Korçë is the largest city in southeastern Albania, set on a plateau at 869 m with a cooler climate than the coast. It has a reputation as one of the more culturally refined cities in Albania — the first Albanian-language school was founded here in 1887, and it was briefly the centre of a French protectorate during World War I.
The old bazaar (çarshi) has been restored and is pleasant to walk through. The National Museum of Medieval Art holds over 7,000 icons, artworks, and ecclesiastical objects — the largest collection of its kind in Albania and genuinely impressive. The Museum of Education, housed in the 1887 Mësonjëtorja, marks the founding of Albanian-language schooling.
The city is also known for its beer (Birra Korça is Albania's most popular lager, brewed here) and for a lively cultural scene. The Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ, an imposing neo-Byzantine structure built in the 1990s on the site of a church destroyed under communism, dominates the centre. The 15th-century Mirahori Mosque at the edge of the bazaar is one of the oldest in Albania.
Voskopojë (Voskopoja), about 20 km west, was a major 18th-century cultural and trading centre — at its peak one of the largest towns in the Balkans — and retains several frescoed churches worth visiting. The surrounding mountains offer good hiking.