Rising from between the treetops on the mount of the same name, Kruje derives its name from the Albanian word “kroje” meaning spring, in a way symbolic of this town’s more recent initiation into the tourism trail.

Today, the town attracts day-trippers from the country’s capital at Tirana, who walk around its cosy perimeters to enjoy the sweeping views over central Albania, the rugged hills of the Ishem River basin and the scintillating Adriatic coast in the distance. They furthermore acquaint themselves with the traditional way of life with a visit to the National Ethnographic museum, backing it up with a visit to the dusty Old Bazaar, where hand crafted woodwork, carpets and jewellery adorn the shops.

However, as any Kruje tourist guide will tell you, this town is primarily known locally as the birthplace of national hero, George Kastrioti Skanderbeg, and there are now informative exhibitions dedicated to the national hero inside Kruje Castle, not to mention a smattering of honorific monuments peppering the centre here.