#: locale=en
## Tour
### Description
### Title
tour.name = Skenduli
## Skin
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Button_1B999D00_16C4_0505_41AB_D0C2E7857448.label = PANORAMA LIST
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Button_1B9A4D00_16C4_0505_4193_E0EA69B0CBB0.label = FLOORPLAN
Button_1B9A5D00_16C4_0505_41B0_D18F25F377C4.label = PHOTOALBUM
Button_1B9A6D00_16C4_0505_4197_F2108627CC98.label = LOCATION
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Timber ties within masonry
There are timber ties both inside and outside the masonry walls of the building. At the exterior, they are identified as densely or partially positioned, with tie rods at springing or arches or vaults.
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Skenduli
The building is of the two-winged variant and represents one of its most developed stairs. Its composition repeats the usual scheme: a central interconnecting core that on the second floor ends with a loggia circled on three sides with premises. The lateral wings with equal outlets are pushed beyond the central nucleus. Its construction year is
1823, and it belongs to the Late Ottoman period (1810-1912).
On the uninhabited ground floor are placed two floors, a stera (cistern) and two cellars of zahires, or qilari, meaning a storage room for food in the ground floor of the house. On the first floor, there are two living rooms and a cooking room, and the stera continues on this floor. On the second floor there are three large living quarters and a smaller one, next to the kitchen.
Characteristic for this apartment is the development of stairs, which has a not very widespread solution dictated by the two entrances to the apartment, one on the ground floor and the other on the first floor.
The interior of the building stands out for its rich decoration in wood, where the guest room veçant attracts special attention with the treated corner detached from the central part of the room, with two separate ceilings. The musander-dhipato complex is also a hit realization.
Construction over time has undergone little change. In the small patina the musander-dhipato complex is affected. The building has been turned into a museum.
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External staircases
The single stair ramp connecting the first floor to the second extends along the porch over a vaulted system. It is crossed by the first floor sofa which with internal stairs is connected to the sub-sofa as well as directly from the outside by means of special stairs.
This solution makes it easier to connect the two inhabited floors in the outdoor environment by avoiding the passage through the sub-sofas. The second floor porch is ample, but nevertheless the passage currents make it have interconnection functions. A small corner is built into the left side of the stairwell.
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Ambjant gatimi is turned into oda
This room’s floor is covered with stone, although has the function of an oda. Its initial use was kitchen.
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Ode e miqve
Ode e miqve means the “room of the friend”.
In the exterior of this guest room next to the porch, a hunting scene is presented. Also, the front of the guest room has been decorated with floral ornaments.
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Wooden, panelled doors
The rooms’ doors in the upper floor are a bit more fascinating, with wooden panels surrounding them.
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Qoshk
The upper floor (kati dyte) was used for leaving during the summer months but was also hosting the ceremonies of the families since predominant space has also the guest room of the house. The intermediate room in this floor is either a closed room called divani i sipërm or in the later periods and more developed two wings typology houses, these spaces were usually opened and are called çardak.
When closed room, divan was used and as a living space, because its position in the composition of the house allowed the creation of sitting corners. On the contrary, the opened çardak was only used as intermediary space. Here, a qoshk, a small corner on the left side of the stairwell, is created.
The musandra-diphato complex in this room like also in other rooms in Skenduli building, vary in their style thus helping visitors understand their variety in construction and use.
Each oda (main room) has the main space and the wooden structure of musandra, positioned close to the entrance. Depending on the height of the room, musandra is either one or two floors structure (large cupboard)
which stored mattresses and other bedding during the day.
In some cases, the musandra concealed a short staircases leading to a small balcony (dhipato) where women and children used to gather while the men of the house had formal meetings with guests (Doemke et al., 2012)
Here, a toilet is also hidden within the musandra structure. Some of the big houses have also small hamams next to the toilets...
This room, as the room on the left, present moisture in the walls. The cistern, stera, located at the room on the right is an indication why moisture exists at these rooms.
The intermediary room of the first floor is called Divani I poshtëm. The first floor was used for living during the winter months. It is called dimorore, which means the wintry floor. The ceilings of this floor are lower, and the
rooms have less and smaller windows than the upper floor. This way, the rooms were easily heated during the cold winter months. This floor is called kati pare or pat and contains the winter rooms oda, the ode dimri.
In Skenduli building’s first floor, there are also a kitchen, the ambjent gatimi with stone floor, the three large living quarters and a smaller one next to the kitchen, and the stera also continues on this floor.
In addition, here, external staircases from the first floor’s intemediary room are leading to the upper floor’s balcony.
The Ground Floor is called Kati Perdhe and this room is dedicated for storage as the name indicates. The central room is called nen divani.
The floors on the ground floor are almost always covered with stone. Here, the door is wooden and simple.
The houses of Gjirokastra didn’t have separate living spaces for men and women. The hole family was living together. When the family was big and different couples with their families
were living together, then each family had her own room (oda), which was called with the name of the wife.
Separate rooms were used during ceremonies only. In the upper floor of Skënduli house one of the oda’s was used by women during this important days of the family.
An example from the inside of a kitchen and its basic equipement.