Summary

The collected excerpts highlight the central role of Albanian dress—especially the fustanella—in the cultural and national landscape of Greece during the 18th and 19th centuries. Numerous travelers, scholars, and observers describe how Albanian clothing dominated rural and urban Greek populations, shaped military identity, and influenced the visual symbolism of the Greek national state. The costume appears in descriptions of peasants, gendarmes, revolutionaries, and even saints in devotional art. The texts emphasize the Albanian roots of the dress, its antiquity, its adoption by Greeks during and after the War of Independence, and its continued association with heroic tradition and national pride.

Historical documentation of the “Fustanella”

“Only the Albanians have a national costume there. The well-known fustanella is an Albanian costume , while the Greeks have no national costume.”¹

“… Albanian dress , adopted by the Greeks only since the revolution. It has been preserved in Albania since the earliest antiquity; it is frequently found on ancient statues, notably that of King Pyrrhus of Epirus in…”²

“The splendid Albanian costume, so attractive to a people who love splendor and so strongly linked to national memories, has been sought almost in vain in Greek cities for some years now; it is being left more and more to the slums in the countryside and the service industry”.³

“The Christian Albanians and the Greeks are now one people. The Albanians bought their civic rights with blood. For the warriors, the Albanian costume has become common. They mostly wear red, the color of blood, also white and sky blue. A white cross on a blue field is the flag of the free fatherland. The Greeks place great value on beautiful and clean clothing, and even poor people appear very clean on holidays.”⁴

“The majority of the inhabitants of Athens wear the Albanian costume, which has been described often enough.”⁵

“I have a new painting of Goura, who commands there. He is a man of about 40 years, handsome, 5 feet 6.3 inches tall. He has blond hair and a large, bushy beard of the same color, blue eyes, straight eyebrows, a new smile, an open face, a beautiful gait, he is slightly cross-eyed, he wears elegant and rich Albanian dress, his very sturdy legs are wrapped in close-fitting gaiters of gold-embroidered velvet, from a fine belt peek a few precious silver pistols, and his dagger is in a metal scabbard.”⁶

“The Greek population coming to the city from the countryside is of strikingly beautiful physique and features, and wears with great natural grace the well-known, tasteful Albanian costume—arguably one of the most beautiful and picturesque in all of Europe.”⁷

“The men’s clothing commonly worn in the countryside here is actually not Greek but Albanian. The white, pleated fustanella and the close-fitting black stockings are in themselves dainty and very suitable for dancing. The women’s clothing is less pretty. We did not stay until noon, although the Homeric cattle on the roasting spit turned invitingly around a fire kindled under the open sky. We sought fresher air and therefore strove for the heights of the Pentelicus”⁸

“The Aga resided in Salonika last year, and his substitute devoted only as much time to these tiresome matters as hunting, smoking, and sleeping allowed. To maintain order, the Aga and the Synod jointly have 50 gendarmes (Sylakos) under their command, all of whom are Christians and wear Albanian dress. In their richly embroidered jackets and fustanelles, with pistol and dagger at their belts and long rifles slung over their backs, they appear fierce enough and seem sufficient to repel any attacks by the Klephts dwelling in the north of the mountain with their weapons.”⁹

“One exception was the beautiful and stately daughter of the village headman in Eleusis. The name of this classical site of famous mysteries is mangled in modern language as Levsis or Levs, and the people there, outside the gates of Athens, speak not Greek but Albanian. The beautiful Albanian dress made the daughter of the village headman look her best, and when I had her, through my interpreter, Dragoman Alexi of Athens, whom I can highly recommend based on my experience, ask permission to drink a glass of wine to her health, she granted it with kind words and even toasted with me, so well did she know the Frankish custom”¹⁰

“To strike, the yataghan is stuck into the ground and the rifle is placed on the crescent-shaped grip for better aiming. Many of these weapons are Turkish booty, richly crafted in silver and sometimes adorned with small precious stones and pearls. Mostly, however, they have broken out of their settings through use. Likewise, the small cartridge pouches are often delicately crafted in silver. The stock of the pistols is, in many cases, entirely of silver mixed with tin and lead. The work of the wandering Wallachian shepherds. These border troops wear the light Albanian dress.”¹¹

“The inhabitants of Mount Helicon and its slopes are of Albanian descent. Their traditional dress is generally the same as that of all farmers in northern Greece. It is commonly called the Albanian costume.”¹²

“The Albanian costume prevailed. Indeed, that it was worn even more confidently after the events of 1843, because it was perceived as specifically national”.¹³

“… Albanian costume . The contribution of Greek Albanians to the establishment of the Greek state is no less significant, insofar as “Greek” leaders of Albanian descent participated in its creation. More on this…”¹⁴

“This nineteenth-century devotional icon of the Relic of St. Spyridon and Saint George of Ioannina depicts the two most popular saints in Epirus and the Ionian islands. St. Spyridon’s relic (on display in his church in Corfu since the fall of Constantinople in 1453) is encased in a glass sepulcher. St. George (d. 1838) is placed next to him dressed in the national dress and heroic costume of Greek Independence fighters-the Arnavut (Albanian) fustanella that Theophilos also liked to pose in. As noted by Maria Vassilaki, the two saints stand on separate ground but are united by the icon’s golden horizon, here a signifier of divine glory, grace, and eternity.”¹⁵

“… and also essential features must be traced back to a truly divine origin. This applies to numerous elements of the vernacular as well as to such superficialities as the famous Greek fustanella, which today represents the Greek national costume, forms the uniform of the Guard and the Evzones, and which is nevertheless nothing more than a very popular Albanian folk costume.”¹⁶

“We were lucky enough to enter Monastir on a market day. One has to recall the bridges of Constantinople, or better yet, the bazaars of Damascus and Aleppo, to find such a mixture of peoples, such a motley crew of races and costumes: Albanians in white breeches, red trousers, and fustanellas, their little soutache jackets, their pistols, their rifles, their belts gleaming with gold, their whole being sparkling like suns; Slavs, short and muddy, dragging their soft boots and hairy clothes, sprawled in the straw of their arabas”.¹⁷

“Albanians, we have tried to preserve in this portrait not only the clothing but also the features and the entire physiognomic character it has in the original that Mr. Hobhouse had painted on the spot and from which we copied it. The Albanians have also preserved a kind of Pyrrhic dance. Two Albanian men—this is how Mr. Pouqueville describes it—armed with daggers, advance with measured steps, waving their weapons first against themselves and then against each other. Leaps and feats of strength characterize this military exercise. Seeing this dance, I felt transported to ancient Sparta, whose games it recalls. “¹⁸

“… the customs of the Pelasgians « were to those of the Greeks more or less as the language and customs of the Albanians are to those of the Neo-Greeks; which show many elements in common, so much so that it is not enough to give us an account of them …”¹⁹

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