« So many interesting travel stories are published every day that it was not without some hesitation that I decided, on the advice of friends, perhaps too indulgent, to publish these notes taken during a journey through a region where today all is but ruins, among which roam the remnants of a forgotten race. » Souvenirs de…

Kurt Hassert (1868–1947), a German geographer and cartographer known for his explorations in the Arctic, Africa, and the Balkans, undertook an important journey to northern Albania in the summer of 1897. Albania attracted his attention because of its wild landscapes, its unique geological structure and its traditional mountain society. His starting point was Shkodër, from…

According to Ermanno Armao, Località, chiese, fiumi, monti e toponimi varii di un’antica carta dell’Albania Settentrionale (Localities, churches, rivers, mountains and various toponyms from an old map of Northern Albania), Rome, 1933. “Every village name, every ruined church, every broken bridge tells an ancient story worth hearing.” Researcher, orientalist, librarian, cartographer and expert on Albanian…

“…Victory was slowly receding from the Nile. ‘Let’s take one last look,’ said the doctor, ‘at this impenetrable geographical expanse, which even the bravest travelers have never been able to overcome. Here are precisely those tribes mentioned by Petherick, d’Arnaud, Miani, and that young traveler, Lejean, to whom we owe the best works on the…