Travel Guide Kallmet

Kallmet/Kallmeti has around 4,000 inhabitants and is part of the municipality of Lezha. The village center lies 11 km northeast of Lezha, 34 km southeast of Shkodra and 61 km southwest of Puka(via Vau i Dejës, south of Lake Koman). Regular minibus services from Lezha.Situated inland, this Catholic village is a Mecca for Albanian wine. It gives its name to kallmet, one of the country's finest grape varieties, a tannic yet refined red with hints of cherry. Dominated by vine-covered hillsides at an altitude of around 300 m, the village comprises four hamlets spread over 7 km along the road between Lezha and Vau i Dejës: Mërqi (4 km north-east of the center of Lezha), Raboshta, then Kallmet i Madh ("Big Kallmet"), which houses the town hall, and Kallmet i Vogël ("Little Kallmet"). The latter is home to the main local wine producer, Kantina Kallmeti. But that's not all that makes Kallmet worth a visit. Just 7 km to the north lies the hamlet of Fishta (population approx. 200). This is the birthplace of the great poet and Franciscan priest Gjergj Fishta (1871-1940), and home to Albania's most famous restaurant: Mrizi i Zanave ("The Shadow of the Fairies"), named after a collection of Fishta's poems. It's a very good 100% locavore restaurant, but also a hotel and an agricultural estate where kallmet is produced.