Kukës
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Kukës (Albanian: Kukës or Kukësi) is a town in Albania located at 42.09°N, 20.43°E in the district and county with the same name. It has a population of about 16,000 (2003 est). The town is set among the mountains of northern Albania, near the border with the newly formed Republic of Kosovo. It is famous for its role during the Kosovo conflict of the late 1990s, when it accepted 150,000 refugees. This led, in 2000, to it becoming the first ever town to be nominated for the Nobel Peace prize.
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[edit] History
The town was relocated as part of a hydroelectric scheme. The old Kukës was submerged beneath an artificial lake in 1976, the lake being held back by crumbling Chinese-built dams. The new town (Kukësi i Ri - "New Kukës") was built in the 1970s in the plateau nearby which is 320m over the sea level. Kukësi i Ri is surrounded by the artificial lake of Fierza and it looks like a peninsula from the above. It is linked with the other parts of the country by three bridges. On the East it faces the snow covered mountain of Gjallica, 2468m over the sea level. The district is improverished, with poor road connections, and major problems with crime.(now roads are well improved and there is a low crime community.)
Illyrina tombs were found at Këneta nearby Kukesi. It was a small Roman settlement, a stopping point on a branch road leading to the Via Egnatia, and a minor Ottoman market centre and trading post on the road to southern Kosovo. just before the First World War it was there (Qafa e Kolosjanit) where albanian resistance stopped serbian invasion in 1912.
Kukës was briefly on the world stage during the Kosovo conflict when many hundreds of thousands (500.000) of Kosovan refugees crossed the frontier and were housed in camps in and around Kukes. Kukesi is the only town to get nominated for a Nobel prize. There is a mosque and a closed alpine-style hotel, part of a failed attempt to establish a tourist industry there. OSCE maintained a villa there.
A popular spot is a place just off the main square called the Bar America where the speciality is Tave Dheu. There is also a local historical museum and a carpet factory. The food industry is confined only to production of alcoholic drinks produced in a drink factory, and to some local small workshops producing drinks and dairy products.
The Highlanders in the region are well known for their developed agriculture. Kukes has a carpet factory whose products is for domestic and trade use. There is also a copper processing factory as the raw material, copper, is found in this place. Kukës is a good centre for fishing and walking in the surrounding mountains. In the bad weather Kukës can be dramatic, with huge threating cloud formations over the Vikut Mountains, and the sparse streets of the little town and the lake, subject to violent gusts of 'Bora' wind.
[edit] Old Kukës
The old Kukës still exists, but is normally submerged under the artificial lake created hydroelectric. However, in January 2007 it reappeared after a period of drought lowered the water level of the lake.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- bashkia kukes - a guide to the town
- Kukës - almost identical content to the above, but also mentions the museum
- BBC News - report on 2000 Nobel Peace Prize winner (South Korean President Kim Dae-jung) and Kukës having been nominated
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