page_title: Culture of Gjakova
section_title: Traditional clothes
hierarchical_section_title: Culture of Gjakova / Traditional clothes
caption_attribution_description: Kostume popullore
context_page_description: Gjakova has been populated since the prehistoric era. During the medieval period, in 1485, Gjakova is mentioned as a village, concretely as a market place.
  Gjakova served as a trading center on the route between Shkodër and Istanbul.
  The old town of Gjakova was one of the most developed trade centers during the rule of the Ottoman Empire in Balkans. A testimony to this period is the Grand Shopping area located in the center of the old town, containing many preserved and restored shops and residential buildings. Shopping was developed around the Hadum Mosque, built in 1594-95 as a donation by Hadum Sylejman Efendia, who simultaneously donated funds for other public facilities in the town, including some of the first shops in the old marketplace.
  Gjakova is mentioned as a city for the first time in 1662, by the Ottoman Turkish traveler Evliya Çelebi, who described it as a flourishing and attractive town consisting of 2,000 houses, all built of stone with roofs and gardens.
context_section_description: Albanian folk costumes in Kosovo differ from one place to another, according to the age, and purpose, such as those used in a solemn act with the ones in ritual acts. They are all linked with the customs code itself and to a certain degree they are subject to different cultures identifying therewith the culture of those who lived in those regions. This is typical also for other Albanian regions. However, it is characteristic that this influence of foreign cultures has the strongest impact on ladies' costumes and quite a little on men’s wear. As in other ethno-cultural fields, there are different explanations in the sphere of tradition as a result of its outstretching and comparison of study. Province features differ gradually passing from one territory to another. Brilliant works from Gjakova are wanted and somehow used in every town.
  The young brides worked the folk costumes to have different feasts and events, in order to preserve the clothing tradition. This wear was replaced by modern wear receiving the denomination "Allafranga", ("in the western fashion"). However, for a long time the folk costumes continued to be worked out within household economies by the women themselves. Gjakova with its surroundings was known as a place of fabric production. The connection with bigger towns, such as Peja, Prizren, Prishtina, Mitrovica, resulted in many clothing materials, as well as special parts for waistcoats, socks, shorts being bought ready-made. The Dukagjini Plain has been the place where the traditional costume has been developed the most. This region of Kosovo, binding the northern part of Albania with the Gjakova Highland area, mainly Tropoja and including the Has are, has cultivated a tradition in costumes, being therefore in the first place.
caption: Traditional Clothes - Gjakova
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