ALBANIAN ALPS NATIONAL PARK

This national park (Parku Kombëtar Bjeshkët e Nemuna, Nacionalni park Prokletije) was established in 2012. It is one of the two national parks in the country together with the Šar Mountains (Eastern Kosovo). It extends over 625 km² (about 26 km from east to west, 50 km from north to south) through the Albanian Alps, which have four peaks over 2,500 m in altitude. Bordering Montenegro and the northern tip of Albania, the park is easily accessible from Peja/Peć and the Dečani Monastery. It is possible to visit part of it by car, but to venture out on the trails and discover its secrets, we recommend using professional guides, especially via the Rugova Valley Information Centre. They will be able to offer you a wide range of activities: paragliding, skiing, climbing, or even cross-border hiking in the national park of the same name located in Montenegro (166 km2).

Cursed Mountains. The national park extends over a small part of the Albanian Alps (Alpet Shqiptare, Albanski Alpi). However, locally, this massif is more often called "Cursed Mountains" (Bjeshkët e Nemuna, Prokletije). It is the southernmost part of the Dinaric Alps, and extends over the northern part of Albania, eastern Montenegro, all of western Kosovo and southern Serbia. If this massif is called "cursed" in all the languages of these countries, it is for two reasons. On the one hand, its passes were long considered impassable and its particularly wild character was not conducive to the development of human activities. On the other hand, it served as a refuge for all kinds of populations. In the Kosovar part, the massif welcomed Christians fleeing the Ottoman conquest, bands of haiduks and kachaks (brigands) from the 18th century onwards, or even former SS and Albanian collaborators of the Nazis who carried out sporadic actions in the Peja/Peć region until the 1950s. In fact, neither the Ottomans nor the Yugoslav armies ever really managed to control the Cursed Mountains.

Peaks, gorges and lakes. The massif is home to sixteen peaks exceeding 2,500 m in three countries. The highest is Maja Jezercë, in Albania, which is also the highest point in the Dinaric Alps at 2,694 m. The second highest peak, at 2,500 m, is in the Alps. The second highest peak, at 2,656 m above sea level, is Mount Gjeravica/Đeravica, located in Kosovo, in the national park. This was considered the highest peak in the country until the discovery of Great Rudoka (2,658 m), in the Šar Mountains in 2011. The massif is also famous for its deep gorges, the most beautiful of which are the Rugova Gorge, and for its two small mountain lakes: the Lićenat Lake (Leqinati, Jezero Lićenat) at 1,970 m above sea level, near the village of Kuqishtë/Kućište, and the small Lićenat Lake (Leqinati i vogël, Jezero Mali Lićenat), at 1,810 m above sea level.

Fauna and flora. The national park includes over a thousand species of plants. The forests are dominated by oaks up to 800 m above sea level. Then there is the Balkan beech up to 1,300 m, then hornbeam and spruce up to 1,550 m, and finally only conifers up to 1,900 m (Bosnian pine, white fir, Macedonian pine). There are 37 species of mammals here, including wild cats, chamois, roe deer, wolves and rare brown bears living in the wooded areas. The park is also home to about 148 species of birds, 129 species of butterflies, 23 species of reptiles and amphibians and more than a dozen species of fish.

Roads. The park is crossed by two main roads. In the centre, in the Rugova Valley, the M9 connects Peja/Peć with the village of Kuqishtë/Kućište (22 km to the west), near the border with Montenegro. To the north, the R106 starts from Radac/Radavac (10 km north of Peja/Peć), then winds 16 km through the park to the only border crossing between Kosovo and Montenegro. It is then possible to reach the Montenegrin village of Rožaje (22 km further on), which is mainly populated by Bosnians and itself close to the border with Serbia. Finally, to the south of the park, there is another small road, the R108, which starts from the monastery of Dečani, passes through the hamlet of Belle/Belaje before heading into the mountains near the borders with Albania and Montenegro.

Villages and accommodations. The park is home to half a dozen villages and hamlets with a total of only about 100 permanent inhabitants, all Albanian and mostly Catholic. The largest settlement is Drelaj/Drelje, at an altitude of 1,150m. It is located in the Rugova valley, along the M9 road. With 70 inhabitants, the hamlet is the "capital" of the national park. There are a few rooms in private homes (+386 49 58 67 40, +386 49 64 49 98). Also in the central part of the park are the hamlets of Reka e Allagës/Alagina Reka at 1,500 m above sea level (accommodation available: +377 44 678 668, +377 44 22 22 54), Kuqishta/Kućište at 1,200 m above sea level and Boga/Boge at 1,300 m above sea level (see Rugova gorge). Finally, in the southern part of the park, near the Dečani Monastery, the hamlet of Belle/Belaje, at 1,200 m above sea level, has a hotel, the Kalaja e Deçanit (+377 44 86 48 84).