 |
|
|
 | Kulla
Twenty years ago, the Kulla e Mazrekajve would not have stood out in the village of Dranoc or anywhere else in this part of Kosovo. It is a fortified stone house built to a typical Albanian design that dates back centuries. Unfortunately, most of the examples of this unique design have now been destroyed in war or by neglect, and now the building is almost a lone survivor.
|  |
The Swedish NGO, Cultural Heritage Without Borders renovated this kulla to offer bed and breakfast accommodation - a taste of traditional hospitality siting on cushions in the beautiful carved wood of the men's meeting room combined with the comfort of a modern bathroom and kitchen and powerpoint projection facilities in the seminar room (formerly the stable).
|  | With my friend, Cindy Rowlands, I worked as a volunteer to market the kulla through a series of cultural workshops. A documentary on youtube by Kosovan journalist, Rexhep Myftari, describes the project in more detail while other web references set this project in the context of sustainable tourism in Kosovo more generally.
My image of the kulla was recently chosen for inclusion in the National Geographic's Traveler supplement on the Western Balkans | | | | |
|
|
|
|
