Elbasan is situated in Elbasan County in central Albania and is the third largest city in Albania. The name Elbasan comes from the Turkish il-basan or ‘the fortress’.
It stands on the north bank of the Shkumbin River, in the highlands at the east end of a lush, well-watered plateau. Travellers going to Korca, Pogradec and North Macedonia pass through here.

The surviving walls the two-thousand-year-old Roman Castle, are worth visitng as well as the Orthodox church and outside the walls the remains of a 5th – 6th century basilica.

The Elbasan Ethnographic Museum which is located in the center of the city, not far from the Castle of Elbasan (11 Nëntori Street). The museum is housed in a traditional two-story 18th century house that tells the story of Elbasan’s culture and lifestyle. Including showing the work of artisans of felt, qeleshe (the white fez-like cap), and opinga (traditional leather shoes) as well as the saddlers, jewelers, goldsmiths, carpenters, gunsmiths, and bell-makers.