The city of Belsh is located in the South-West of Elbasan and is one of the municipalities, part of this region. The small city is located near the lake that bears the same name, Lake Belsh, where the historical origin of its name is also attested.
Belsh has a population of 14,337 inhabitants with an area of 50.9 km2 and as a municipality it counts 32,630 inhabitants. The settlement according to historical data has an ancient Illyrian origin.
Archaeological discoveries in the Gradishta area, 2-3 km southeast of Belsh, show that the chronological boundaries of the settlement include several periods starting from the Early Bronze Age (3000 – 1100 BC), the Iron Age (1100 – 500 BC), the Illyrian Antiquity (5th – 1st century BC), the Roman period (1st – 4th century AD), the Late Antiquity period (4th – 6th century AD), the Byzantine period (7th – 11th century AD), and up to the period of the Ottoman occupation (14th – 19th century AD).
The city in its historical antiquity, according to excavations in Gradishta, contains the discovery of a princely tomb, where numerous items such as helmets, bronze cauldrons, and volute craters have been found, which are exhibited in the Archaeological Museum of Tirana.
Belshi is a city with historical values based since the 4th century BC where according to historians it is known as a former urban center from which it later turned into a fortified city of the Parthian province. Even in his political program for the new Albanian state, Sami Frashëri proposed that this area be the capital of the new Albanian state.
During this period, the legend of the existence of an Illyrian prince called the Prince of Belshi was discovered. The discovered tomb is precisely the origin of the historical data of the city from ornaments to 70 ceramic objects, weapons, bronze vessels.
The archaeological values of the city show very interesting elements where the discovery of ceramic vessels (baked clay) from the 4th-2nd century BC of the Illyrian civilization period stands out. It is worth mentioning objects such as clay pots without handles, with one or two handles, various terracotta portraits, gold ornaments, bronze vessels, coins, figurines and relief plaques, silver bracelets, drinking vessels with the figure of Aphrodite, silver brooches and needles, etc.
The area has suitable climatic and soil conditions for the cultivation of many agricultural crops, especially bread grains, tobacco, vegetables, vines and fruit trees, but livestock farming is also developing in this area.
The Belsh area is an education-loving area, lessons in the Albanian language have their origins since the beginning of the years 1920-23 and an important role in the opening of the first Albanian school in Belsh was played by the “Educational Congress”, which gave full support to the opening of the school, after also supporting this school with the appropriate staff. There are 8 schools in the Municipality of Belsh, of which 7 are 9-year-olds and one is a general secondary school. A large number of students have started their higher education from these schools, who today work in various sectors and make a great contribution to the development of the area.
Belsh is known for its ancient and rich culture, as well as the history of this city itself. It has its own characteristic songs and dances, Belsh songs are sung with polyphonic iso. They are often accompanied by dance, which is unique to this area. Recently, state and private investments have been made in the city, which aim to develop the country’s socio-economic situation by increasing the supply in the agro-tourism sector.
*This article has been adapted from the official website of the Municipality of Belsh and the purpose of its publication is to promote and familiarize the citizens of the country with this city. Photo by © Albert Vaja.
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