The Minister of Economy, Culture and Innovation Blendi Gonxhja took to the social media on Monday to share film images showing this area of the coastal city, already one of the most interesting attractions for visitors to Vlora.

“Vlora’s historic centre, a public space holding multiple values, which encapsulates the city’s history, events and moments of national importance, as well as evidence and value of tradition in architecture,” Gonxhja wrote on the social media.

The revitalization project in the historic centre of the city included urban upgrading and infrastructure improvement, tourism sites upgrading, heritage and cultural sites’ restoration, and tourism market and product development.

The reconstruction of the Clock Square, the square in front of the Municipality building and other squares, gave a breath and a whole new look of the entire area.

The project included restoration of landmark sites still preserving the city’s identity, traces of the 19th century buildings, a series of traditional streets and religious monuments, including an ancient Sephardic Synagogue, the so-called Jewish settlement, and the Tabak Mosque, the biggest in the coastal city.

The government program on revitalization of the country’s historic and cultural sites has paved the way to infrastructure rebirth and restoration projects in a bid to make them more attractive to tourists and give a fresh impetus to various regions all over Albania.

/u.sh/

Prime Minister Edi Rama, accompanied by the Minister of Tourism and Environment Mirela Kumbaro, toured the town’s centre as the investment, the largest ever implemented in the town of Permet over the years, kicked off today. The investment includes four specific projects; the historic centre, connection with the new part of the town, rehabilitation of the stream flowing through the town, as well as the tourism-dedicated infrastructure and signage system.

“This is the heart of the historic quarter. The town of Përmet has practically boasted a historic centre traditionally, but nobody knew about it. We declared this as the town’s historic centre in 2016 and Përmet was included in the government’s Tourism and Cultural Heritage Development Programme, which also includes Gjirokaster, Berat and Saranda. Work has progressed well in collaboration with the Albanian Development Fund and the Municipality of Përmet. Frankly speaking, there has been distrust too. However, a growing number of private family homes are being transformed into guesthouses. Local government authorities are overseeing and monitoring the project very closely, yet a lot remains to be done. The project doesn’t include the historic centre only, but the entire town and its neighbourhoods,” the Minister of Tourism and Environment said, adding that restoration projects have strictly preserved original elements of the buildings.

The second phase of the investment project includes rehabilitation of the entire area, improvement of tourist destinations in order to promote development of sustainable tourism in the area.

/u.sh/