Gjirokastėr (Albanian: Gjirokastėr or Gjirokastra, Greek: Argyrokastron or Girokastron) is a city in southern Albania at 40.08°N, 20.15°E with a population of around 30,000 (including some Greek minorities). It is an ancient city with old settlement traces dating back to the 1st century BC. Gjirokastėr is located on the hills of the Wide Mountain (Mali i Gjerė). At one point the city was a castle (Castle of Gjirokastėr) and then it began to grow with buildings springing up on the hills around the castle walls.
During the 13th century it was known as Argyropolis, the City of Argyro (i.e. the silver city) or Argyrokastron (i.e. the silver castle). In the 14th century it was part of the Despotate of Epirus and in 1417 it was conquered by the Ottoman Empire. The houses in Gjirokastėr have a distinguished Albanian style. Gjirokastėr also features an old bazaar which was originally built in the 17th century, but that had to be rebuilt in the 19th after it was set on fire. During the 19th century, Gjirokastėr was central to the Albanian liberation movement as it hosted the Assembly of Gjirokastėr in 1880. The city was developed after World War II and it is today an economic, educational and cultural center of southern Albania. There are over 20 museums in Gjirokastėr today and it is also the city of the National Folk Festival.
Gjirokastra (known as - the town of a thousand stairs), is of particular interest for its native architecture; the area on which it is built and its form resembling an extended cyclopic hand.
Gjirokastra lies on the slopes of Gjere mountain, overlooking the river Drino.
Gjirokastra is mentioned for the first time in a document of 1336, under the name of Argyropolihne (the township of Argyro), derived, according to the legend from a princess, Argyro, who hurled herself to her death from a tower to avoid falling into the hands of the invaders.
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