1915 the English archaeologist Frederick Hasluck reported that the population of the hillside town of Kruja in central Albania, some 20 km away from the capital Tirana, “seems to be almost exclusively Bektashi.” Fifteen years earlier the French consul Alexandre Degrand had taken note of the traditional account of the 366 saints’ tombs in and about Kruja. Most, if not all of these tombs would have been occupied by saints of the Bektashi who, along with Catholics, Albanian-Orthodox, and Sunnites, are one of the four main religious groups that are once again active in Albania after the ban on all religious activities in Albania was lifted in 1990. Destroyed or abandoned in Communist times, the Bektashi places of worship continue to be renovated and reconstructed. According to the Bektashi, the vast majority of the inhabitants of Kruja (“99%”) are adherents of the order of the Bektashi or Bektashi supporters. This claim is corroborated by the fact that while there are few mosques or churches, the urban landscape is characterized by an ever-increasing number of green-and-white Bektashi sacred sites of different types and sizes. Their presence allows Krujans, once again, to proudly declare that the Kruja region is known for its 366 Bektashi holy places.

The most famous of these is the pilgrimage site of the Bektashi missionary in the Balkans, Sari Saltuk (Sari Salltëk), whose cult in Kruja was attested in 1567/68. While the imposing so-called ‘Skanderbeg castle,’ rebuilt in 1982 by Enver Hoxha’s daughter Pranvera as a museum, looms large over Kruja, the cave of Sari Saltuk embodies the town’s real focal point. Perched on the mountain range that towers above the town (1176 m above sea level), it is one of the three most sacred places of the Bektashis in Albania and one of Albania’s most visited tourist destinations. A month-long pilgrimage is held each year from 14 August to 14 September.