BOULEVARD DE LA RÉPUBLIQUE

This boulevard (Bulevardi Republika) is the city's main north-south axis. It begins shortly before the cathedral, at the corner of Fan-Noli boulevard, and runs north for 1.2 km to the Skanderbeg stadium (12,000 spectators), home to KF Skënderbeu, one of the best teams in the Albanian soccer championship (six-time winners from 2011 to 2018). With its wide sidewalks planted with trees inherited from the French period, it's one of the locals' favorite places to stroll (on foot or by car), along with Boulevard Saint-Georges. Here you'll find banks, stores, restaurants and cafés. Among the highlights, starting from the cathedral, Boulevard de la République crosses Rue Sotir-Gura (right), where you'll find the former French lycée and the Bujtina Liceu restaurant, then runs alongside the Majestik cinema (right), a beautiful Italian-style building dating from 1927, the Themistokli-Gërmënji park (left, with the Alliance française next door) and finally, further along, the Life Gallery hotel-restaurant (left). The boulevard is named in memory of the Republic of Korça, a semi-independent entity founded by the French Army of the East in 1916 and attached to Albania in 1920. The Republic was led by one of the town's leading figures, the Orthodox band leader Themistokli Gërmënji (1871-1917). He was executed by the French on the false pretext of treason to satisfy the demands of the Italians, who took a dim view of the territory's autonomy.