Besa: the promise that saved lives
Besa is an Albanian code of honour. Yad Vashem, Israel's Holocaust memorial, explains that the word means “to keep the promise”: someone who gives their besa is bound by their word. Hospitality to guests is a closely related custom, but it is not the meaning of the word itself.
Besa is closely tied to the Kanun of Lekë Dukagjini, the customary law of the northern Albanian highlands. It is named after Lekë Dukagjini, a 15th-century prince who ruled in northern Albania, although the rules evolved over centuries and were passed down orally by elders. The Franciscan priest Shtjefën Gjeçovi collected them, and the full text was published in 1933. Under the Kanun, hospitality is a central duty: once someone crossed the threshold of an Albanian home, the host was honour-bound to protect them.
Besa is most often cited in connection with World War II. According to Yad Vashem, only about 200 Jews lived in Albania before the war, and an estimated 600 to 1,800 Jewish refugees arrived from Germany, Austria, Serbia, Greece and Yugoslavia. After the German occupation in 1943, Albanians refused to hand over lists of Jews, officials issued false papers, and families, Muslim and Christian alike, hid refugees in their homes. Almost all the Jews in the country survived, and there were more Jews in Albania at the end of the war than at its start.
This was not organised resistance in the political sense. It was ordinary people acting on a deeply held moral code, at great personal risk. As of January 2024, Yad Vashem, Israel's Holocaust memorial, had recognised 75 Albanians as Righteous Among the Nations.
For visitors, the custom of hospitality is the most visible side of this tradition: a guest may be invited in for coffee or offered a glass of raki, and accepting is the polite response.
"Besa means literally ‘to keep the promise.’"— Yad Vashem, Besa: A Code of Honor
Albania's UNESCO World Heritage Sites
Albania has four UNESCO World Heritage Sites: two cultural sites, Butrint and the historic centres of Berat and Gjirokastër; the Ohrid region, a mixed site shared with North Macedonia; and beech forests that form part of a Europe-wide natural site. The two cultural sites are described below. For practical visiting information, see the Berat and Gjirokastër sections of the cities guide and the Butrint section of the tourism guide.
Berat & Gjirokastër
Berat, known as the "City of a Thousand Windows," sits along the banks of the Osum River beneath a hilltop citadel that is still inhabited today. Its historic quarters — Mangalem, Gorica, and Kala — are lined with houses that climb the slopes in tiers, their large windows facing the river valley below. UNESCO notes that most of these vernacular houses date from the late 18th and 19th centuries, and that Berat's Orthodox Christian traditions continued alongside Islam through the Ottoman period.
Gjirokastër, meanwhile, is known as the “City of Stone”. Its old town grew around a 13th-century citadel and is built of grey stone, with fortified houses that give it a fortress-like character. The castle above the town looks across the Drino Valley. Gjirokastër was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2005, and Berat was added in 2008 to form a joint site that UNESCO describes as outstanding testimony to urban housing of the Classical Ottoman period.
- Inhabited citadel in Berat with Byzantine churches and Ottoman mosques
- Onufri Museum, displaying icons by the 16th-century painter Onufri and others
- Gjirokastër Castle, home to a museum of armaments
- Fortified "tower houses" with turrets, a type UNESCO describes as characteristic of the Balkans
- Living communities in historic houses, some dating from the 17th century
Butrint
Butrint lies about 20 km south of Saranda by road, close to the Greek border, on a small hill surrounded by Lake Butrint and the Vivari Channel. It has traces of occupation from prehistoric times to the 19th century. UNESCO calls it a microcosm of Mediterranean history: a settlement influenced by Greek culture from around 800 BC, a Roman colony from 44 BC, a fortified bishopric in late antiquity, and later a Byzantine, Angevin and Venetian stronghold, before its final abandonment.
The site has a well-preserved ancient Greek theatre, Roman remains including an aqueduct, an early Christian baptistery with a mosaic floor, a paleo-Christian basilica rebuilt in the 9th century, and fortifications from many periods, including a fortress built by the Ottoman-era ruler Ali Pasha at the mouth of the Vivari Channel in the early 19th century. Butrint was Albania's first UNESCO inscription in 1992 and has escaped the heavy development that has altered many Mediterranean landscapes; the ruins sit among woodland and wetland beside the lake. Ticket prices and visiting tips are in the Butrint section of the tourism guide.
- Ancient Greek theatre, which UNESCO describes as fairly well preserved
- Early Christian baptistery, adapted from a Roman building, with a mosaic floor
- Roman-era remains, including an aqueduct built when the city expanded south of the Vivari Channel
- Defences from the Greek period to the Middle Ages, plus Ali Pasha's 19th-century fortress
- A rare combination of archaeology and nature within a 200-hectare protected property
Food and drink: an overview
Albanian cooking draws on Ottoman, Mediterranean and Balkan traditions and changes from region to region: olive oil, seafood and vegetables on the coast, lamb, dairy and cornbread in the mountains. Food is also bound up with custom. Raki, a clear brandy usually made from grapes, is poured for guests and at family occasions from celebrations to funerals, and Summer Day (Dita e Verës) on 14 March is marked with ballokume, a corn-flour biscuit from Elbasan.
Four dishes that visitors are likely to meet early on:
- Tavë kosi, lamb and rice baked under yogurt and egg, linked above all with Elbasan
- Byrek, filo pie with spinach, cheese or meat, sold in bakeries in every town
- Fërgesë, Tirana's baked dish of peppers, tomatoes and curd cheese
- Trilece, a sponge cake soaked in three kinds of milk, found in most pastry shops
The Albanian food guide describes twenty dishes in detail, with typical restaurant prices, dining customs and regional specialities.
Five events worth planning around
Albania's calendar mixes old seasonal customs with modern music and film festivals. The five events below range from a spring public holiday to a folk festival held only every few years. Dates change from year to year, so check with the organisers before you plan around them.
Dita e Verës
Dhermi
Gjirokastër
Korça
Tirana
Albanian culture: what to know
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What is Besa in Albanian culture?
Besa is an Albanian code of honour; Yad Vashem explains that the word means “to keep the promise”. Hospitality to guests is a closely related custom rather than the meaning of the word. During World War II, Albanians sheltered Jewish refugees at great personal risk, and Yad Vashem notes that there were more Jews in Albania at the end of the war than before it.
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What are the UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Albania?
Albania has four UNESCO World Heritage Sites: Butrint, an archaeological site near Saranda inscribed in 1992 and extended in 1999; the Historic Centres of Berat and Gjirokastra (Gjirokastër inscribed in 2005, Berat added in 2008); the Natural and Cultural Heritage of the Ohrid region, shared with North Macedonia and extended to Albania in 2019; and Albanian beech forests that form part of the Ancient and Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and Other Regions of Europe.
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What festivals should I attend in Albania?
Events worth knowing about include Summer Day (Dita e Verës) on 14 March, a public holiday celebrated most famously in Elbasan; the Kala Festival, an electronic music festival on the beach at Dhermi each June; the National Folk Festival in Gjirokastër, held every few years (most recently from 24 June to 1 July 2023); the Korça beer festival each August; and the Tirana International Film Festival, whose 2026 edition ran from 21 to 27 September.
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How important is hospitality in Albanian culture?
Hospitality is a core value in Albanian culture. The Kanun, the customary law of the northern highlands, treats the guest as someone the host is bound to protect, and the custom is closely associated with besa. Visitors may be invited in for coffee or offered food by people they have only just met.
Sources
- UNESCO World Heritage Centre: Albania – properties inscribed on the World Heritage List; Historic Centres of Berat and Gjirokastra; Butrint
- Yad Vashem: Besa: A Code of Honor – Muslim Albanians Who Rescued Jews During the Holocaust; Names of Righteous by Country
- Kala Festival: Official website
- Tirana International Film Festival: Official website
- Euronews Albania: Gjirokastër 2023 National Folklore Festival doors open (25 June 2023)
- Tirana Times: Korca preparing to host biggest beer festival in Albania (2010)
- Wikipedia: Kanun (Albania); Dita e Verës; Albanian cuisine; Tirana International Film Festival; Birra Korça
Last checked 14 October 2026. Prices and rules change; confirm time-sensitive details with the official source before you travel.