TEXT_PD:

Albania Gift -  Elbasan City  Fridge Magnet

Elbasan (Albanian: Elbasan or Elbasani) is a city in central Albania. It is located on the Shkumbin River in the District of Elbasan and the County of Elbasan, at 41°06′N 20°04′E / 41.1°N 20.067°E / 41.1; 20.067. It is one of the largest cities in Albania, with a population of around 100,000 (2003 estimate).

Elbasan was – until the beginning of the Second World War – a city with a mixture of eastern and medieval buildings, narrow cobbled streets and a large bazaar. There was a clearly defined Christian settlement within the castle walls, a Vlach district on the outskirts of the city and several fine mosques and Islamic buildings. At the time the population was about 15,000 people.

The English journalist J.D. Bourchier, then the Balkan correspondent of The Times, records that on a visit in 1911 he saw:

"The population celebrating Bairam in central space : wonderful primitive merry-go round with gypsy minstrels (flute and drum), pushed round by the men with poles; also a cartwheel poised on a tree top; pekhilvans wrestling, mostly refugees from Dibra, thus gaining a precarious livelihood."^{[citation needed]}

This product was added to our catalog on .