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<!DOCTYPE html> <html> <head> <meta http-equiv="X-UA-Compatible" content="IE=EDGE"/> <meta charset="utf-8"/> <meta name="Generator" content="Xara HTML filter v.9.0.0.23"/> <meta name="XAR Files" content="index_htm_files/xr_files.txt"/> <title>Albanian Grave Art | Robert Elsie</title> <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1" /> <meta name="description" content="Albanian Grave Art | Robert Elsie"/> <link rel="stylesheet" href="index_htm_files/xr_fonts.css"/> <script></script> <script>document.documentElement.className="xr_bgh0";</script> <link rel="stylesheet" href="index_htm_files/xr_main.css"/> <link rel="stylesheet" href="index_htm_files/custom_styles.css"/> <link rel="stylesheet" href="index_htm_files/xr_text.css"/> <script src="index_htm_files/roe.js"></script> <script src="index_htm_files/replaceMobileFonts.js"></script> <link rel="stylesheet" href="index_htm_files/ani.css"/> <style> #xr_xr {top:0px;} </style>  <link rel="stylesheet" href="lightbox_files/vlb_files1/vlightbox1.css" type="text/css" /> <link rel="stylesheet" href="lightbox_files/vlb_files1/visuallightbox.css" type="text/css" media="screen" /> <script src="lightbox_files/vlb_engine/jquery.min.js" type="text/javascript"></script> <script src="lightbox_files/vlb_engine/visuallightbox.js" type="text/javascript"></script>  <style type="text/css"> html, body { background-image: url(hg.jpg); background-attachment: fixed; background-repeat: repeat-x; background-position: center 50px; background-color: #FFFAED; } </style > </head> <body class="xr_bgb0"> <div class="xr_ap" id="xr_xr" style="width: 920px; height: 3108px; left:50%; margin-left: -460px; text-align: left; top:0px;"> <script>var xr_xr=document.getElementById("xr_xr")</script> <div id="xr_td" class="xr_td"> <div class="xr_ap xr_xri_" style="width: 920px; height: 3108px;"> <span class="xr_ar" style="left:185px;top:350px;width:735px;height:2758px; background-color: #FFFFFF;"></span> <span class="xr_ar" style="left:0px;top:350px;width:171px;height:2758px; background-color: #FFFFFF;"></span> <div class="xr_group"> <img class="xr_ap" src="index_htm_files/2762.jpg" alt="" title="" style="left:0px;top:50px;width:920px;height:300px;"/> </div> <div class="xr_group"> <div class="xr_txt xr_s0" style="position: absolute; left:460px; top:27px; width:604px; height:10px;"> <span class="xr_tc xr_s0" style="left: -333.61px; top: -14.26px; width: 667px;">| <a href="http://www.elsie.de" onclick="return(xr_nn());" onmousemove="xr_mo(this,0)" >Robert Elsie</a> | <a href="http://www.albanianart.net/" onclick="return(xr_nn());" onmousemove="xr_mo(this,0)" >AL Art</a> | <a href="http://www.albanianhistory.net/" onclick="return(xr_nn());" onmousemove="xr_mo(this,0)" >AL History</a> | <a href="http://www.albanianlanguage.net/" onclick="return(xr_nn());" onmousemove="xr_mo(this,0)" >AL Language</a> | <a href="http://www.albanianliterature.net/" onclick="return(xr_nn());" onmousemove="xr_mo(this,0)" >AL Literature</a> | <a href="http://www.albanianphotography.net/" onclick="return(xr_nn());" onmousemove="xr_mo(this,0)" >AL Photography</a> | <a href="http://www.elsie.de/en/contact.html" onclick="return(xr_nn());" onmousemove="xr_mo(this,0)" >Contact</a> |</span> </div> </div> <img class="xr_ap" src="index_htm_files/1794.png" alt="" title="" style="left:0px;top:3029px;width:920px;height:2px;"/> <div class="xr_txt xr_s1" style="position: absolute; left:235px; top:415px; width:635px; height:10px;"> <h2 class="xr_tl x--195-156berschrift_2 xr_s2" style="top: -33.59px;margin:0;">Albanian Grave Art</h2> <span class="xr_tl Normaler_Text xr_s3" style="left: 20px; top: 9.58px;"><span class="Normaler_Text xr_s4" style=""><a href="index_de.htm" onclick="return(xr_nn());" onmousemove="xr_mo(this,0)" > Deutsch </a></span><span class="Normaler_Text xr_s5" style=""> </span><span class="Normaler_Text xr_s6" style="">| </span><span class="Normaler_Text xr_s5" style=""> </span></span> <span class="xr_tl Normaler_Text xr_s3" style="left: 147.37px; top: 9.58px;"><span class="Normaler_Text xr_s4" style=""> </span><span class="Normaler_Text xr_s4" style=""><a href="index_al.htm" onclick="return(xr_nn());" onmousemove="xr_mo(this,0)" >Shqip</a></span></span> <span class="xr_tl Normaler_Text xr_s4" style="top: 90.52px;">The Albanians do not have a developed grave culture. The fine old cemeteries </span> <span class="xr_tl Normaler_Text xr_s4" style="top: 119.66px;">that are to be found in other European countries are rare in this part of the </span> <span class="xr_tl Normaler_Text xr_s4" style="top: 148.8px;">world. Indeed, there are very few original graves in Albania that predate the </span> <span class="xr_tl Normaler_Text xr_s4" style="top: 177.94px;">Second World War. One reason for this, aside from the high level of destruction </span> <span class="xr_tl Normaler_Text xr_s4" style="top: 207.08px;">and self-destruction that has ravaged Albanian lands over the ages, is that the </span> <span class="xr_tl Normaler_Text xr_s4" style="top: 236.21px;">majority of Albanians converted to Islam during the Ottoman period. Although </span> <span class="xr_tl Normaler_Text xr_s4" style="top: 265.35px;">this conversion was more formal than fervent, and religious sentiment – </span> <span class="xr_tl Normaler_Text xr_s4" style="top: 294.49px;">Muslim or Christian – has never been strong in the country, Muslim Albanians </span> <span class="xr_tl Normaler_Text xr_s4" style="top: 323.63px;">have until recently, for the most part, respected Islamic burial traditions. This </span> <span class="xr_tl Normaler_Text xr_s4" style="top: 352.77px;">means that the dead are buried very quickly, if possible within 24 hours, and </span> <span class="xr_tl Normaler_Text xr_s4" style="top: 381.91px;">that little more than a mound of earth remains to mark the gravesites. At most, </span> <span class="xr_tl Normaler_Text xr_s4" style="top: 411.05px;">a simple uncarved stone was placed on the grave as a marker, since Islamic </span> <span class="xr_tl Normaler_Text xr_s4" style="top: 440.19px;">custom traditionally discouraged large tombstones.</span> <span class="xr_tl Normaler_Text xr_s4" style="top: 1885.59px;">The Catholic and Orthodox Albanians often had more elaborate graves, </span> <span class="xr_tl Normaler_Text xr_s4" style="top: 1914.73px;">traditionally with Christian crosses and symbols. In Catholic cemeteries in the </span> <span class="xr_tl Normaler_Text xr_s4" style="top: 1943.87px;">northern Albanian mountains, one can still find gravestones and wooden </span> <span class="xr_tl Normaler_Text xr_s4" style="top: 1973.01px;">crosses adorned with old folk symbols such as the sun, the moon, stars, birds </span> <span class="xr_tl Normaler_Text xr_s4" style="top: 2002.14px;">and snakes. Indeed, birds were often carved on top of the wooden crosses. </span> <span class="xr_tl Normaler_Text xr_s4" style="top: 2031.28px;">However, such traditional graves embellished with folk art, as still can be </span> <span class="xr_tl Normaler_Text xr_s4" style="top: 2060.42px;">encountered here and there in the Shala, Kelmendi, Hoti, Gruda and Triepshi </span> <span class="xr_tl Normaler_Text xr_s4" style="top: 2089.56px;">regions, are now rare. </span> <span class="xr_tl Normaler_Text xr_s7" style="top: 2147.84px;">One exception to this is the amazing Catholic cemetery in Vuksanlekaj</span> <span class="xr_tl Normaler_Text xr_s8" style="top: 2176.98px;"><span class="Normaler_Text xr_s7" style="">(BCS: Vuksanlekići) in Montenegro</span><span class="Normaler_Text xr_s4" style="">. The village of Vuksanlekaj, on the road </span></span> <span class="xr_tl Normaler_Text xr_s4" style="top: 2206.11px;">between the Montenegrin capital Podgorica and the northern Albanian city of </span> <span class="xr_tl Normaler_Text xr_s4" style="top: 2235.25px;">Shkodra, is situated in the territory of the Albanian Hoti tribe, that has been </span> <span class="xr_tl Normaler_Text xr_s4" style="top: 2264.39px;">divided between Albania and Montenegro since 1913, following the </span> <span class="xr_tl Normaler_Text xr_s4" style="top: 2293.53px;">Montenegrin military conquest of the region.</span> <span class="xr_tl Normaler_Text xr_s4" style="top: 2351.81px;">The gravestones to be seen in this cemetery, an extraordinary and seemingly </span> <span class="xr_tl Normaler_Text xr_s4" style="top: 2380.95px;">unique collection of traditional Albanian folk art, cannot be dated precisely, but </span> <span class="xr_tl Normaler_Text xr_s4" style="top: 2410.09px;">they would seem to derive from the early twentieth or the second half of the </span> <span class="xr_tl Normaler_Text xr_s4" style="top: 2439.22px;">nineteenth century. Many of the motifs on the tombstones stem from a much </span> <span class="xr_tl Normaler_Text xr_s4" style="top: 2468.36px;">older age.</span> </div> <div class="xr_group"> <img class="xr_ap" src="index_htm_files/2763.jpg" alt="" title="" style="left:235px;top:445px;width:20px;height:14px;"/> </div> <div class="xr_group"> <div class="xr_noreset " style="position: absolute; left:235px;top:913px;width:635px;height:1358px;">  <div id="vlightbox1"> <a class="vlightbox1" href="lightbox_files/vlb_images1/aga_001.jpg" title="The Graveyard of Vuksanlekaj in Montenegro (photo: Robert Elsie, May 2016)."><img src="lightbox_files/vlb_thumbnails1/aga_001.jpg" alt="The Graveyard of Vuksanlekaj in Montenegro (photo: Robert Elsie, May 2016)."/></a> <a class="vlightbox1" href="lightbox_files/vlb_images1/aga_002.jpg" title="The Graveyard of Vuksanlekaj in Montenegro (photo: Robert Elsie, May 2016)."><img src="lightbox_files/vlb_thumbnails1/aga_002.jpg" alt="The Graveyard of Vuksanlekaj in Montenegro (photo: Robert Elsie, May 2016)."/></a> <a class="vlightbox1" href="lightbox_files/vlb_images1/aga_003.jpg" title="The Graveyard of Vuksanlekaj in Montenegro (photo: Robert Elsie, May 2016)."><img src="lightbox_files/vlb_thumbnails1/aga_003.jpg" alt="The Graveyard of Vuksanlekaj in Montenegro (photo: Robert Elsie, May 2016)."/></a> <a class="vlightbox1" href="lightbox_files/vlb_images1/aga_004.jpg" title="The Graveyard of Vuksanlekaj in Montenegro (photo: Robert Elsie, May 2016)."><img src="lightbox_files/vlb_thumbnails1/aga_004.jpg" alt="The Graveyard of Vuksanlekaj in Montenegro (photo: Robert Elsie, May 2016)."/></a> <a class="vlightbox1" href="lightbox_files/vlb_images1/aga_005.jpg" title="The Graveyard of Vuksanlekaj in Montenegro (photo: Robert Elsie, May 2016)."><img src="lightbox_files/vlb_thumbnails1/aga_005.jpg" alt="The Graveyard of Vuksanlekaj in Montenegro (photo: Robert Elsie, May 2016)."/></a> <a class="vlightbox1" href="lightbox_files/vlb_images1/aga_006.jpg" title="The Graveyard of Vuksanlekaj in Montenegro (photo: Robert Elsie, May 2016)."><img src="lightbox_files/vlb_thumbnails1/aga_006.jpg" alt="The Graveyard of Vuksanlekaj in Montenegro (photo: Robert Elsie, May 2016)."/></a> <a class="vlightbox1" href="lightbox_files/vlb_images1/aga_007.jpg" title="The Graveyard of Vuksanlekaj in Montenegro (photo: Robert Elsie, May 2016)."><img src="lightbox_files/vlb_thumbnails1/aga_007.jpg" alt="The Graveyard of Vuksanlekaj in Montenegro (photo: Robert Elsie, May 2016)."/></a> <a class="vlightbox1" href="lightbox_files/vlb_images1/aga_008.jpg" title="The Graveyard of Vuksanlekaj in Montenegro (photo: Robert Elsie, May 2016)."><img src="lightbox_files/vlb_thumbnails1/aga_008.jpg" alt="The Graveyard of Vuksanlekaj in Montenegro (photo: Robert Elsie, May 2016)."/></a> <a class="vlightbox1" href="lightbox_files/vlb_images1/aga_009.jpg" title="The Graveyard of Vuksanlekaj in Montenegro (photo: Robert Elsie, May 2016)."><img 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May 2016)."/></a> <a class="vlightbox1" href="lightbox_files/vlb_images1/aga_013.jpg" title="The Graveyard of Vuksanlekaj in Montenegro (photo: Robert Elsie, May 2016)."><img src="lightbox_files/vlb_thumbnails1/aga_013.jpg" alt="The Graveyard of Vuksanlekaj in Montenegro (photo: Robert Elsie, May 2016)."/></a> <a class="vlightbox1" href="lightbox_files/vlb_images1/aga_014.jpg" title="The Graveyard of Vuksanlekaj in Montenegro (photo: Robert Elsie, May 2016)."><img src="lightbox_files/vlb_thumbnails1/aga_014.jpg" alt="The Graveyard of Vuksanlekaj in Montenegro (photo: Robert Elsie, May 2016)."/></a> <a class="vlightbox1" href="lightbox_files/vlb_images1/aga_015.jpg" title="The Graveyard of Vuksanlekaj in Montenegro (photo: Robert Elsie, May 2016)."><img src="lightbox_files/vlb_thumbnails1/aga_015.jpg" alt="The Graveyard of Vuksanlekaj in Montenegro (photo: Robert Elsie, May 2016)."/></a> <a class="vlightbox1" href="lightbox_files/vlb_images1/aga_016.jpg" title="The Graveyard of Vuksanlekaj in Montenegro (photo: Robert Elsie, May 2016)."><img src="lightbox_files/vlb_thumbnails1/aga_016.jpg" alt="The Graveyard of Vuksanlekaj in Montenegro (photo: Robert Elsie, May 2016)."/></a> <a class="vlightbox1" href="lightbox_files/vlb_images1/aga_017.jpg" title="The Graveyard of Vuksanlekaj in Montenegro (photo: Robert Elsie, May 2016)."><img src="lightbox_files/vlb_thumbnails1/aga_017.jpg" alt="The Graveyard of Vuksanlekaj in Montenegro (photo: Robert Elsie, May 2016)."/></a> <a class="vlightbox1" href="lightbox_files/vlb_images1/aga_018.jpg" title="The Graveyard of Vuksanlekaj in Montenegro (photo: Robert Elsie, May 2016)."><img src="lightbox_files/vlb_thumbnails1/aga_018.jpg" alt="The Graveyard of Vuksanlekaj in Montenegro (photo: Robert Elsie, May 2016)."/></a> <a class="vlightbox1" href="lightbox_files/vlb_images1/aga_019.jpg" title="The Graveyard of Vuksanlekaj in Montenegro (photo: Robert Elsie, May 2016)."><img src="lightbox_files/vlb_thumbnails1/aga_019.jpg" alt="The Graveyard of Vuksanlekaj in Montenegro (photo: Robert Elsie, May 2016)."/></a> <a class="vlightbox1" href="lightbox_files/vlb_images1/aga_020.jpg" title="The Graveyard of Vuksanlekaj in Montenegro (photo: Robert Elsie, May 2016)."><img src="lightbox_files/vlb_thumbnails1/aga_020.jpg" alt="The Graveyard of Vuksanlekaj in Montenegro (photo: Robert Elsie, May 2016)."/></a> <span class="vlb"><a href="http://visuallightbox.com">jquery image lightbox</a>by VisualLightBox.com v6.1</span> </div> <script src="lightbox_files/vlb_engine/thumbscript1.js" type="text/javascript"></script> <script src="lightbox_files/vlb_engine/vlbdata1.js" type="text/javascript"></script>  </div> </div> <img class="xr_ap" src="index_htm_files/2544.png" alt="Robert Elsie Albanian Art" title="" style="left:315px;top:209px;width:295px;height:118px;"/> <div class="xr_group"> <span class="xr_ar" style="left:0px;top:633px;width:171px;height:38px; background-color: #BD1F1C;"></span> </div> <div class="xr_group"> <img class="xr_ap" src="index_htm_files/2766.jpg" alt="" title="" style="left:362px;top:445px;width:20px;height:13px;"/> </div> <div class="xr_txt x--195-156berschrift_3 xr_s1" style="position: absolute; left:13px; top:448px; width:87px; height:10px;"> <h3 class="xr_tl x--195-156berschrift_3 xr_s9" style="top: -25.2px;margin:0;"><a href="http://www.albanianart.net/" onclick="return(xr_nn());" onmousemove="xr_mo(this,0)" >AL Art</a></h3> <h3 class="xr_tl x--195-156berschrift_3 xr_s10" style="top: 19.18px;margin:0;"><a href="http://www.albanianart.net/painting1.htm" onclick="return(xr_nn());" onmousemove="xr_mo(this,0)" >Albanian</a></h3> <h3 class="xr_tl x--195-156berschrift_3 xr_s10" style="top: 46.16px;margin:0;"><a href="http://www.albanianart.net/painting1.htm" onclick="return(xr_nn());" onmousemove="xr_mo(this,0)" >Painting</a></h3> <h3 class="xr_tl x--195-156berschrift_3 xr_s10" style="top: 85.15px;margin:0;"><a href="http://www.albanianart.net/painting2.htm" 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