Tirana – A Painted Paradise
I must admit, I was not particularly excited to visit Tirana, the capital city of Albania. I was however curious about it. I had decided to visit after hearing of ex-mayor Edi Rama’s art project to turn the drab communist concrete city into a multicoloured painted wonderland. Furthermore, I had heard good things from other travellers, but I imagined that my visit would be a quick one-day stop. Boy, I was wrong! Instead of the backwater I was expecting, I was surprised by the vibrant spirit of the city. The capital is a young one, with a well-educated population. Unlike other parts of Albania, women roam the streets without headscarves and the nightlife of Blloku is pulsing. I must say that Tirana is as cosmopolitan and hip as anywhere else in Europe. I’m glad I stayed for more than a day.
Table of Contents
- A Little Geography
- A Little History
- A Little Architecture
- Where to Stay
- What to do
- Gallery
- Conclusion
A Little Geography
Tirana is located in the central heartland of Albania, in a valley called the plain of Tirana. It is surrounded by mountains, including the monolithic Mount Dajt to its east. At the top of the mountain you can see the city stretch out in the plain below, to the west you can spot the simmering blue waters of the Adriatic. Tirana is located inland, 37 km from the once important roman port of Durrës [Dyrrachium]. Although it was an unimportant settlement until the 20th century, it grew rapidly when it was proclaimed the capital of Albania. This civic expansion can be detected in the city’s sprawling suburbs. The Lana river, practically a stream, runs though the center of the capital.
A Little History
Although the area surrounding the capital has been inhabited since the stone age, no reference is made to Tirana until a small settlement was mentioned by Venetian documents in 1418, shortly after Ottoman conquest. This settlement would grow into a small city during the late medieval period, with the construction of a mosque, baths, watermills and a bazaar. By 1821, the Et’hem Bey Mosque, the central mosque of the city, was completed.
In 1920, after repelling an Italian invasion, Tirana was proclaimed the “temporary capital” of Albania at the Congress of Lushnjë. It replaced the Albanian city of Vlora, the first capital of the country. This status was made permanent in 1925. Following this, a plan for the city center was designed by Florestano Di Fausto, an Italian architect associated with fascist Italy under Mussolini. In 1928, Tirana was the site of the crowning of King Zog I of Albania. He was the first and last monarch of the Albanian state.
In 1939, the Italians invaded Albania and continued to redesign the city center. Later that year the Second World War broke out and Tirana became a leading center of the partisan resistance, a communist group under the leadership of Enver Hoxha, the paranoid dictator that would lead communist Albania after the war. Under communist rule much of the city’s heritage, such as the old bazaar and the orthodox cathedral were demolished to make way for soviet style apartments, factories and ugly government buildings like the “palace of culture”. Hoxha cut Albania off from the world and Tirana’s infrastructure eventually became decrepit. After his death the country slowly came out of exile and saw the visit of Albanian cultural figure Mother Theresa. The end of communism brought instability and Tirana, as the center of government, suffered greatly from the Albanian civil war in 1997. This would not turn around until the 2000’s when mayor Edi Rama began a campaign to demolish illegal structures around the capital, to paint buildings in bright colors and to clean up the river. Massive investments were made in infrastructure and Tirana once again began to luster. More monetary investments are still needed for sectors such as policing, sanitary services (eg:drinking water) and electrical supply (as the city still experiences frequent power outages). Improvement to the capital continues to this day and the quality of life is slowly but surely improving.
A Little Architecture
Tirana has a unique architectural feel to it. At any given moment you will witness a mix of architecture from the Islamic, fascist and communist periods. The Islamic buildings date from the Ottoman occupation, most surviving structures are civic in nature, such as mosques, baths and bridges. The fascist era buildings are bureaucratic and date from the reign of King Zog and the Italian occupation of Albania. During the reign of Zog, close ties were developed with Italy and Italian architects associated with Mussolini redesigned the city center of Albania in grand imperial style. The communist years produced the majority of the buildings in the center city. Most of these are residential but a few are monuments. Their concrete facades have aged poorly but have been revived by the work of ex-mayor Edi Rama to repaint them in bright colours. An interesting piece of architecture is the ugly concrete pyramid, but more on that later.
As an aside modern towers have started appearing in the Tirana skyline adding a new dimension to an already interesting city.
Where to Stay
I stayed in a hostel called Trip n’ Hostel near the city center. As mentioned earlier, Tirana is a sprawling city so make sure to book your accommodation near Skanderbeg square to make your life easier (for a list of great Balkan hostels click here). I arrived in the early afternoon after a furgon ride from Berat it took me a while to find the hostel as the entrance is through a side alley. Luckily for me this place had a great little courtyard with hammocks that made up for the initial confusion. This is a very social place and a bar is located on premises, it serves a tasty local beer that cannot be purchased elsewhere.
What to do
Tirana went from being a small settlement to a bustling city in less than a century. As such, it is to be expected that many of the attractions in Tirana are contemporary by nature. Although I am usually partial to older cities, the “modernism” projected by the buildings of Tirana have such a compelling story behind them, that I cant help but be fascinated by the whole thing. If buildings could talk, Tirana would tell one hell of a story.
Skanderbeg Square
Named after Albania’s national hero, this central square is at the center of Albanian life. It contains many of the city’s cultural institutions and has gone through many iterations throughout its long history. It was once home to the old bazaar, before its demolition by the communist authorities. The newest iteration of the square includes a large paved area composed of paving stones from all the different provinces of Albania. This area is host to many of the large gatherings in Tirana. For more information on Skanderbeg himself, click here.
At one end of the square stands the National Museum of History, a facility that narrates the history of the Albanian territory from start to finish. The Tirana free walking tour leaves from the museum steps. I strongly recommend taking this tour, it is very informative and helps interpret the strange structures present in the city. Albania’s history is not a familiar topic to most westerners and this tour is a good start towards understanding the history of the city without oversimplifying things. Flanking the square is the Palace of Culture, a Soviet monstrosity that has been transformed into the National opera. Not much can be found here for the average traveller, a sad development as its construction necessitated the destruction of the above mentioned bazaar and an old mosque. At the other end of the square stands a massive statue of Skanderberg on horseback, likely the most photographed statue in the Balkans outside of the Statue of Alexander in Skopje. He is surrounded by a patch of grass, something that is sorely missing in the newest public square redesign (2016). By his side are ornate and colourful yellow and red Italian era buildings and the most important remaining heritage structure the Et’hem Bey Mosque. This mosque is by far the prettiest building in the city and is a must see attraction. On the side opposite to the mosque you will be able to see the spire of the Orthodox cathedral, a modern take on the destroyed original. I am not quite sure that it lives up the the original but the work does blend in nicely with the other buildings in this part of the city.
Lastly, I have to mention that in this square you can visit a very unique museum dedicated to the victims of communist repression. It is called Bunk’ Art 2 and is located in a fake concrete shelter that can be easy to miss if you are not looking for it. The structure was built to look much like the 750 000 bunkers (enough for a third of the population!) that the ex-dictator of Albania, Enver Hoxha constructed throughout the country in a paranoid frenzy. A passage leads you underground where exhibits introduce you to a carefully curated selection of the people tortured, imprisoned and killed by the regime. You will see their photographs and their stories are re-told. The museum explains in detail the history of the secret police and the methods they used. In my opinion this is by far the best museum in Tirana.
Blloku
This hip urban district is located on the south side of the Lana river, opposite to Skanderbeg square. It is defined by its monotone blocks of uniform concrete buildings and square, neat blocks. This was once the home of the political class of Albania and regular citizens were not allowed to enter. It is now the home of the best bars and restaurants in Albania. If you go for a night out you will surely end up in Bllocku. While there, look around, as you can still find Hoxha’s house.
For those looking to take in the culture of Tirana, Blloku is the place to be. Known for its vibrant cafe culture, it is a place where the academic elite of the country has congregated to since the 1950’s. I heard that at the time of my visit, the aging but still legendary Albanian writer Ismail Kadare (one of the greatest of the 20th century!) frequent visited the coffeehouses in the neighbourhood. One of my favourite authors, I unfortunately did not chance to meet him, although I imagined myself running into him on a few occasions. Although my Albanian vocabulary is virtually non-existent, we could have possibly conversed in French. For more information on Ismael Kadare, read my article on the Stone City of Albania, Gjirokaster. Here you can learn more about Albania’s famed dictator Enver Hoxha and Kadare, both former residents of the city, the later publishing his groundbreaking book “Kronikë në gur” known under its English name “Chronicle in Stone”.
If you continue south from Blloku, you will come across the artificial lake of Tirana. This is a large urban park that provides natives of the city with much needed relief from the summer heat.
To the east you have the Pyramid of Tirana, this is one of the oddest structures you will find anywhere in the world. After the death of Albanian dictator Enver Hoxha, a pyramid was built in his honour, with his daughter as the designer of course. Hoxha was so hated that this concrete mass was once turned into a disco/nightclub and now lies abandoned. For fun, you can do what the local kids do, and climb the slopes to the top.
Once up there you will usually find a group of teens cutting classes and having a smoke. They seem to enjoy talking to tourists and will likely start a conversation with you or simply just ask for a light. Once done your conversation, you can actually slide down the structure on your butt. It’s pretty fun! Imagine trying to do this in a western city!
Zona 1
This area is located to the east of Skanderbeg square. It is the location of many Albanian institutions such as the Albanian parliament. Many buildings from the Zogist era (of King Zog) can still be found, along with Italian colonial structures. The best way to see this neighborhood is to walk along RRuga George W. Bush and yes you read that correctly. The former US President was the first to visit Albania and was well received by the local population. This was in large part due to his recognition of the neighboring state of Kosovo (with most of Kosovo’s population being ethnically Albanian). Many cafes and restaurants are named after him and a cafe where he visited has a seat “reserved” for him (the seat in which he sat in during his visit).
Other sights include the Old Bazaar – an attempted recreation using steel posts and the Tanners Bridge. The bridge is an old Ottoman era arched structure crossing the Lana river. Take the time to stroll along the river, although it is a small stream, it offers shade and a great view of Mount Dajti.
Mt. Dajti
This is not so much a neighbourhood as it is simply a large mountainous greenspace. Visiting Mt. Dajte is not something that I had intended on doing but I ended up going with a few guys from the hostel. From the downtown core, you have to take a city bus to the base of the mountain and from there you can catch a gondola to the top. I made my way up as the sun was setting, it was a clear day and from the cable-car you can see the panorama of the Tirana Valley and even the Adriatic Sea in the distance. At the top there is a lookout restaurant. I took the time to sit down and have beer. I picked a Korca Dark and enjoyed the fading daylight shooting the shit with total strangers (For more information on great Balkan brews check out this article).
Gallery
Here are a few extra pictures of the city!
Conclusion
Tirana will likely not be the first European capital that you will visit, but do consider making a stop here. It may not have the glitz of other major European centers such as Barcelona, Paris or Vienna but I would contend that it can captivate and absorb the open-minded traveller just the same.
