Ottoman writer and traveler Evliya Çelebi describes Kavajë in this 1670 memoir:
  
"From here, we set off eastwards down the coastal plain of the bay, viewing well-developed, verdant villages to the left and right of the road and prosperous towered farm-estates, and in hours we reached the well-protected and mighty town of Kavaja.
It was founded in the year .... by ..... Kavaja, at the border of Elbasan, is ruled by an independent voyvoda under the jurisdiction of the Emin of Durrës.
Since the fortress of Durrës is located in an isolated and unproductive place on the coast, the qadi of Durrës resides here, whereas the Emin still lives in Durrës.
The qadi has a salary level of 150 akçe and has authority over 73 villages.
Kavaja is a charming town on a broad, flat and fertile plain at the end of the bay projecting from the gulf, and is surrounded by gardens and vineyards.
It has 400 one- and two-storey terraced stonework houses with tiled roofs and embellished with delightful gardens, ponds and fountains.
There are also exquisite mansions with towers and pleasure-domes.
Many noble families live here, such as the Haris-zade family and the Pasha-zade family.

Kavaja has 4 quarters, including .... and ....; and 4 congregational mosques, including .... in the bazaar, and ..... There are also 4 neighbourhood mosques, all with squat minarets lacking stonework.
There are 2 medreses, but the students are not much interested in learning.
There are 3 primary schools and 2 dervish tekkes, as well as 200 prosperous and well-kept shops in the bazaar.
On both sides of the bazaar street grow mulberry trees which provide the bazaar with shade.
All the trades are represented here and one finds all kinds of valuable and invaluable goods.
The bazaar is wealthy and bustling, since people from Bashtova and Durrës come here to buy their goods and produce.
There are 2 khans for travelling tradesmen, also built of carved stonework, in which all sort of fabrics are to be found, as if they were covered bazaars.

There are no baths in the bazaar, but over 40 private baths are to be found in the better homes – or so I have been told.
Haris-zade Aga has promised to construct a public bath and has secured a lot for it in the bazaar – may God fulfil his intention.
No one until now has undertaken such a project.
It was deemed unnecessary because the noble families allowed their relatives and retainers to use their private baths.
There are many rich businessmen and generous home owners.
Kavaja has a mild climate and so the people are very hospitable."

— Evliya Çelebi
Scottish diplomat David Urquhart describes his encounter upon arriving in Kavajë in this 1831 piece:
 
The next day, in the afternoon, I arrived at Cavalha [Kavaja], and on entering the place, which contains between two and three hundred Guegue families, I met Ibrahim Bey, the proprietor of this place and the surrounding country, accompanied by a troop of savage and picturesque looking horsemen; but they all fell short of the ferocious air of their leader – a man guilty of every crime, and stained with every vice, and detested alike by Turks and Christians.
The blood of his nearest relatives was on his head.
He possesses – in the way that an Albanian Odjack possesses – an extent of country thirty miles in every direction.

I had now fairly entered into the country of the Guegues: they are the northernmost of the three general divisions of Albanians; – the first, to the south, called Châmi, of which Janini [Janina] is the capital; the second, composed of Toxides, the Liapes, and others, extends to Berat; the third, from Berat to the mountains of Monte Negro and Bosnia, are the Guegues.
These last, though speaking a dialect of the Skipt, or Albanian, are strongly tinctured with Sclavonian blood; whereas, to the south, the influence of Greece has more prevailed.
The Guegues have a distinct costume: they wear the fustanel, or large white kilt; but the short jacket of the southern Albanians is with them prolonged into a skirt – descends as low as the extremity of the fustanel, and is bound under the
Ottoman writer and traveler Evliya Çelebi describes Kavajë in this 1670 memoir:
  
"From here, we set off eastwards down the coastal plain of the bay, viewing well-developed, verdant villages to the left and right of the road and prosperous towered farm-estates, and in hours we reached the well-protected and mighty town of Kavaja. It was founded in the year .... by ..... Kavaja, at the border of Elbasan, is ruled by an independent voyvoda under the jurisdiction of the Emin of Durrës. Since the fortress of Durrës is located in an isolated and unproductive place on the coast, the qadi of Durrës resides here, whereas the Emin still lives in Durrës. The qadi has a salary level of 150 akçe and has authority over 73 villages. Kavaja is a charming town on a broad, flat and fertile plain at the end of the bay projecting from the gulf, and is surrounded by gardens and vineyards. It has 400 one- and two-storey terraced stonework houses with tiled roofs and embellished with delightful gardens, ponds and fountains. There are also exquisite mansions with towers and pleasure-domes. Many noble families live here, such as the Haris-zade family and the Pasha-zade family.
Kavaja has 4 quarters, including .... and ....; and 4 congregational mosques, including .... in the bazaar, and ..... There are also 4 neighbourhood mosques, all with squat minarets lacking stonework. There are 2 medreses, but the students are not much interested in learning. There are 3 primary schools and 2 dervish tekkes, as well as 200 prosperous and well-kept shops in the bazaar. On both sides of the bazaar street grow mulberry trees which provide the bazaar with shade. All the trades are represented here and one finds all kinds of valuable and invaluable goods. The bazaar is wealthy and bustling, since people from Bashtova and Durrës come here to buy their goods and produce. There are 2 khans for travelling tradesmen, also built of carved stonework, in which all sort of fabrics are to be found, as if they were covered bazaars.
There are no baths in the bazaar, but over 40 private baths are to be found in the better homes – or so I have been told. Haris-zade Aga has promised to construct a public bath and has secured a lot for it in the bazaar – may God fulfil his intention. No one until now has undertaken such a project. It was deemed unnecessary because the noble families allowed their relatives and retainers to use their private baths. There are many rich businessmen and generous home owners. Kavaja has a mild climate and so the people are very hospitable."
— Evliya Çelebi
Scottish diplomat David Urquhart describes his encounter upon arriving in Kavajë in this 1831 piece:
 
The next day, in the afternoon, I arrived at Cavalha [Kavaja], and on entering the place, which contains between two and three hundred Guegue families, I met Ibrahim Bey, the proprietor of this place and the surrounding country, accompanied by a troop of savage and picturesque looking horsemen; but they all fell short of the ferocious air of their leader – a man guilty of every crime, and stained with every vice, and detested alike by Turks and Christians. The blood of his nearest relatives was on his head. He possesses – in the way that an Albanian Odjack possesses – an extent of country thirty miles in every direction. 
I had now fairly entered into the country of the Guegues: they are the northernmost of the three general divisions of Albanians; – the first, to the south, called Châmi, of which Janini [Janina] is the capital; the second, composed of Toxides, the Liapes, and others, extends to Berat; the third, from Berat to the mountains of Monte Negro and Bosnia, are the Guegues. These last, though speaking a dialect of the Skipt, or Albanian, are strongly tinctured with Sclavonian blood; whereas, to the south, the influence of Greece has more prevailed. The Guegues have a distinct costume: they wear the fustanel, or large white kilt; but the short jacket of the southern Albanians is with them prolonged into a skirt – descends as low as the extremity of the fustanel, and is bound under the
Kavajë