Tirana

Albania · 4 sights · guided virtual tour

Welcome to Tirana, the capital and largest city of Albania. It lies in the centre of the country, enclosed by mountains and hills, with Mount Dajti rising to the east and a valley opening towards the distant Adriatic. It is among the wettest and also the sunniest cities in Europe, with 2,544 hours of sunshine a year. The city was founded in 1614 by the Ottoman Albanian nobleman Sylejman Pasha Bargjini, though people have lived here since the Iron Age. It stayed fairly unimportant until the 20th century, when it was proclaimed Albania's capital. Let us begin our walk.

Sights

1. Skanderbeg Square ▶ Listen

   

   You are standing in Skanderbeg Square, the main plaza in the centre of Tirana, named after Albania's national hero Skanderbeg, whose monument dominates the space. The square covers about 40,000 square metres. Its plan goes back to designs by the Italian architect Armando Brasini in 1925, later continued in a Neo-Renaissance style. Look around and you will see many of the city's landmarks gathered here, from the National Opera and the Palace of Culture to the Et'hem Bey Mosque, the Clock Tower and the National Historical Museum.

2. Et'hem Bey Mosque ▶ Listen

   

   Before you is the Et'hem Bey Mosque, a Sunni mosque famous for the frescoes on its portico, inside and out, showing trees, waterfalls and bridges. Together with the Clock Tower of Tirana it forms a single architectural complex. During the Communist rule of Enver Hoxha the mosque was closed, like other houses of worship. When it reopened in 1991, it happened without permission from the authorities, yet 10,000 people attended and the police did not interfere. If you visit, remember to take off your shoes before entering the inner room.

3. Pyramid of Tirana ▶ Listen

   This unusual sloping structure is the Pyramid of Tirana. It opened on 14 October 1988 as a museum to the legacy of Enver Hoxha, the long-time leader of Communist Albania, and was co-designed by his daughter Pranvera Hoxha, an architect, together with her husband and colleagues. When it was built it was said to be the most expensive individual structure ever constructed in Albania. After the fall of Communism it became a conference centre, and during the 1999 Kosovo War it was even used as a NATO base. Today it serves as a technology centre for young people.

4. National History Museum ▶ Listen

   

   Here is the National History Museum, opened on 28 October 1981 and covering 27,000 square metres. Its halls trace the country from antiquity and the Middle Ages to independence, the anti-fascist war, Communist terror, and a pavilion devoted to Mother Teresa. But first, look up at the entrance. The giant mosaic called The Albanians, about 11 metres high and 40 metres long, was completed in 1980 by five Albanian artists. In the style of Socialist realism, it shows 13 figures, from an Illyrian warrior to fighters from the time of Skanderbeg.

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