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Xhubleta

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Woman from Grudë wearing a xhubleta in a 19th-century Pietro Marubi photo.
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The xhubleta is an undulating, bell-shaped folk skirt, traditionally worn by Albanian women in northern Albania, Kosovo, North Macedonia and Montenegro. It is a garment that survived from ancient times exclusively in Albanian inhabited territories,[1][2] and it is a unique type of dress for its particular shape, structure, and decorating system.[3] There are two types of xhubleta: one is narrow and the other is large.[3] The Xhubleta was included in the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding by UNESCO in 2022.[4][5]

Etymology

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The Albanian name xhubleta is considered to be inherited from Proto-Albanian *jú-(m)blit-ā, "bee", in turn inherited from the Balkan Indo-European *h₁sú-melit, "having good honey".[6] The semantic link between the Albanian xhubleta and the bee is supported by a network of relations involving Albanian culture and ancient Mediterranean culture, including the Minoan civilization and the mythology of Zeus and Melissa.[7]

History

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Bronze Age Illyrian terracotta figurine with a xhubleta-like garment.[8]

The xhubleta has ancient origins.[9] It represents similarities to wearing of some Balkan Neolithic and Illyrian Bronze Age figures, but also of some figures in other areas of the Mediterranean region, belonging to the second millennium BC, and linking accordingly with old Mediterranean cultures.[10][11] Garments with similar bell-shapes are also worn by goddesses and female dancers depicted on monuments of the Roman era in the Balkans.[12]

The xhubleta is usually decorated with Albanian sacred symbolic elements of ancient pagan origins, such as the symbols of the sun (Dielli), of the moon (Hana), of the stars, eagles, and serpents (Vitore). The mostly geometric ornaments show a particularly archaic feature of this costume.[11][12] Many of those symbols belong to the southern Illyrian religious repertoire.[12] Some symbols are of apotropaic nature against evil (diseases, evil spirits and influences such as syni i keq, the evil eye), and they match Illyrian chains found in tumuli in Albania.[12] Some ornaments of the xhubleta are representations of hands, which are also the shape of some Illyrian amulets.[13]

Description

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Xhubleta, skills, craftsmanship and forms of usage
CountryAlbania
Reference01880
RegionEurope and North America
Inscription history
Inscription2022 (17th session)
ListNeed of Urgent Safeguarding

The xhubleta usually is hung on the shoulders using two straps. It has 13 to 17 strips and 5 pieces of felt. The bosom and the part of the xhubleta covered by the apron are made out of crocheted black wool.[14] The bell shape is accentuated in the back part.[15]

There are two types of xhubleta: one is narrow and the other is large.[3] In regard to colors, only two colors are nowadays used: the white one for the unmarried women and the black one for the married ones,[3] however in the past many colors were used, as witnessed by a 17th-century author, who claimed that the peacock did not have as many colors as the xhubleta worn by the women of Kelmend.[15] It is thought that the diminishing in colors in the last two centuries is due to the limitation of its use only in remote mountainous areas.[15]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Bido 1998, p. 701.
  2. ^ Dedvukaj 2025, p. 6.
  3. ^ a b c d Etudes et documents balkaniques et méditerranéens. Paul Henri Stahl. 2001. pp. 34–37.
  4. ^ "UNESCO - Xhubleta, skills, craftsmanship and forms of usage". ich.unesco.org. Retrieved 2022-12-13.
  5. ^ "Xhubleta shqiptare, tashmë pasuri e gjithë njerëzimit, UNESCO e merr në mbrojtje bashkë me dijebërjen e saj! Margariti: Vendim unanim, copëz Shqipërie për botën - Shqiptarja.com". shqiptarja.com (in Albanian). Retrieved 2022-12-13.
  6. ^ Dedvukaj 2025, p. 4.
  7. ^ Dedvukaj 2025, pp. 6–7.
  8. ^ Dedvukaj 2025, pp. 1–2.
  9. ^ Gjergji 2004, p. 185.
  10. ^ "Database of Cultural Heritage of Kosovo". Archived from the original on 2019-09-21. Retrieved 2015-12-24.
  11. ^ a b Condra, Jill (2013-04-09). Encyclopedia of National Dress: Traditional Clothing around the World [2 volumes]. Abc-Clio. ISBN 9780313376375.
  12. ^ a b c d Dedvukaj 2025, p. 2.
  13. ^ Dedvukaj 2025, p. 3.
  14. ^ Gjergji, Andromaqi (2004). Albanian Costumes Through the Centuries: Origin, Types, Evolution. Academy of Sciences of Albania. p. 153. ISBN 978-99943-614-4-1.
  15. ^ a b c Selami Pulaha; Seit Mansaku; Andromaqi Gjergji (1982). Shqiptarët dhe trojet e tyre. 8 Nëntori. pp. 136–138.

Bibliography

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