Kavaja

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Kavajë
Kavaja
Kavaja coat of arms
Kavaja (Albania)
Paris plan pointer b jms.svg

Coordinates: 41 ° 11 ′  N , 19 ° 33 ′  E

Basic data
Qark : Tirana
Municipality : Kavaja
Height : 25  m above sea level A.
Area : 198.81 km²
Bashkia residents : 40,094 (2011)
Population density (Bashkia): 202 inhabitants / km²
Telephone code : (+355) 554
Postal code : 2501-2502
Politics and administration (as of 2019 )
Mayor : Redjan Krali ( PS )
Website :
Culture and history
Local place name : Kavaj / Kavaja
City foundation : Early 17th century
City Festival : 25th March
View of the clock tower (2015)

View of the clock tower (2015)

Kavaja ( Albanian  also  Kavajë ) is a city in central Albania , about five kilometers southeast of the Adriatic Sea and 20 kilometers southeast of Durrës . The city has 20,192 inhabitants (2011 census). Kavaja is the official seat of a Bashkia , which in addition to the city also includes surrounding villages.

geography

About five kilometers southeast of the Adriatic Sea lies Kavaja at an altitude of 8  m above sea level. A. The central Albanian hill country begins on the eastern edge of the city and extends to the capital Tirana . In the west, another small range of hills separates the city from the sea. Between these hills a plain about six kilometers wide at Kavaja extends from the Bay of Durrës in the northwest to the Shkumbin River in the southeast, which merges into the Myzeqe to the south .

The climate in Kavaja is Mediterranean . In the summer it is usually very warm and dry, the winters mild and very rainy. The average annual temperature is between 15.5 and 16 ° C.

The territory of the Kavaja Municipality comprises the northern part of the former Kavaja District . Until 2015, the area of ​​the municipality ( bashkia ) was limited to the city. The city was merged with the municipalities of Golem (6994 inhabitants), Helmës (3139 inhabitants), Luz i vogël (4735 inhabitants) and Synej (5034 inhabitants).

history

The first settlements to the northwest of today's urban area are mentioned in 1081. An Ottoman register lists a village called Kavalye in 1430/31 , which had 16 houses. Due to its strategic location on the ancient Roman trade route Via Egnatia , the village grew and in 1583 had around 150 houses. A market center slowly formed, where the regional agricultural products were sold and bought. Hostels for travelers, inns and bakeries as well as blacksmiths, saddleries and farriers' workshops were built. At the beginning of the 17th century, Kavalye had finally grown into a small town, which was mainly due to Durrës, which lost its importance. It soon had twice as many houses as Durrës: the famous Ottoman traveler Evliya Çelebi reported that the place had 400 houses in 1670, 200 shops and handicrafts in the bazaar and four mosques dating from 1561, 1589, 1625 and 1652 . All four were destroyed in the 20th century when many historic buildings were damaged in part by wars and in part removed due to urban planning measures. Only remains of the Kubelie mosque from later times (1735–1736) and the clock tower from 1817 have been preserved.

Kavaja was famous for its pottery and kilim carpets .

During the socialist regime, Kavaja became an industrial city and center of regional agriculture. The residents of Kavaja were among the first to express their displeasure with the dictatorship and the poor conditions in the country in 1990. In March, residents of the city demonstrated for freedom and democracy. A young man was killed in clashes with the police.

The father of the actor Alexander Moissi - at the beginning of the 20th century one of the great stars on German and Austrian stages - originally came from Kavaja. The Austrian , who was born in Trieste , only visited the city repeatedly when he spent part of his childhood in Durrës. The Moisiu House was a kindergarten during the Enver Hoxha regime .

Attractions

A few buildings remain from the Ottoman heritage of Kavajas. Around the main square in the city center stand the clock tower (alb. Kulla e Sahatit ) from 1817 and a greatly simplified replica of the Kubelie mosque , which was built between 1735 and 1736. On the side of the mosque facing the main street are the ruins of the portico of an older mosque. The Ottoman old town has hardly been preserved; the typical buildings were mostly overbuilt by newer ones. The only example of such architecture can be found in the Ethnographic Museum, which opened in 1971 and is housed in a building from the 18th century. The stone bridge in Bukaqi is also a contemporary witness from the Ottoman era. It was built in the 17th century.

There are other attractions in the region, such as the Church of Holy Friday built in 1280 in the village of Çeta and the Bashtova fortress from the 6th or 15th century near the Shkumbin River .

Cultural institutions

In addition to the Ethnographic Museum, the Historical Museum opened in 1976 and the Kulturpalast, completed in 1946, together with the City Library opened in the same year (with around 35,000 books) provide further cultural institutions.

Sports

The local football club KS Besa Kavaja plays in the first division, the categoria superiore .

traffic

Where in antiquity the Via Egnatia still lead important traffic axes between northern and southern Albania on the one hand and between the coast and the interior of the Balkans on the other hand through Kavaja. The traffic from the greater Tirana and Durrës area to the south and south-east runs via the Rruga shtetërore SH4 , which has been a bypass road to the west of the city since 2000 and is now a four-lane motorway .

Kavaja is also the through station of the Albanian Railway on the Durrës – Peqin line .

The transport axis through Kavaja is part of the Pan-European Transport Corridor VIII , which connects the port of Durrës with North Macedonia and continues to Bulgaria .

Personalities

Web links

Commons : Kavajë  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Ines Nurja: Censusi i popullsisë dhe banesave / Population and Housing Census - Tiranë 2011 . Results Kryesore / Main Results. Ed .: INSTAT . Pjesa / Part 1. Adel Print, Tirana 2013 ( instat.gov.al [PDF; accessed April 14, 2019]).
  2. ↑ Climate. (No longer available online.) Bashkia Kavaja, April 9, 2012, archived from the original on October 31, 2013 ; Retrieved November 7, 2012 (Albanian).
  3. ↑ a b James Pettifer: Albania & Kosovo - Blue Guide . A & C Black, London 2001, ISBN 0-7136-5016-8 .
  4. ↑ The origin of the city of Kavaja. (No longer available online.) Bashkia Kavaja, April 9, 2012, archived from the original on November 4, 2013 ; Retrieved November 7, 2012 (Albanian).
  5. ↑ Cultural Monuments. (No longer available online.) Bashkia Kavaja, April 9, 2012, archived from the original on November 4, 2013 ; Retrieved November 7, 2012 (Albanian).
  6. ^ A b Heinz Gstrein : Walter travel guide to Albania . Walter-Verlag, Olten 1989, ISBN 3-530-29602-3 .
  7. ↑ Miranda Vickers, James Pettifer: Albania - From Anarchy to a Balkan Identity . New York University Press, New York 1997, ISBN 0-8147-8794-0 .
  8. ^ Albanian Telegraphic Agency (ATA) Bulletin, March 26, 1998. Retrieved October 15, 2009 .
  9. ^ Ylli Sula (ed.): Durrësi çelësi turistik . Çelësi, Tirana 2008, ISBN 978-99943-964-9-8 (Albanian).
  10. ↑ Art and Culture. (No longer available online.) Bashkia Kavaja, April 9, 2012, archived from the original on November 4, 2013 ; Retrieved November 7, 2012 (Albanian).