The Importance of Cultural Heritage for Sustainable City Identity; Gjirokastra and Kruja the showcase where Bektashi Phenomenon can be the catalyst for a new rebranding strategy of the cities

Lord Byron in his poem “Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage” refers to Albania as the land composed of the matrices of different cultural and religious signs, some of them hidden and other ones obvious. This, perfectly showcased in his phrase “Let me bend my eyes / On thee, thou rugged nurse of savage men! / The cross descends, thy minarets arise, / And the pale crescent sparkles in the glen”, manifesting a rather syncretic character of the Albanian territory full of different cultural and spiritual systems. Nowadays, the sustainable development of cities, especially historic ones should not be developed only for economical purposes, but they should pass on traditions, identity, rituals, and symbols to the next generation in order to create a stable and harmonious image and structure of the city. Consequently, investigating the layers of cultural components that make up city identity, can function as potential points in highlighting alternative ways of building up alternative and sustainable cultural tourism through heritage and culture of coexistence not only in Albania but also in the Western Balkan Countries. In the context of this research, deep observation of the traditional areas of Gjirokastra and Kruja will be evaluated by the means of physical reflections and mutual interaction between the architectural heritage of the city and its cultural structure and dynamism. Highlighting these elements of historic and cultural symbolism and rituals will help in identifying concrete strategies on how to better brand their cultural heritage in the region. This paper aims to show how the unique phenomenon of Bektasism, similar to the cases of Konstinoupoli and Vatican for Orthodox and Catholics, and how this phenomenon can creates an identity based on this cultural heritage and Brand the cities as important ritualistic, historic and religious centers. Gjirokastra and Kruja are not only cities of high importance because of their cultural heritage, but they can be used as perfect examples on how to re-brand heritage and culture by highlighting the hidden potential that cities in the western Balkans have.