July 17th, 2024. Shepherds huts in Berizhdol, Kelmend, Albanian Alps, Albania.
The line of the new European horizons
Going beyond: The crossborder transhumance of Val Senales, Italy
Droving of livestock - transhumance in Albania
A Portuguese transhumance between the Atlantic and the Mediterranean Tramontana - a partnership built over fifteen years of collaboration
Introduced nine years ago with the goal of raising awareness among communities about Protected Areas in Albania1 and the intricate relationship between nature and humans, the VIJA journal is now evolving to a new level. From its inception2, the journal has consistently presented regional perspectives3 on these topics to the Albanian audience4. However, starting with this issue, VIJA will broaden its scope including international contexts, covering a wide range of subjects related to agriculture and pastoralism, water cultures, and social mobility across various European countries. A key feature of the journal’s new horizon is the active involvement of contributors from 7 European countries, all part of the Tramontana network. This initiative, supported since 2011 by the European Union’s Creative Europe program5, focuses on the in-depth research of the intangible heritage of rural and mountain communities in Europe, with the goal of preserving and revitalizing this cultural legacy. VIJA’s commitment to this cause follows GO2Albania’s joining the Tramontana Network, with the aim of including the rich intangible culture of the Albanian Highlands on the European map of this heritage. This new dimension will be presented through first-person narratives from prominent professionals in various European countries, including Albania, France, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, who will share the results and challenges of their decade-long work with mountain heritage. As in Albania, the intangible heritage of rural and mountain communities faces numerous threats, such as depopulation, the decline of traditional practices, transformation of the environment and the landscape, and marginalization due to globalizing trends. However, when these experiences are shared in this new forum, they will become accessible to a wider audience in each of the countries involved, owing to the journal’s bilingual format in Albanian and English from this point onward. This will allow for timely exchange of experiences and strategies related to the documentation, valorisation, and dissemination of mountain intangible heritage. It will also foster an understanding of historical events and how different regions experienced these moments in their own unique contexts. In Albania, for instance, the long period of isolation that followed World War II6 had a significant impact on the preservation of both tangible and intangible cultural heritage of rural communities, particularly in mountainous areas. Preservation efforts were also influenced by the socio-economic underdevelopment and tribal organization that resulted from the country’s prolonged Ottoman occupation7 In an anthropological and cultural perspective, this heritage remains a unique asset of the Albanian Highlands8, especially in comparison to much of Europe, where the loss of these values began with the Industrial Revolution9 and continued through the post-World War II reconstruction period10
1) “Vija e horizontit, e ligjit dhe e njohjes”, VIJA nr. 1, Tetor 2016
continued at pg. 2
2) Aleksandra Nikonidovic, “Planeti në udhëkryq dhe Kongresi Botëror i Ruajtjes së Natyrës”, VIJA nr. 2, 2016
3) “Censusi i Janarit konfirmon rëndësinë e Shqipërisë për shpendët ujorë”, VIJA nr. 6, 2017
4) Nexhat Avdiu, “Biodiversiteti i pasur i Liqenit të Shasit”, VIJA nr. 6, 2017
5) https://www.re-tramontana.org/about/
6) Bernd J. Fischer, Oliver Jens Schmitt, “A Concise History of Albania”, 2022
7) Akademia e Shkencave e RSH, “Historia e Popullit Shqiptar 2”, 2002
8) Robert Elsie, “The Tribes of Albania: History, Society and Culture”, 2015
9) Patrick O’Brien, “The Industrial Revolutions in Europe (Industrial Relations)”, 1994
10) Tamás Vonyó, “Recovery and reconstruction: Europe after WWII”, 2019 (https:// cepr.org/voxeu/columns/recovery-and-reconstruction-europe-after-wwii)
Gianfranco Spitilli Bambun APS/Università degli Studi del Molise, Italy
Transhumance in the Schnalstal valley is one of the guided herding practices, in which the animals are moved seasonally for a limited time, according to an upward movement towards higher pastures.
Inscribed on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in December 2019, known locally as Schafwandertriebe - seasonal migration of sheepor Schafübertrieb - sheep crossing -, the transhumance that connects Val Senales (Italy, South Tyrol, South Tyrol) to Ötztal (Austria, Tyrol), is a practice of considerable temporal depth linked to sheep farming in the Alps and the need to mobilise men and animals, seasonally, in search of better pastures across the Alpine passes and glaciers1
According to local memory, confirmed by documentary sources to which the oral transmission itself continually refers, farmers in the Schnalstal valley bought land in Ötztal between the end of the 14th and the beginning of the 15th century. According to local records, around 1350, confederated groups of valley farmers already owned land, an malga2 pasture and hunting rights in the Vent area on the other side of the mountain3; a gradual acquisition that became necessary to make up for the shortage of local pastures due to the increase in livestock. Summer grazing rights in the Ötztal are first mentioned in a document from 1415, in which earlier disputes are mentioned, while a document from 1434 mentions negotiations for pastures in the Rofenberg, and in 1536 an agreement to purchase pastures in the Niedertal above Vent4. The custom of summer farming across the mountain, in the fertile pastures of the Ötztal, thus became a permanent contract.
The practice of transhumance is inextricably linked to the culture of the maso5, understood at the same time as a mode of settlement on the land complementary to pastoralism, of management of the same, of economic and social
continued at pg. 4
1) Initially entered from a candidature of Italy, Austria and Greece, in 2023 the list was reformulated following the entry of new countries: France, Albania, Andorra, Croatia, Luxembourg, Romania, Spain (https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/transhumance-the-seasonal-droving-oflivestock-01964).
2) The term “malga”, of pre-Roman origin, derives from central-eastern Alpine dialects and literally means “high-altitude pasture”. By extension, it also means “the building, or complex of buildings, of wood or mixed wood and masonry, located on the pasture land for housing livestock, the storage of milk and tools, and the temporary lodging of personnel”, around which the alpine grazing system revolves (“Treccani online” https://www.treccani.it/vocabolario/malga/).
3) Until September 1919, the entire territory belonged to the AustroHungarian Empire; after the First World War and following the Treaty of Saint-Germain, South Tyrol was ceded to the Kingdom of Italy.
4) Gianni Bodini, Pecore e pastori. In Val Venosta & Val Senales, Associazione Culturale Val Senales, 2005, p. 2.
5) The term maso, used in the parlance of the Italian eastern Alpine area, “a farm of an agricultural and forestry-pastoral character comprising a dwelling house”, a landed property, a stable and other outbuildings (“Treccani online” https://www.treccani.it/vocabolario/ maso/).
from pg. 1
The contributions from authors in the abovementioned countries will focus, over several issues, on topics related to agriculture and pastoralism, with a particular emphasis on livestock migration –transhumance – being this issue’s theme in VIJA, preceding the year 2026, declared by the United Nations General Assembly as the International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists11, with the support of 102 countries from around the world12 Additionally, their involvement will extend to introducing European contexts concerning water cultures and its significance in rural and mountain communities. The coverage will also include social mobility within these communities, particularly demographic shifts, but also other events that have led to significant changes in their social structures. Meanwhile, as part of the Tramontana project, a series of activities will be organized in each of the seven partner countries, which will be featured among the pages of VIJA. Aiming to document the intangible heritage of rural and mountain communities across Europe, the activities include conducting and documenting audiovisual oral interviews with residents of these areas. Furthermore, these oral stories will be catalogued to enhance the digital archives of the partner organizations and institutions involved in the project, but not limited to them. The archives will also serve as valuable resources for future academic research and publications by scholars and institutions interested in intangible heritage. Additionally, some of these materials will be showcased in various mediums, including multimedia exhibitions focused on the intangible heritage of the mountains. These events, along with artistic residencies and heritage festivals, will consist in playing a crucial role in preserving and revitalizing this invaluable cultural asset.
I. Jubica
11) “76/253. International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists, 2026”, Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 15 March 2022 (https://documents.un.org/ doc/undoc/gen/n22/288/63/pdf/ n2228863.pdf) 12) https://iyrp.info/supporting-countries-and-organisations
Positioned in the western part of the Balkan Peninsula, Albania is predominantly a mountainous country, with nearly 2/3 of its territory made up of mountains, 47% of hilly areas, and only a quarter of its land being flat1. The highest peaks are concentrated in the Albanian Alps in the northern part of the country (Jezerca 2603m), in the northeast (Korab 2756m), and in the south and southeast (Papingj 2486m). Throughout dark periods of history, the mountains provided a challenging yet secure refuge for the population, especially compared to the lowland regions. With unfavourable conditions for agriculture due to limited arable land, the mountain inhabitants have survived primarily through livestock breeding. During spring and autumn, they would move their herds from the plains to the mountains and vice versa. The word “bjeshkë” in the Albanian refers to high mountain pastures2, and this term has served as the root for other many words related specifically to the people, their work, and the activities carried out during the summer season in the mountains. In this context, the most direct and inclusive meaning of “transhumance” in Albanian is “bjeshkim”, although in the southern parts of Albania, an alternative term is used, such as “shtegëtimi i dhenve” (the migration of sheep), “shtegëtimi i bagëtive” (the migration of livestock), or “verimi” (summer grazing). This tradition is still practiced in many mountain areas of Albania. In some regions, the transhumance is carried out over short distances within a specific area, with an elevation gain not exceeding 500 m from the origin and the grazing lands (horizontal transhumance). In other regions, however, transhumance involves entire families and communities relocating to another territory for a specific season, crossing substantial differences in elevation—sometimes up to 1500 m (vertical transhumance). In many cases, the seasonal settlements used by herders during the transhumance season turned into permanent settlements, whether happening in the high pastures (bjeshkë), or in the lowland areas as well. In the remote northeastern regions of Albania, people use alpine pastures such as Dobërdol, Sylbica, Gjallica, and Korab during the summer. These pastures are no more than 60 km from the permanent settlements of the shepherds. A similar distance is covered by herders from the eastern part of the country, who move their livestock to the highlands of Shebenik (2253m), the central part of the country where they own pastures at various elevations on Mount Tomor (2416m), or to the deep south to the pastures of Hotova, and so on. Meanwhile, from Myzeqe and further south, herders from the lowlands migrate with large herds of cattle to further in hinterland, to the mountains of Korça (Gramoz and elsewhere), to avoid the hot and dry summers of the Ionian coast. An opposite phenomenon happens in the northern part of the country, where the highlanders from Kelmend would move their flocks of sheep and goats to the fields near the Mat River delta3, close to the Adriatic coast, to avoid the harsh winters of the Albanian Alps. In both cases, the distances travelled ranged from 100 to 200 km, and the journey would last up to a month. Speaking of the northern region, initially due to the prohibition to use pastures near border areas under the totalitarian regime4 and the subsequent modernization of life from the last decades of the 20th century onward, a significant territory of large alpine pastures has been abandoned. Once highly
used until the mid-20th century, pastures such as those in Mojan, Seferça, Livadhi i Harushës, Runica, and Jezerca are now left abandoned. The ceremonial ritual of heading for the alpine pastures may also be considered in the verge of oblivion. Depending on the region and weather conditions, from the third week of April to as late as the second week of June, the entire village would embark on a pilgrimage to the alpine pastures, where they would remain until the second week of September—or sometimes even later until the third week of October5
Due to constant rate of abandonment of mountain areas, the number of families engaged in livestock breeding rather than tourism has steadily decreased. Even fewer are the families that still practice transhumance, as individual herds have shrunk to just a few dozen animals, and typically one or two herding
families gather all the livestock from the village for grazing in the mountains —the total of which reaches no more than 300-400 heads. As a result, the herds now take advantage of larger pasture areas, while the herders have fewer traditional rules to follow. The pastures were once clearly demarcated with dry stone walls, wooden fences, or bushes, and each village owned its own alpine pastures, recognized and respected by all highland communities. Disputes between villages or even tribes would occasionally arise when pastures were occupied by other groups, particularly in border areas, where invasions often occurred from different ethnic groups.
At a smaller scale, strict rules existed for other vital resources, such as the use of water sources, tree chopping, and so on. In the mountains of Northern Albania, as well as in some deep southern areas, these relations were governed by a set of medieval laws
known as the Kanun (Law of Conduct). The last version to survive until the mid-20th century was the Canun of Lekë Dukagjini, the jurisdiction of which extended mainly in the Albanian Alps (from the Drin River to further inland in Kosovo).
Other activities still carried out by herding families during the summer grazing season include the collection of medicinal aromatic plants and wild fruits. However, the global shift in lifestyle has affected even the most remote mountain communities, and as a result, many consequences have affected transhumance. This also includes the fading or even loss of the ceremonial aspects of the departure ritual and the practice itself, the disappearance of boundaries for pastures, and the reduction the surface area of the alpine pastures as forests reclaim the land due to lack of maintenance and grazing. To contribute to safeguarding this tradition, Albania became the only country in the Western Balkans to join several European countries in 2023, including Austria, France, Andorra, Croatia, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, Romania, and Spain, to include transhumance on the UNESCO list of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity6
Some of the testimonies of transhumance practices in Albania are presented through selected photographic materials and maps prepared by GO2Albania. The materials include photographs dating from the early 20th century to the summer of 2024 and were taken by Albanian and foreign researchers, travellers, journalists, and filmmakers. Most of the materials come from the Albanian Alps, the most majestic mountain range in the region, which borders the Drin Valley in the south and the
Ibri Valley in the north, extending across the territories of three countries: Albania, Montenegro, and Kosovo. In Albania, the Albanian Alps are traversed by three major river valleys: the Valbona Valley in the east, the Shala Valley in the centre, and the Cem Valley in the west. Three smaller valleys are the Tropoja Valley and Gashi Valley in the easternmost part and the Vermosh Valley in the northernmost part. GO2 Albania NGO has extensive experience documenting the natural and cultural landscapes in these areas7, with a deeper focus on the Cem and Vermosh valleys. These two valleys lie at the heart of the territory of one of the oldest tribes in the Albanian Alps—Kelmend. Today, Kelmend, with approximately 1464 inhabitants8, is an administrative unit within the Shkodër County. Famous throughout history for its resistance to the Ottoman Empire, Kelmend was also known for its developed livestock breeding, thanks to its rich alpine pastures. Some of these pastures are documented in the following photos.
Notes and references:
* Article supported by Prespa Ohrid Nature Trust - PONT
1) Akademia e Shkencave e RPS të Shqipërisë, “Gjeografia Fizike e Shqipërisë”, 1991
2) Akademia e Shkencave e RPS të Shqipërisë, “Fjalor i Gjuhës së Sotme Shqipe”, 1980
3) Franz Ferencz Nopcsa von Felsö-Szilvás “Aus Šala und Klementi Albanische Wanderungen”, 1910
4) Sipas bisedave me banorët vendas të zonës së Kelmendit dhe Shalës, Alpet Shqiptare, 2018, 2023 5) Akademia e Shkencave e RPSSH, “Fjalori Enciklopedik Shqiptar”, 1985
6 ) https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/transhumance-the-seasonal-droving-of-livestock-01964
7) Eltjana Shkreli, “Trashëgimia Ndërtimore në Theth”, 2018 8) Instat, “Censi i Popullsisë dhe Banesave 2023 në Shqipëri – Rezultatet Kryesore”, 2024
articulation of the life of the valley, of a material and immaterial nature, the origin of which is to be found in the foundation of the medieval masi, which took place up to around 1350 (schwaighöfe)6 The management of pasture and livestock fully involves the domestic/ shepherd relationship and its evolution over time, the knowledge lost or accumulated, together with the practices and customs associated with them, as an integral part of the historical evolution of livestock farming, transhumance and its management. From 1300 to the late 1800s, solid dynasties of shepherds succeeded one another, exercising capillary control over grazing: each group of animals was accompanied by numerous shepherds during the period of stationing in the mountains; this knowledge was largely lost because there was no longer an agrarian society capable of sustaining all aspects of it, due to depopulation and the progressive lack of younger generations capable of guaranteeing adequate continuity. Other factors contributed to the dilution of this extensive method of pasture surveillance, such as the disappearance of the wolf in South Tyrol around 1880. Today, the transhumance is governed by two groups of farmers from the Schnals valley, and they follow two parallel routes over the Alpine passes: in the first half of June, from the crack of dawn, men and animals respectively cross the High Yoke (Hochjoch, 2. 875 m.) and the Lower Giogo (Niederjoch, 3,019 m.), the latter not far from the Giogo di Tisa (3,210 m.), the place where Ötzi, the “mummy of Similaun”, was found7. After a short stop at the Bellavista and Similaun huts, where a hearty breakfast of barley soup with smoked pork is served, we set off again in the direction of Rofenberg or Niedertal8 The sheep return in September, following the same routes, after spending the entire summer season on the verdant pastures of the Ötztal.
7) https://www.iceman.it/
8)
Founded in 2012, Akademia Profil promotes education and intercultural dialogue, focusing on CentralEastern European music, ethnomusicology, and digitizing archives. It supports disadvantaged groups and promotes Polish culture abroad.
Audiolab is a cultural organization dedicated to sound culture, blending arts, sociology, and anthropology. Its projects include the ERTZ festival, sound labs, and exhibitions, fostering creativity and collaboration through participatory platforms.
Founded in 2008, Bambun specializes in audiovisual and anthropological research, focusing on intergenerational knowledge transmission in the Gran Sasso region. It manages international research projects and archives across Europe.
Founded in 2004, Binaural Nodar in Portugal specializes in sound and visual ethnography, artist residencies, and social research in rural areas. It has hosted over 200 artists and collaborated globally.
Eth Ostau Comengés preserves Gascon culture in the French Pyrenees through events like the Passa-Pòrts festival and audiovisual surveys. It produces media and engages local audiences, especially younger generations.
Since 2012, GO2Albania is engaged on built & natural environment, cultural heritage and collective memory through research and community-based actions in Albania.
La leggera founded in 2001, preserves environmental and cultural diversity in Tuscany, focusing on oral traditions like singing, dance, and theatre while improving local quality of life.
LEM Italia promotes linguistic and cultural diversity across Europe and the Mediterranean. Based at the University of Teramo, it organizes conferences and has established a University Center for Linguistic and Cultural Diversity.
Since 2006, Numériculture Gascogne preserves Gascony’s heritage through sound and video digitization, organizing events and publishing cultural materials like books, CDs, and documentaries.
Orma Sodalitas Anthropologica, active since 2004, conducts ethnological and religious research in Romania and nearby regions, focusing on rural societies, folk traditions, and comparative historical-religious studies.
Founded in 1983, Ràdio País broadcasts in Béarn, Bigorre, and Gers, offering local programming. Managed by volunteers and professionals, it operates under the “Federacion VIVRE AU PAYS Ràdio País” federation.
Luís Gomes da Costa Binaural Nodar & University of Aveiro, Portugal
I’ve been a shepherd all my life, I’ve looked after cattle all my life. I have a huge stain on my chest For leaning against the staff. (FromatraditionalPortuguesesong).
The Portuguese territory, located in the Mediterranean area but influenced by the Atlantic Ocean, has marked climatic contrasts. The north and west are humid and densely populated, while the south and east suffer from dry summers and are less populated. This geographical difference influences the routes of transhumance, a pastoral practice based on the seasonal migration (winter or summer) of herds of cattle, mainly sheep but also goats,
The mountains play an essential role in this seasonal regime, offering summer pastures on the heights and shelter on the plains during the winter. In the warmer months, the herds from the Iberian plateau go up to the mountains in more westerly areas, where they find fresher pastures. When it gets colder, they return to the valleys, following traditional
kilometers. The maiorais, main representatives of the owners of the herds in these regions, negotiated the use of the land beforehand and, year after year, led herds comprised mainly of sheep, accompanied by a few goats.
The herds usually set out on a day close to St. John’s Day (June 24th), a saint associated with pastoralism, and until August, the shepherds and their dogs protected the herds, which grazed in the high pastures of the mountains. As fall approached, the animals returned to the villages, where they spent the cold nights in the corrals. In the past, legislation protected these transhumance routes, but from the 19th century onwards, agricultural expansion and the privatization of the countryside progressively reduced the spaces available for transhumance, as did the condition of the canadas, the ancestral walled paths used
routes that have been marked out over the centuries.
In the Montemuro mountain range, located on the northern edge of the Centro Portuguese region, south of the Douro River, the humid climate favors green pastures. Until the end of the 20th century, the common land of the mountain (which includes the municipalities of Castro Daire, Cinfães and Resende) was leased to shepherds from the western edges of the Serra da Estrela and the Mondego valley (municipalities of Oliveira do Hospital, Carregal do Sal, Nelas, Mangualde, Tábua, etc.), a distance of around 100
by the herds along their route. Fernando Chança, an inhabitant of Gosende, one of the highest villages in the Montemuro mountain range, tells us that “the common pastures you see were all for the cattle that went there in the summer, both from the village and transhumant. You’d get there and there’d be two or three thousand heads of cattle. Big and small, cows and sheep, everything was mixed together. They reached the river and drank. There are also several water springs and the animals drank from them. And they ate that grass on the hill that’s always half-green.
And that was the food the cattle had for three or four months.”
The passing of the transhumance herds was a celebration for the villages in the Castro Daire area. For example, Graça Mendes, a fifty-one-year-old woman, told us that, when she was a little girl, she and her family would go to watch the herds pass by: “On their way back to their areas of origin, the flock would pass through Castro Daire and, in the evening, the animals and the shepherds would come to sleep in our village of Vila Pouca. Everyone in the village would go to see the herd and even give the shepherds some food. Funnily enough, I remember that my sister had her house close to the area where the animals passed
Bibliography and digital resources:
through, and she had to run to close her garden fence so that the sheep couldn’t get in.”
The last transhumance route to the Montemuro mountains took place in 1999. In 2015, the Municipality of Castro Daire established an annual cultural tourism event, precisely called “The last transhumance route”, which simulates the ancestral transhumance, bringing together thousands of local sheep and goats, many of them decked out in colourful woollen decorations and with huge rattles around their necks, making the final leg of the journey from the village of Ribolhos to the top of the Montemuro mountain range, in the place of Cruz do Rossão.
da Costa
Binaural Nodar Digital Archive. NODAR.00842 - Gosende: Fernando Chanca talks about summer pastures and transhumance cattle. Vouzela, 2019. [URL: https://www.archive.binauralmedia.org/portfolio-items/gosende-fernando-chanc%cc%a7a-fala-dos-pastos-de-vera%cc%83o-e-dos-gados-da-transuma%cc%82ncia/. Accessed February 6th, 2025]
Binaural Nodar Digital Archive. NODAR.00843 - Vila Pouca: Graça Mendes recounts the passage of the transhumance herd through Vila Pouca. Vouzela, 2019. [URL: https://www.archive.binauralmedia.org/portfolio-items/vila-pouca-graca-mendes-conta-passagem-do-rebanho-da-transumancia-por-vila-pouca/ . Accessed on February 6th, 2025].
Correia, Alberto; Alves, Alexandre; Vaz, João L. Inês. Castro Daire. Municipality of Castro Daire. Castro Daire, 1986. Oliveira, Américo; Silva, Filomeno. Montemuro: A última rota da transumância. Associação de Defesa do Património Arouquense. Arouca, 2000.
Ribeiro, Orlando. Opúsculos geográficos. O mundo rural. Volume IV. Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation. Lisbon, 1991.
Ribeiro, Orlando. Portugal, o mediterrâneo e o atlântico. Coimbra Editora. Coimbra, 1945.
The last transhumance route. Castro Daire Municipality website. [https://www.transumanciacastrodaire.com/. Accessed on February 6th, 2025].
No. 36, April 2025
