The so-called Ali Pasha Bridge, or Manalat Bridge, was part of a larger aqueduct complex commissioned in the beginning of the 19th century by Ali Pasha of Tepelenë. The aqueducts fed the castle’s cisterns with water from the Mount Sopot, 10 km away. Gjirokastra didn’t have water service at the time, and Ali Pasha quickly discerned the need for this structure. The bridge is an easy 30min hike from Gjirokastër and makes for a nice off-the-beaten-path destination. The aqueduct was mostly demolished in 1932, but this section in the Manalat Quarter remains. An early depiction of this famous “bridge” is found in the painting of Edward Lear, the British poet and painter, who traveled to Albania in the mid-19th century.
INNOVIMENTOR (Balkan-Mediterranean)
