Photos from Our World

• Albania
• Around Tirana
  • DurrËsi
  • Kruja
• Northern Albania
  • Shkodra
  • MalËsia e Madhe
  • Thethi
  • Valbona
  • Albanian Alps
  • Lake Komani
• Central Albania
  • Elbasani
  • Berati
  • Near Çorovoda
• Eastern Albania
  • Pogradeci
  • KorÇa District
• Southern Albania
  • Vlora
  • Ionian Coast
  • Saranda
  • Butrinti
  • Gjirokastra
• Albanian people
• Flag History

Tirana, the capital and largest city of Albania

Tirana (or Tiranë when in a sentence with a preposition as in "to", "in" or "from Tirana") is the capital and the largest city of Albania, with a population of around 700,000. It was probably founded in 1614 during the Ottoman time when during the rule of Sulejman Pasha Bargjini a mosque, a hamam (Turkish bath), a bakery, and several shops were built. The Et'hem Bey mosque was built in 1789 and the Sahat-Kula (Clock Tower) in 1830. During the 19th century there was an awakening ("Rilindja") of Albanian identity in the country and the Albanian language was taught in schools in Tirana by 1889. On 26 November 1912 the people of Tirana hoisted the Albanian flag to end the rule of the Ottoman Turks. On 8 February 1920, the provisional government formed at the Congress of Lushje moved to Tirana, then a town of 7,000 inhabitants and it became the capital of the country. The Italians occupied Albania in 1939 and built several administration and residential buildings in Tirana during their rule. In November 1941, Enver Hoxha with other Albanian communists founded the Communist Party of Albania in Tirana, and the town became the centre of the Albanian communists' activities to mobilise the people of Tirana to fight the Italian fascists and later Nazi Germans. The town was liberated after a fierce battle between the Communists and the people of Tirana against the German forces, on 17 November 1944.

The look of the city has changed since the end of World War II, with old city quarters demolished; the old bazar went in 1959. During the 1960s, the city centre was improved with a Cultural Palace and Theatre of Opera and Ballet in 1966. Skanderbeg's equestrian statue was erected in 1968 on Skanderbeg Square (Sheshi Skënderbeu), near the Et'hem Bey mosque. At the other end of the square is the very interesting National Museum of History with its socialist-realist mosaic on the front wall, the communist star now removed from the flag; opposite the museum stood a 30 m high bronze statue of Enver Hoxha; it was torn down by a jubilant pro-democracy crowd on 21 February 1991. Tirana is now a very colourful city and quite a contrast with the drab grey place it was in communist times. Many of its Stalinist apartment blocks are now painted in surprising colours and, while in Socialist Albania private car ownership was all but impossible, the city now is very busy with mainly Mercedes Benz cars racing around the wide boulevards and around Skanderbeg Square. One of the strangest buildings is the Pyramid, which started as a museum dedicated to communist dictator Enver Hoxha; it was designed by his daughter and son in law. It is now a convention centre. Just in front of it hangs the Bell of Peace, forged from bullet cases collected by Albanian schoolchildren during the anarchy that gripped the country in 1997.

Blloku was the exclusive neighbourhood where the communist rulers lived and used to be completely forbidden to enter by mere citizen until 1991. Now it is a trendy neighbourhood with nightclubs and restaurants. The bungalow that was the residence of Enver Hoxha is still there, although not open to the public. The nearby Sky Club Panoramic Bar and Restaurant on the top floor of an office block gives a great view over Blloku and the rest of Tirana. On the southwestern part of the city, at the end of the wide Bulevardi Dëshmorët e Kombit is the University of Tirana. Behind the University is , in Parku Kombëtar, with a memorial for British service men who died in the Second World War. Another memorial honours the Frashëri brothers (Abdyl, Naim and Sami), who were the driving force behind the Rilindja Kombëtarë, the Albanian National Renaissance movement at the end of the 19th century. The hills on the southeastern part of the city around the artificial lake were afforested, thus opening the new Park, which is connected with the Botanical Garden and the Zoo.

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