Wikipedia
Gjirokastër is a town and a municipality in southern Albania. Lying in the historical region of Epirus, it is the capital of Gjirokastër County. Its old town is a World Heritage Site described as "a rare example of a well-preserved Ottoman town, built by farmers of large estate." Gjirokastër is situated in a valley between the Gjerë mountains and the Drino, at 300 metres above sea level. The city is overlooked by Gjirokastër Fortress, where the Gjirokastër National Folklore Festival is held every five years. Gjirokastër is the birthplace of former Albanian communist leader Enver Hoxha and notable writer Ismail Kadare. It hosts the Eqrem Çabej University.
The present municipality was formed at the 2015 local government reform by the merger of the former municipalities of Antigonë, Cepo, Gjirokastër, Lazarat, Lunxhëri, Odrie and Picar, that became municipal units. The seat of the municipality is the town Gjirokastër. The total population is 25,301 (2011 census), in a total area of . The population of the former municipality at the 2011 census was 19,836.
The city appears in the historical record in 1336 by its Greek name, Argyrokastro (Αργυρόκαστρο, often written Argyrocastro or Argyro-Castro), as part of the Byzantine Empire. It became part of the Orthodox Christian doecese of Dryinoupolis and Argyrokastro after the destruction of nearby Adrianoupolis. Gjirokastër later became the center of the principality ruled by John Zenevisi (1373-1417) before falling under Ottoman rule for the next five centuries. Throughout the Ottoman era Gjirokastër was officially known in Ottoman Turkish as Ergiri and also Ergiri Kasrı. During the Ottoman period conversions to Islam and an influx of Muslim converts from the surrounding countryside made Gjirokastër go from being an overwhelmingly Christian city in the 16th century into one with a large Muslim population by the early 19th century. Gjirokastër also became a major religious centre for Bektashi Sufism. Taken by the Hellenic Army during the Balkan Wars of 1912-3 on account of its large Greek population, it was eventually incorporated into the newly independent state of Albania in 1913. This proved highly unpopular with the local Greek population, who rebelled; after several months of guerrilla warfare, the short-lived Autonomous Republic of Northern Epirus was established in 1914 with Gjirokastër as its capital. It was definitively awarded to Albania in 1921. In more recent years, the city witnessed anti-government protests that lead to the Albanian civil war of 1997.
Alongside Muslim and Orthodox Albanians who form the majority population, the city is also home to a substantial Greek minority. Gjirokastër, together with Sarandë, is considered one of the centers of the Greek community in Albania, and there is a consulate of Greece.