Gjakova Çarshia evening

The Çarshia e Madhe (Grand Bazaar) of Gjakova was burned in 1999 and rebuilt brick by brick — about 500 metres of wooden-shuttered shops, restored mosques, the tabakhana (tanners' street), and the Hadum mosque at the entrance. The bazaar is best in the early evening when the lights come on and the food kiosks open: a tour starts at the clock tower, threads through the lanes with stops at a couple of the workshops still operating (silver, copper, leather), and ends with dinner and raki at one of the family distilleries that opens its courtyard to visitors. Genuinely the quietest of the four old cities and arguably the most beautiful at night.