Travel Guide Librazhd

Librazhd/Librazhdi (pronounced "librajde"/"librajdi") has a population of around 7,000. It is the capital of the municipality of Librazhd (30,000 inhabitants). The town lies 25 kilometers northeast of Elbasan, 53 kilometers west of Struga (North Macedonia) and 60 kilometers northwest of Pogradec. It can be reached by minibus from Tirana, Elbasan, Pogradec and Korça.This unassuming town is the gateway to the Shebenik-Jabllanica National Park. Less than 20 kilometers as the crow flies from North Macedonia and right next to the confluence of the Shkumbin and Rapuni rivers, Librazhd is a new town. Although located on the Via Egnatia, it was founded in 1929, when a dam was built on the Shkumbin, and stretches for a kilometer along the river's right bank. During the Communist era, Librazhd specialized in wine production. It still has vineyards from this period in the courtyard of the former wine cooperative (Kantina e Verës Librazhd) in the town center. Now privatized, the cooperative has a fine restaurant where you can sample the local produce. Further south, 200 metres past the town hall on the main street, you'll also find the Deux Poètes Martyrs monument, created in 2006 by sculptor Sadik Spahija (b. 1959). It pays tribute to two Librazhd poets who were executed together in 1977: Genc Leka and Vilson Blloshmi, who died at the age of 36 and 29 respectively.