Albanian Cultural Videos

Keshtjella e kenges

Dokumentar mbi traditat dhe muziken shqiptare.
Documetary about Albanian traditions and music.

Pjesa - 1



Pjesa - 2



Pjesa - 3

^^^shiko video, shume dokumentar i mire rreth polifonise Shqiptare.

Me shpate ne dore - pjesa 1

Dokumentar mbi historine e shqiperise realizuar ne vitin 1962.

Me shpate ne dore - pjesa 2

Me shpate ne dore - pjesa 3

Me shpate ne dore - pjesa 4

Illyrian round dance for the Sky

Pagan uranian and solar ritual in Albania-Shqipëria.

Illyrian origins.

Scene from the albanian movie "Muri i gjallë" 1989

Magnificent Albanian Clothing

Fustanella / Kilt an Albanian Traditional Costume !!!

The Fustanella / Kilt is an Albanian Traditional Costume not greek !!!!

The famous Albanian Kilt (Fustanella as it is known in the Albanian Language) was common dress for Albanian mens from the past centuries where it was regularly worn by a tribe of the Dalmatians (one of the Illyrian progenitors of the Albanians), till at 20-th century.

Men’s Fustanella / Kilt used to be widely used all over West Balkan, in particular in Illyria and Mollossia / Epirus.
At that time, the Kilt was called Dalmatica, however, theories exist that the Kilt really had its origin during much earlier times as a long shirt called LINJA which, when gathered at the waist by a sash, gave the appearance of a knee- or calf-length kilt.
From at least the 12th century, a strong cotton cloth called FUSTAN was produced - hence the name of the garment FUSTAN and later the diminutive FUSTANELLA . But archeological evidence points to the FUSTANELLA as being a more ancient form of clothing. Among the more important archeological finds are:
1. a small Illyrian ceramic statue from the 4th century C.E.(AD) found in Durres which depicts a man wearing a long fustanella fastened with two bands across the chest;
2. an Illyrian gravestone from the 3rd to 4th century C.E.(AD) found in Smokthine of Mesaplik (Vlora- Albania), which shows a man dressed in a fustanella;
3. and much more ancient Illyrian figurines found in Maribor, Slovenia, which dates from the 5th century B.C.E. (BC) which also shows a fustanella worn with the two bands across the chest (very similar to the statue find in Albania)

Created by special tailors, this garment measured up to 40 yards around and was made of white linen panels which were covered with fat for waterproofing. A short, richly decorated jacket worn over a full-sleeved white shirt, embroidered leggings or white stockings, a sash and fez completed the outfit.
Depending on the social status of the wearer, materials used in fabricating the Fustanella (thereby defining the number of pleats) ranged fromcoarse linen or woolen cloth for villagers to luxurious silks for the more affluent.
Although the kilt was once worn by mens throughout Albania, today this Albanian traditional costume it is seen only on special occasions (mostly in southern regions of Albania), and in the Albanian regions of Montenegro, Kosova, south Serbia, Macedonia, and Greece that are inhabited by Albanian populations.

The Hungarian sociologist, Baron Nopcsa, believed that the Albanian/ Illyrian Kilt became the original pattern for the Roman military dress, and, because of its similarity to the Celtic Kilt, he also theorized that the Roman legions in Britain, through the presence of its Illyrian element (especially solders), probably started the fashion among the Celts (is interesting to note that the Celtic word for Scotland is Alban).

Lord Byron, in “Childe Harolds Pilgrimage” observed the Albanian kilt to the knee, and T.S. Finlay in his “Travels through Greece and Albania states” unequivocally declare that it was the fame of the Albanians which induced the modern greeks to adopt (appropriate) the Albanian Kilt as their national costume.
“History of Greek Revolution” by George Finlay (1860):
”The history of the Greek Revolution would often be obscure unless the importance of the Albanian element, which pervaded military society in the Othoman empire, is fully appreciated. A trifling but striking mark of the high position which the Albanians had gained was exhibited by the general adoption of their dress.

Though a strong antipathy to the Albanians of muslum faith had been always felt by the Othoman Turks, towards the end of the last century they began to pay an involuntary homage to the warlike reputation of the Albanian mercenaries. It became then not uncommon, in Greece and Macedonia, to see the children
of the proudest Osmanlees dressed in the fustinello, or white kilt of the Albanian Tosks.
Subsequently, when Veli Pasha, the second son of Ali of Joannina, governed the Morea, even young Greeks of rank ventured to assume this dress, particularly when travelling, as it afforded them an opportunity of wearing arms. The Greek armatoli and the Christians employed as police-guards, even in the Morea, also wore this dress ; but it was the fame of the Albanians — the military reputation of the armatoli was then on the decline and that of the Suliots on the ascendant — which induced the modern Greeks to adopt the Albanian kilt as their national costume.
It is in consequence of this admiration of Albanianism that the court of King Otho assumes its melo -dramatic aspect, and glitters in tawdry tinsel mimicry of the rich and splendid garb which arrested the attention of Childe Harold in the galleries of the palace of Tepelen (Albania) ; but the calico fustanello hangs round the legs of the Greeks like a paper petticoat, while the white kilt of the Albanian Tosks, formed of a strong product of native looms, fell in the graceful folds of antique drapery.”
Lord Byron: ”The Arnauts, or Albanians, struck me forcibly by their resemblance to the Highlanders of Scotland, in dress, figure and manner of living. The kilt, though white; the spare, active form; their dialect, Celtic in sound, and their habits, all carried me back to Motven. No nation are so detested and dreaded by their neigbours as the Albanese; the greeks hardly regard them as Chrystians, or the turks as moslems; and in fact they are a mixture of both, and sometimes neither. Their habits are predatory; all are armed; and the red-shawled Arnauts, the Montenegrins, Chimariots and Geges (Gegs, Albanian northern highlanders) are treacherous; the others differ somewhat in garb, and essentially in character.”


Also See:
-“The Albanians and Their Territories” pages 164-166, 8 Nentori Publishing House, Tirana, 1985,
- Faik Konitzas “Albania: Rock Garden of Southeastern Europe” Pages 81-90.
- Lord Byron “Works of Lord Byron: With His Letters and Journals, and His Life”;


”Memoir of a Campaign with the Ottoman Army in Egypt, from February to July 1800”, By James Philip Morier, 1801 :
”The troops which are raised in the Morea, Epirus, Albania and Macedonia are known under the general apellation of Arnauts/Albanians. They are warlike people. They retain much of the ferocity of the Spartans, of whom they are said to be the descendants: their dress would favour that supposition, from its resemblance to the the tunic. They wear a breastplate of silver and a species of armour covers their legs; many of them walk in sandals; the fore part of the head, as far as the middle of the crown is shaved, and only a tuft of hair hangs loose on the back part of the head; a red skull-cap of cloth comes far over their eyebrows, and gives them a fierce look. Their fire-arms are in general beautifully ornamented in silver and gold. The Albanians have the reputation of being very courageous; they certainly carry with them a very exalted notion of their own prowess; and, as they are commanded by officers from their nation whom they respect.”


Peloponnessos, Greece (1830) Albanian warriors introduced the foustanella into the Peloponnese region. The Koundouriotis family, which produced the first President of the Greek Republic, was Albanian, like many of Idra's early settlers, who fled here from the Turks in the 15th century. Despite popular mistrust of the Albanians today in the face of a new wave of immigration, elements of Albania have penetrated into Greek culture: the Fustanella/ Kilt that's a part of the formal attire of Greek soldiers is based on Albanian fighting gear, and is sometimes referred to as the "Albanian kilt:"





https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cOIXj6zncmQ&feature=channel_page