Culture of Albania

[1][2][3][4][5] 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.

On the other hand, Tosk is spoken by the Albanians of Greece (Arvanites, Chams), southwestern North Macedonia and southern Italy (Arbëreshë).

Orally transmitted across the generations, it reflects many legal practices of great antiquity that find precise echoes in other Indo-European cultures such as Vedic India and ancient Greece and Rome.

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.

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.

[17][18] 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.

[24] This social structure was inherited from the ancient Illyrians,[25][26] thrived until the early years of the 20th century, and remained largely intact until the rise to power of communist regime in 1944.

During the evening ballokume, dried figs, walnuts, turkey legs, boiled eggs and simite are distributed to members of the family.

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.

[33] Albanian cuisine uses a variety of ingredients which include a wider availability of vegetables such as zucchini, eggplant, peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, potatoes, cabbages and spinach, as well as cereals such as wheat, sweetcorn, barley and rye.

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.

[citation needed] The surviving monuments of Illyrian, Ancient Greek and Roman art are notable for a tradition concentrating on the human figure and decorations.

[citation needed] 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

[49] 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.

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.

[53] The tradition of church singing was performed throughout the Middle Ages in the country's territory by choirs or soloists in ecclesiastical centers such as Berat, Durrës and Shkodër.

It was defined by the tension between classical composer Martin Gjoka along with Fan Noli and Mikel Koliqi, who embraced national identity and added religious and folk elements to their compositions.

[56] Most notable Albanian sopranos and tenors have gained also international recognition, among the best known are Inva Mula, Marie Kraja, Saimir Pirgu and Ermonela Jaho.

[59] Due to the large Albanian diaspora around the world, centuries-old communities speaking Albanian-based dialects can be particularly found scattered in Greece (Arvanitika, Cham), Italy (Arbëreshë), Southern Serbia and in Croatia (Arbanasi).

Living in Albania during a time of strict censorship, Kadare devised cunning stratagems to outwit Communist censors who had banned three of his books, using devices such as parable, myth, fable, folk-tale, allegory, and legend, sprinkled with double-entendre, allusion, insinuation, satire, and coded messages.

The New York Times wrote that he was a national figure in Albania comparable in popularity perhaps to Mark Twain in the United States, and that "there is hardly an Albanian household without a Kadare book."

The dress is tripped from the transparent white, shiny, soft, which spreads all over the body, and is intended to suggest tranquility and a warm purity.

Ritual songs name various elements which contain "paja" (pronounced paya) of the girl, which are the goods parents give to the daughter to wear, to furnish the house, gifts for her husband and the intimate cousins.

"Dhunti" in Shkodra means the gifts that the groom prepares for the bride during the engagement, mainly clothes, jewelry, gold ornaments and tricks, which are sent to her a few days before the wedding.