For a glimpse of old Shkodra, visit the wonderful Ottoman-era building housing the Historical Museum, one of about 15 left in Shkodra. The museum is in fact not much more than the building itself – the massive family house of Osa Kuka, a wealthy middle-class merchant. Like other such houses across the Balkan region, it was a self-contained entity surrounded by  massive 7-metre-high wall and with strictly separated areas for the men to conduct business, and for the women to work, cook and take care of the family. Up to 20 people would inhabit the house; the patriarch, his sons and their wives and children. At that time, families would dabble in all kinds of trade; they would have some land and livestock, specialise in some craft, do trading and administration jobs. Shkodra in it's heyday was a prime merchant's city, positioned along the ancient trade route between the Mediterranean sea and Kosovo in the interior, with 2500 shops in the bazaar and 80 types of crafts represented. The famous Wednesday regional markets attracted traders from across the region.
This house was constructed in 1815, and has been restored to it's old state. It's very typical of Ottoman houses of the 17th-19th centuries. The grand first-floor balcony was where family celebrations were held and where the women would colour fabrics or spread out silkworm cocoons and wool to make threads. A small unconnected room here was for conducting private negotiations. Inside, the grand rooms with decorated wooden ceilings were for receiving guests in style; seated in strict hierarchical order on cushions around a low table, the men would talk while the women were only able to follow the discussions from behind the small holes above the doorway. Only the youngest girls would be allowed to approach the room to pass trays of food and drinks; older daughters were kept well out of sight. One room has an unusual fireplace with a small window behind it – this was to check that the fire was burning continuously, as a house with no fire was cursed. In the garden lies a Roman tomb and a Venetian stone well (decorated with St. Mark's lion), while the basement of the house holds a small archaeology exhibition, with the early Christian Plate of David, artefacts from the Greek and Roman periods and a quirky 4th century BC clay fertility figure.

Admission 100 lek.