The Old Bazaar (Pazari i Vjetër), along with the surrounding castle, is the primary tourist attraction in the town of Krujë. This 300-meter cobblestone street is dotted with numerous tiny gift shops, cafés, and mini-galleries. The origin of the bazaar dates back to 17th century. The oldest Islamic tombstones in Albania are located at the nearby mosque.
The assortment of gift shops is generally similar – T-shirts, mugs and other items in Albanian national colours, national flags, Skanderbeg cognac, jewellery, wooden products and traditional Albanian hats called qelesha. There are also small workshops where you can watch the weavers of traditional qilim carpets at work.
If you want to bring home some souvenirs, you won’t find a better place to get them in Albania than here.
At the end of the Old Bazaar, almost under the castle, stands the Bazaar Mosque (Xhamia e Pazarit). It was built by the Turks in 1533, a few decades after the conquest of the city. The shrine with colourful frescoes luckily survived the atheization campaign of the Communist Party, although its minaret was demolished and for a long time it served as a warehouse. Next to the mosque, you will find the two oldest surviving Islamic tombstones in all of Albania, marking the final resting place of the mosque’s builder Murad Bey and his father.
Cover photo by Jakub Hrab
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