Historic centre of the town of Permet, one of the most important parts of the southern Albanian town, but always almost inconspicuous due to the lack of investment, will soon show its real architectural and historic values as an important tourist attraction after a major investment designed to rehabilitate and totally reconstruct the site.

Prime Minister Edi Rama, accompanied by the Minister of Tourism and Environment Mirela Kumbaro, toured the town’s centre as the investment, the largest ever implemented in the town of Permet over the years, kicked off today. The investment includes four specific projects; the historic centre, connection with the new part of the town, rehabilitation of the stream flowing through the town, as well as the tourism-dedicated infrastructure and signage system.

“This is the heart of the historic quarter. The town of Përmet has practically boasted a historic centre traditionally, but nobody knew about it. We declared this as the town’s historic centre in 2016 and Përmet was included in the government’s Tourism and Cultural Heritage Development Programme, which also includes Gjirokaster, Berat and Saranda. Work has progressed well in collaboration with the Albanian Development Fund and the Municipality of Përmet. Frankly speaking, there has been distrust too. However, a growing number of private family homes are being transformed into guesthouses. Local government authorities are overseeing and monitoring the project very closely, yet a lot remains to be done. The project doesn’t include the historic centre only, but the entire town and its neighbourhoods,” the Minister of Tourism and Environment said, adding that restoration projects have strictly preserved original elements of the buildings.

The second phase of the investment project includes rehabilitation of the entire area, improvement of tourist destinations in order to promote development of sustainable tourism in the area.