlands but is predominantly mountainous with portions of the Dinar Alps, Pindus Alps, and the Šar mountain and Prokletije mountain ranges.

Authorities
Judith Bing
Judith Bing
photographer
J. Brooke Harrington
J. Brooke Harrington
photographer
Parent Collections
Bing and Harrington Balkan Archive (BHBA)
Bing and Harrington Balkan Archive (BHBA)
Keywords
vernacular architecture
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Albania (BHBA)

Albania in antiquity was inhabited by Illyrian tribes, then came under the control of Greeks, Romans, Slavs and Bulgarians, was part of the Ottoman Empire until 1912, then conquered by Italy until it was freed in 1944 by communist partisans and became a republic in 1992. The majority ethnic group is Albanian with Greek, Slavic, Vlach and Roma minorities, and the dominant Albanian (Indo-European) language, spoken here and by Albanians elsewhere, is unlike any other. The cultural roots include Greek, Ottoman, Serb, Bulgarian, Macedonian, and Italian influences. The country, bordering the Adriatic Sea, has coastal lowlands but is predominantly mountainous with portions of the Dinar Alps, Pindus Alps, and the Šar mountain and Prokletije mountain ranges.

Images & Videos
<p>The foreground dwelling in this view, seen obliquely, has a porch (çardak) that may once have been open but is now enclosed by a rough infill of wattle and daub. The body of the house is built of stone with timber reinforcement bands, and the edge of its clay-tiled roof is visible. The house beyond is of newer construction, and has an open çardak.</p>
Shtëpi me çardak (Dwelling with enclosed porch), Liqenas, Albania
digital photograph
<p>Liqenas, officially known as Pustec, is a village near Lake Prespa and occupied by minority Macedonians. It lies within Prespa National Park. This two-story, symmetrically-composed house is similar to dwellings in the Prespa regions of Albania, Macedonia, and Greece, and notable for the central projecting porch, built of wood and called a çardak, which faces a garden. The walls of the house are built of stone interlaced with bands of wood and inset with wood-framed windows, and its shallow-pitched, hipped roof in clad with clay tiles.</p>
Shtëpi me çardak (Dwelling with raised porch), Liqenas, Albania
digital photograph
<p>Domgjon (Domgjoni) is a small village in Lezhe County. An abandoned stone building, perhaps once a farmhouse, sits at the edge of a cow pasture below an eroded hillside. Exposed timbers frame its former hipped roof.</p>
Upper pasture with dwelling, Domgjon, Albania
digital photograph
<p>This mosque was built in 1827 for the unmarried shop assistants of Berat. Among the painted decorations within the entry porch are these views of buildings with extreme projecting bays, or erkeri. Such exaggerated depictions suggest the importance of the erker feature to the painter and his viewers.</p>
Xhamija e Beqarëve (Bachelors' Mosque) Porch decorative painting, Berat, Albania
digital photograph
<p>Berat's reputation for woodcarving is revealed in the interior of the Sultan Bayezid II Mosque, of the late 15th century and one of the oldest mosques in Albania. The delicate latticework and tracery of the railing contrasts with the bold angular design of the ceiling that transforms geometrically from the octagonal perimeter to the circular base of the dome.</p>
Xhamija e Mbretit (Sultan's Mosque) Gallery railings and ceiling, Berat, Albania
digital photograph
<p>Deep roof overlangs, supported on long angled brackets, shade the large chardak, the main living space for the family in warm weather. A raised sitting platform, or kiosk, projects from one corner, with views across the town below. The external stone staircase rises through the opening to the left of the kiosk. This chardak is open to the outdoors, while the chardaks of the later 19th century houses that fill most of the old town are glazed.</p>
Banesa e Sotirit dhe Kostaq Xhokaxi (Xhokaxhi House) Çardak with view to west, Berat, Albania
digital photograph
<p>This late 18th century house was constructed of stone for the ground and first (mezzanine) floors, with limited openings to aid defense, and of stone and timber framed walls for the principal living floor with a large and deeply shaded çardak (chardak). A grand stone stair, supported on arched piers, leads to this top floor. This house was restored in 1979 and serves as an Ethnographic Museum.</p>
Banesa e Sotirit dhe Kostaq Xhokaxiut (Xhokaxhi Family House) Ethnographic Museum, Berat, Albania
digital photograph
<p>Facing Skanderbeg Square, beside the Ottoman-era clock tower, this important mosque was spared the destruction of religious sites under Enver Hoxha. Dating from the late 18th century and completed in 1821, it is one of the few historic religious buildings remaining in the capital. It is notable for its delicate wall paintings, which form a frieze below the porch eaves on the exterior. The adjacent clock tower was built in the 1820s.</p>
Xhamia e Ethem Beut (Mosque of Ethem Bey), Tirana, Albania
digital photograph
<p>This abandoned 2-story stone house is like a small kulla, square with peaked roof. A large chimney is flanked by window openings, and larger stones reinforce the openings and building corners. A wooden barn sits beyond the house.</p>
Small Stone dwelling and barn, Domgjon, Albania
digital photograph
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Authorities
Judith Bing
Judith Bing
photographer
J. Brooke Harrington
J. Brooke Harrington
photographer
Parent Collections
Bing and Harrington Balkan Archive (BHBA)
Bing and Harrington Balkan Archive (BHBA)
Keywords
vernacular architecture
Terms of use
Contribute
Need help?
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