There are many places where Catholics and Protestants can celebrate Christmas, but Podgorica is certainly not the most attractive one. Most inhabitants belong to the Orthodox church, which means that their Christmas is celebrated two weeks later, on January 7th. That is the reason why we have spent most Christmas holidays abroad so far.
But this year we decided to stay „at home“ in Podgorica. Unfortunately, it was really disappointing to see that „our“ Christmas would not be celebrated at all: our foreign friends had left the country and everybody else would have normal working days, schools and shops would be open – and we felt a little bit „lost“. An Albanian friend suggested us to spend Christmas’ Eve in Shkodra, as this town has a large Catholic community and the atmosphere was expected to become quite festive (photo 1).
And so we left for Shkodra on December 24th, taking the picturesque road around Skadar Lake (photo 2). But we were not the only ones! There was a long queue at the Sukobin border – many Albanians working abroad, most of them in Italy, were on their way home to spend Christmas holidays with their families.
We had booked a small hotel in the town centre, Hotel Tradita, which is accommodated in an old traditional house and its rooms and restaurant look like a ethnographic museum (photo 3). The owner, a Catholic Malissore with a Muslim wife, had arranged a typical nativity scene (photo 4) in front of the picturesque building. He told us that there are even 8,000 mixed marriages in Shkodra. It is estimated that the proportion of Muslims and Catholics in town is around fifty-fifty, although the statistics for Albania show different figures: 70% Islam, 20% Orthodox and 10% Roman-Catholic.
It is typical for Albania, once the first and only „atheist“ country in the world, that religions have started to develop very quickly since the early nineties. But honestly speaking, I don’t have the feeling that people are „deeply religious“: they respect the religion of the family they are born into (similar to the Montenegrin idea of religion), but they don’t know much about the real meaning of their belief. Indeed, they celebrate the holy days and they respect the Catholic traditions of marriage, death and baptizing. And – what is most important – they show a high level of tolerance for other religions. In that respect, Albania can be considered as an example for many other countries in the world.
Catholics celebrate Christmas Eve with their family and everybody attends the Holy Mass at 10 PM. After that, the real celebration begins. Muslims visit their Catholic friends, club and pubs open their doors for special „Christmas parties“ with live music, and firework is let off at midnight.
It was a pleasant surprise to see the beautiful illumination in town. The pedestrian zone Sheshi or Kol Idromeno Street was brightly decorated. The city hall looked like a fairytale (photo 5), the palms like Christmas trees and all streets in the town center had got a festal look.
We had an excellent dinner at the well-known Vila Bekteshi restaurant. The prices in Shkodra are still ridiculously low, even if compared to Podgorica; we paid 10 € p.p. for a three-course meal with drinks.
Of course, we were quite curious: what would be our impression of the Holy Mass at 10 PM (photo 6)? It was a surprise to see the huge Cathedral congested with believers, most of them young people and families with small children. The Mass was served by the archbishop and broadcasted by an Albanian TV station. Although we could not understand a word, we were impressed by the solemn atmosphere and the choir singing Christmas songs. Who had ever thought, thirty years ago, that this would happen in Albania?
On Christmas morning we made a long walk through the town center. Each time when we visit Shkodra, we see progress, much progress. Old buildings restored and painted (photo 7), streets paved, parks and fountains clean and well-arranged (photo 8)… The weather was warm and sunny – a strange Christmas feeling for us, people from Northern Europe – and the pubs with open terraces were full of locals having their first cup of coffee. People were greeting us on the street with the words „Merry Christmas!“
And finally, believe me: Shkodra is gradually becoming an attractive city with a warm Mediterranean atmosphere, worth a visit at any time of the year!
Hvala ti Marijana za divan opis Božiča u Skadru. Mi smo isto obično pošli u Sloveniju za Božič i Novu godinu, ali ovoga puta nismo mogli, jer renoviramo stan, pa nam je haos kroz kuću. Nadam se da se vidimo jednom u 2016. Godini.
Lijepe praznike I srećna Nova!
Hvala ti Marijana za divan opis Božiča u Skadru. Mi smo isto obično pošli u Sloveniju za Božič i Novu godinu, ali ovoga puta nismo mogli, jer renoviramo stan, pa nam je haos kroz kuću. Nadam se da se vidimo jednom u 2016. Godini.
Lijepe praznike
Hvala Gizela, tebi i Nikoli zelim mnogo srece u Novoj Godini. Bilo bi mi drago da popijemo kafu kad zavrsite radove. Sve najljepše!!
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Once again, just wanted to thank you for your blog. Your blog keeps me wanting to leaving it all behind here in Canada and move to Montenegro often.
Thank you and good wishes for New Year!
It looks like a lovely place to visit and it’s great that the population are tolerant of different religions. 🙂
Enver Hoxha wouldn’t recognise it these days! Interesting article, thanks for posting.
Enjoy #Montenegro even more in 2016 🙂
Also, I keep looking out for you on twitter, so I can forward your excellent articles onwards, but don’t seem to be able to find you on there to credit you for the words / photographs?
Well, when my blogpost is put on Facebook, it automatically also appears on Twitter. My twitter name is @MVanTwillert.
Thanks for your nice words!
Kind regards,
Marianne
Interesting alternative to going to Dubrovnik or Bari for Christmas. Shkoder seems like a nice city. However, I’m not so sure the religious relations are all peaches and roses. I found this from a paper on Islam in Albania with reference to Shkoder. Also, a couple of years ago a couple of local extremists were arrested for allegedly supporting ISIS.
” THE “MYTH” OF RELIGIOUS TOLERANCE
Unlike the rest of the Balkans, Albania is widely recognized as having a strong tradition of religious tolerance, an example of which was explicitly demonstrated in the euphoria of 1992 when, in Shkoder, the largest city in northern Albania which has historically been the centre of Albanian Catholicism, Muslims as well as Catholics had helped prepare the city’s Catholic cathedral for reopening, and five days later Catholics helped to reopen the city’s main mosque.32 Everywhere you go in contemporary Albania, people speak of the country’s tradition of religious tolerance and that there is complete harmony between the different faiths. This is indeed largely correct, with interfaith marriages being common. Nevertheless, some scholars argue that religious divides were minimized for nationalist purposes and that religious intolerance has always existed amongst Albanians, that Albanian culture is not one of peaceful religious co-existence, and that a tradition of tolerance has been invented and is constantly being reinforced today.
Without a detailed and comprehensive study of multi-faith regions of Albania, it is difficult to assess whether this is the case or not. Some recent media reports have suggested that tensions do exist between religious communities, especially in the northern district of Shkoder where Muslims have protested against a series of large Christian crosses being erected on prominent hilltops. The cutting down of a large cross in the village of Bushat during the Muslim festival of Bajram in January 2006 brought religious issues back into the limelight. The Catholic Church condemned the act but expressed its confidence that the event would not harm peaceful co-existence in Albania. Muslim authorities also condemned the vandalism but they did express concern about the phenomenon of placing religious symbols without any permits in public places which do not have any religious significance.
Not long after, more controversy arose over choosing a site for the erection of a bust of Mother Theresa, the ethnic Albanian Catholic nun in line for elevation to sainthood by the Vatican and a Nobel Prize winner, in the centre of Shkoder.34 In April 2006, the city council of Shkoder accepted a proposal by the Ministry of Culture for the erection of a bust of Mother Theresa in the city. With only two votes against, council members agreed the bust should be erected in the city centre. This was considered a compromise deal avoiding the first proposal for the erection of the bust at the entrance of the city in the “Xhabiaj” district, which is mainly inhabited by Muslims. Some local Muslim groups rejected plans for the statue, arguing that it would offend the feelings of Muslims. However, at a meeting of the city’s intellectuals, both Muslim and Catholic, it was agreed that it was an honour for their city to have a statue of Mother Theresa.
The Mufti of Shkoder, after many petitions from the Muslims of the city, especially those from the Xhabije neighborhood where the statue was to be erected, said in a press release that Mother Theresa’s Catholicism would be offensive to Muslims and Christians alike. In essence the figure of Mother Theresa is religious and as such the focus of Mother Theresa’s mission was the propagation of Catholicism. The Mufti reminded that Mother Theresa was beatified by Pope John Paul II for her contribution primarily as a Catholic missionary. Other Muslim residents complained that there was a plot to portray the town as a Catholic enclave.
Meanwhile, concerns were raised about a supposed bias amongst local councillors towards the Catholic districts of Shkoder as opposed to the Muslim ones. In August 2007, the head of Shkoder’s Muslim community, Mufti Ndricim Sulejmani, called on local politicians to refrain from causing religious divisions and to work to preserve a balance amongst religions. Mufti Sulejmani was referring to local government officials, a good proportion of whom are Catholics, who were allegedly appointing proportionally more Catholics to appointments in leading posts. “There has long been great unhappiness about the leadership of the local authorities in Shkoder,” he told reporters. “They have focused their attention on districts and neighbourhoods inhabited by one particular religion – a reference to Catholicism. They have ignored the majority from the other religion.” Sulejmani remarked that these officials had not been elected by believers of only one faith: rather, they were elected by the votes of Muslims, who represent the majority population of the city. He said openly that “tolerance has a limit” and that it was necessary to preserve religious tolerance.”
https://www.files.ethz.ch/isn/55215/2008_March_IslamAlb.pdf