First published: 20/09/22.

Riccardo Quaranta 1

Les Tombes De La Basse Selca

Les tombes de la Basse Selca (On tentative list)

Les tombes de la Basse Selca by Riccardo Quaranta

There is not much that can be added to Solivagant's excellent review of les tombes de la Basse Selca in Albania. I will only give an update on how to get there and what to expect as of August 2022 when I visited the tombs on my way from Elbasan to Lin.

Now, the location is even mapped on google maps as "Gradishta e Selcës së Poshtëme" (coordinates: 40.990687532328295, 20.519241375903466). This is the correct position so it's a good way to find the right spot. Don't get confused with the nearby "Gredishtë" as it will lead you to the wrong spot.

A car is needed to get there. The tombs are in the middle of nowhere and there is no public transportation that could take you near enough.

I left the main road (E852/SH3) in Qukës and turned towards Karkavec. This road is either beeing built or being completely renovated. It is not paved and some parts, especially the beginning near Qukës, are in pretty bad conditions. The GPS told me that it would take 1 hour to reach the tombs from Qukës, however as I drove ahead, the road improved and it wasn't that bad after all.

After about 10 km and a steep uphill slope, you'll find a small country road on the left that looks pretty bad. This road, which leads to a group of houses called Lagja e Kumellarëve, is indeed very bad and completely unpaved, however, it can be done even with a small car if driven carefully.

My advice is to drive up to Lagja e Kumellarëve (about 3 km from the beginning of the country road), find a place to leave your car and walk for the last few hundreds meters. It is also a nice walk and you'll see some modern, but old, graves with colorful plastic flowers near the road.

Eventually you'll reach an abandoned shack that looks like it was supposed to be a ticket booth and a trail that goes up a hill on your right hand side. There used to be a sign as well but it so damaged that it can be read now.

The tombs are found just by following the trail, some of them are at the top and others (the most decorated) are found by following the other path that starts about halfway to the top, on the right side (see arrows in the picture). The two paths make a sort of a loop so either path you follow you should be able to see all the tombs.

Unfortunately, the place must be used as a picnic spot by locals as it was full of trash and empty bottles and the tombs seemed to have seen better days. It feels like they have been forgotten after their initial discovery.

Overall, the detour and the visit took about one and a half hour. Much better than what the GPS told me. 

In my opinion, the tombs do not have that OUV and the care needed to became a WHS, however, the adventure to get there, the atmosphere of the place and being completely alone (with my wife, actually) immersed in nature and history was absolutely worth the effort and the time.

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