OLD BAZAAR DISTRICT

Renovated in 2017, this district (Pazari i Vjetër) is pleasant with its large Freedom Square (Sheshi Liria), stone houses, cobbled lanes and terraces. This is the old charchia, the central Ottoman district built around the Mirahori mosque. Craftsmen were grouped here by trade, and stores and caravanserais attracted merchants from all over the Empire. The district grew especially in the ^19th century with the settlement of Greek and Aromanian merchants from Moscopole, ravaged by Ali Pacha de Tepelena in 1788. At the time, the bazaar included up to a thousand shops, occupying an area three times larger than today. The bazaar extended as far as today's Boulevard Saint-Georges, with bridges spanning a river later covered by Boulevard Fan-Noli. Initially built of wood, the district burned down several times before being hardened. Business declined after independence (1912), when Korça lost its traditional outlets in the Ottoman Empire. But the final blow came with collectivization in 1944. Craftsmen and shopkeepers disappeared, and the district fell into disrepair. In 2014, the municipality set about renovating the area to attract tourists, driving out the market and Roma inhabitants in the process. The district once boasted 18 caravanserais, typical Persian and Turkish trading posts. Only three remain, including the Han i Elbasanit, once used by Elbasan merchants and now home to the Hani i Pazarit hotel since 2018.