Albanian heritage, explained

The bell-shaped xhubleta, the white felt plis and the pleated fustanella: three garments of Albanian traditional dress, how they are made and what they mean.

Besa means the given word, and for Albanians it is sacred. What the word means, how it shaped history and why it saved Jewish lives in the Second World War.

Why Albanians celebrate on 28 November, what happened in Vlora in 1912, how the November holidays fit together and how the day is marked from Tirana to Stuttgart.

From the ancient Dardanians to the declaration of independence in 2008: a short, factual history of Kosovo, with the key dates and the different perspectives.

Mountains never meet, but people do: Albanian proverbs about honour, friendship, work and family, in the original with translation and meaning.

Drita means light, Agim dawn, Teuta queen: what Albanian first names mean, where Illyrian names come from and how surnames are built.

Since the 15th century Albanians have lived in southern Italy and Sicily. Who the Arbëreshë are, how they came and how they kept language, faith and customs for 500 years.

For centuries the Kanun governed life in the northern Albanian mountains: honour, hospitality, the given word and blood feud. Where it comes from and what remains of it.

Albanian has no close relatives: it is a branch of its own in the Indo-European family. Its dialects, its late start in writing, its alphabet and its place in Switzerland.

Singing over a drone, a lute with two strings, a fiddle with one: the traditions of Albanian music, from UNESCO-listed polyphony to the epic songs of the north.

Queen Teuta, King Gentius, wars with Rome and emperors from the Balkans: who the Illyrians were, what we know about their language and what is still debated.

Hostage, Ottoman officer, rebel: how Gjergj Kastrioti became Skanderbeg, held out for 25 years against the sultan and why Albanians honour him to this day.

Dardania was an ancient kingdom and a Roman province in the heart of the Balkans. Who the Dardanians were, what the name means and why it lives on today.

Why does the Albanian eagle have two heads, what does shqiponja mean, and how did it get onto the flag? From Byzantium via Skanderbeg to today.