In this adapted extract from his new book, Minarets in the Mountains, Tharik Hussain discovers a historic centre of Islamic learning in the country’s scenic southern hills
The silhouette of Gjirokastër began to emerge in the distance. This city is in the country’s mountainous south, overlooked by its ancient fort, with 17th- and 18th-century stone Ottoman houses cascading down the slopes like a medieval mirage.
We turned off the highway on to a road dominated by an eight-storey concrete building with pink balconies, beneath which locals sat in the sun sipping coffee on lime-coloured patio furniture.