Adriatic SeaThe Adriatic Sea (ˌeɪdriˈætᵻk) is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) to the northwest and the Po Valley. The countries with coasts on the Adriatic are Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Italy, Montenegro, and Slovenia. The Adriatic contains more than 1,300 islands, mostly located along the Croatian part of its eastern coast.
SkanderbegGjergj Kastrioti (1405 - 17 January 1468), commonly known as Skanderbeg, was an Albanian feudal lord and military commander who led a rebellion against the Ottoman Empire in what is today Albania, North Macedonia, Greece, Kosovo, Montenegro, and Serbia. A member of the noble Kastrioti family, he was sent as a hostage to the Ottoman court. He graduated from the Enderun School and entered the service of the Ottoman sultan Murad II (1421-1444) for the next twenty years.
AlbaniaAlbania (ælˈbeɪniə,_ɔːl- ; Shqipëri or Shqipëria), officially the Republic of Albania (Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. The country is located in the Balkans on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares land borders with Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, North Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south. Spanning an area of , it displays a varied range of climatic, geological, hydrological and morphological conditions.
Bektashi OrderThe Bektashi Order or Bektashism is an Islamic Sufi mystic order originating in the 13th-century. It is named after the saint Haji Bektash Veli (d. 1271). The Albanian community is currently led by Baba Mondi, their eighth Bektashi Dedebaba and headquartered in Tirana, Albania. Bektashism began as a Shia Islamic Sufi order in Anatolia during the Ottoman Empire. In 1876, a Salih Nijazi was appointed as the baba "leader" by prominent Bektashi members.
Albanian RivieraThe Albanian Riviera (Riviera shqiptare, ɾiviˈɛɾa ʃcipˈtaɾɛ), also popularly known as Bregu, is a coastline along the Northeastern Ionian Sea in the Mediterranean Sea encompassing the districts of Sarandë and Vlorë in Southwestern Albania. It forms an important section of the Albanian Ionian Sea Coast dotted with the villages of Palasë, Dhërmi, Vuno, Himara, Qeparo, Borsh, Piqeras, Lukovë and the city of Sarandë. The riviera should not be confused with the entire coastline of the country, which includes the Ionian Sea Coast, and the mostly flat Adriatic Sea Coast in the north.
SarandëSarandë (saˈɾandə; Saranda; Ágioi Saránta) is a city in the Republic of Albania and seat of Sarandë Municipality. Geographically, the city is located on an open sea gulf of the Ionian Sea within the Mediterranean Sea. Stretching along the Albanian Ionian Sea Coast, Sarandë has a Mediterranean climate with over 300 sunny days a year. In antiquity the city was known as Onchesmus or Onchesmos and was a port-town of Chaonia in ancient Epirus.
Flag of AlbaniaThe flag of Albania (Flamuri i Republikës së Shqipërisë) is a red flag with a silhouetted black double-headed eagle in the center. The red stands for bravery, strength, valour and bloodshed, while the Eagle represents the sovereign state of Albania. The flag was established as the national flag of Albania when the country gained its independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1912. Medieval times and centuries later During John Hunyadi's campaign in Niš in 1443, Skanderbeg and a few hundred Albanians defected from the Turkish ranks; for twenty-five years he scored remarkable victories against the Ottomans.
GjirokastërGjirokastër is a city in southern Albania and the seat of Gjirokastër County and Gjirokastër Municipality. It is located in a valley between the Gjerë mountains and the Drino, at 300 metres above sea level. Its old town is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, described as "a rare example of a well-preserved Ottoman town, built by farmers of large estate". The city is overlooked by Gjirokastër Fortress, where the Gjirokastër National Folklore Festival is held every five years.
Albanian National AwakeningThe Albanian National Awakening (Rilindja or Rilindja Kombëtare), commonly known as the Albanian Renaissance or Albanian Revival, is a period throughout the 19th and 20th century of a cultural, political and social movement in the Albanian history where the Albanian people gathered strength to establish an independent cultural and political life as well as the country of Albania. Prior to the rise of nationalism, Albania remained under the rule of the Ottoman Empire for almost five centuries and the Ottoman authorities suppressed any expression of national unity or national conscience by the Albanian people.
DhërmiDhërmi (Dhërmiu; Δρυμάδες, Drymádes) is a village in Vlorë County, Albania. It is part of the municipality of Himarë. The village lies 42 kilometers south of the city of Vlorë and about the same distance north of the southern city of Sarandë. It is built on a slope of the Ceraunian Mountains at approximately 200 meters in altitude, and comprises three neighborhoods: Gjilek, Kondraq, Kallami, and Dhërmi itself. The mountains descend to the southwest into the Ionian coast and Corfu in the distance to the south.
