Korçë and Pogradec: the back story

About Korçë and Pogradec: the back story

By the ULTIMATE Tirana Editorial Team

Editor-in-Chief: Jai Michael

High on a plateau below the mountains, Korçë has a character all its own: villas with gardens, a passion for serenades and an elegant evening stroll.

A city of culture

Korçë was a centre of the Albanian national awakening; the first school teaching in the Albanian language opened here in 1887, and it is now the National Museum of Education. The town is famous for serenades, sung by groups of men in the evening.

Icons and Onufri

The National Museum of Medieval Art holds one of the finest collections of icons in the Balkans, including works by Onufri and his school, in a modern building near the cathedral.

Korçë is known as the city of serenades.

The bazaar and the beer

The old bazaar has been restored, with its inn, Hani i Pazarit, now a hotel and restaurant. Korça beer has been brewed here since the 1920s, and the town’s beer festival is a summer highlight.

Voskopojë

Twenty kilometres west, Voskopojë was a prosperous Aromanian town in the 18th century. Several of its painted churches survive in the meadows and woods.

Pogradec

Pogradec, about an hour north, lies on the Albanian shore of Lake Ohrid, with a lakeside promenade and views across to North Macedonia.

When to go

Korçë is lovely in late spring and early autumn, cool in summer and snowy in winter. It is about three and a half hours from Tirana.

Our advice: spend a night in Korçë, see the Museum of Medieval Art, eat in the old bazaar and take a drive to Voskopojë. Continue to Pogradec and Lake Ohrid, or cross into North Macedonia to Ohrid itself.

Opening hours, prices and seasonal openings change, so please check with Korçë and Pogradec: the back story before you go.