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| Albanians from Ioannina in low, middle and high class traditional clothing |
In the French magazine, 'L'Année géographique: Revue annuelle des voyages de terre et de l'ainsi que des explorations, missions, relations et publications diverses relatives aux sciences géographiques et ethnographiques', published in 1872 by the publishing house "L. Hachette et Cie (Paris), we find on page 327, the article of the famous French archaeologist, Albert Dumont, who was in Albania in the Summer of that year.
How are the Albanians described in this article? Below you will find some fragments of brilliant stories by the magazine and author about our people, brought to Albanian by Aurenc Bebja and adapted to Englisht by Oculus News.
The story of Albanians through the journey of the French archeologist in Albania:
"Albania, in where Mr. Albert Dumont has entered through Shkodra, was assigned at the center of the new observations. In Dalmatia, the author mainly studies the country, while in Albania the people. «Skypetar» as he by himself calls the ALbanians - are virgin peoples, almost primitive, whos has no similarity with the European (with the West). Familiar with Hellenistic antiquity, Mr. Dumont, is astonished every moment of Albanian costumes, traditions or analogies, which remind him of the Greeks of Homeric times. Albanians reside in areas that were once Pelasgians. It is very likely that some of the blood of these ancient inhabitants (of this primary race) is still flowing to Albanians' veins."
The confession of the French archeologist about the Albanians:
"The Albanian man is distinguished perfectly; his little head, thin nose, sharp eye, almond-like, long neck, weak body, long and strong legs, he reminds us of ancient Greeks, as we find them in the archaic marble sculptures of Greece. His costume (traditional clothing) also highlights the memories of antiquity. The white dress reminds us of the tunic up to the waistband, and the long knee-length knees are the defenders of the heroic era. The traditional clothing is not wide but is inflated as in the beautiful Greek era; but in the old-style pots, (in 1870, the French Ministry of Public Education has given the author's mission to study the painted Greek pots and reveal their ancestry), the ancient Hellenes did not had the contemporary habits of the Pericles era. Exactly, the explanations of old Hellenic costumes should be sought in Albania."