Kullas, the stone tower houses of western Kosovo

Few things feel as rooted in western Kosovo as the kulla. It’s a stone house that doubled as a small family stronghold, and its square outline crops up in villages and towns all over the west. There’s no kulla museum to point you to, so here’s what they are, how many have an official record and where to see them.

What a kulla is

In Albanian the same word also names clock towers (sahat kulla), and the Ministry of Culture heritage database (DTK) describes these houses as fortified homes. Zenel Bey’s kulla in the centre of Peja is a good example. Its record dates it to 1854 and explains the three floors, with storage below, the family’s rooms on the first floor and, at the top, the men’s oda, where guests were received. Many have a stone projection on a corner or along the sides of the façade, the dyshekllëk, which the DTK flags as a typical feature.

Avdullah Pashë Dreni’s kulla, at the entrance to the bazaar in Gjakova, shows the defensive side. Its record dates it to around 1790 and says the large number of loopholes across its three floors proves it was both home and fortification.

How many, and where

The DTK protects 49 kullas. Gjakova and Peja have nine each, Mitrovica and Deçan seven, Istog six and Rahovec three, with one or two in eight other municipalities. By period, 36 are 19th century, nine 18th century and three 20th century. The oldest is Ymer Poga’s at Rogovë, near Gjakova, three storeys high, which its record credits to the same Hasan Agë who built the village mosque in 1580.

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Junik, the place to see them

My pick for seeing them is Junik. The Hoxhaj quarter has Brahim Hoxha’s 18th-century kulla, known as the Oda of Junik, and Jah Imeri’s from the early 19th, three storeys of stone, lime and timber under a hipped roof. The DTK says the Oda served as a meeting room where elders applied customary law and where disputes between families were settled. The photo on this guide is that Junik kulla. Nearby, Deçan municipality has seven listed kullas, the Oda among them, since the DTK files it there.

Beyond the west

In the centre and south they thin out. In Shtime, the DTK records the Fejzullahu family kulla at Zotaj, probably built in the later 1800s, and in Hani i Elezit, Nuhi Brava’s tower house at Puset e Nikës. Gjilan has two, at Haxhaj and Terziaj.

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Seeing them respectfully

No official source publishes visiting hours, and many kullas are still private homes. I’d look from the road without wandering into yards or fields, and if someone does open the door, let the owner decide what to show. The one you can actually sleep in is the kulla of the Çarshia e Jupave in Gjakova’s bazaar, rebuilt after 1999 and now, according to the DTK, a hotel with shops. Prices there are in euros, Kosovo’s currency, so sort out your pounds before you travel.

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