ALBANIA - TIRANA
SIGHTSEEING
The center of the city is Scanderbeg Square, with the government
buildings and the 18th-century mosque of Etchem Bey. The bazaar and the
mosque of Sulayman Pasha are nearby. The city has a university (founded
1957) and the institute of sciences of Albania. The population of Tiranë
is mostly Muslim.
Most visitors to Tirana begin at Skënderberg Square, a great open space
in the heart of the city. Mt Dajti, 1612m (5030ft) rises to the east,
and the market on that side of town is well worth exploring.
The first regulatory plan of the city was compiled in 1923 by Estef
Frashëri. Durrësi Street was opened in 1922, and was called Nana
Mbretneshë (Mother Queen). Many houses and surrounding properties were
demolished to make way for it. The existing parliamentary building was
raised in 1924, and first served as a club for officers. It was there,
in September 1928, that Ahmet Zogu proclaimed the monarchy.
The centre of Tirana was the project of Florestano de Fausto and Armando
Brasini, well known architects of the Mussolini period in Italy. The
Palace of Brigades (of the former monarch), the ministries buildings,
the National Bank and the Municipality are their work.
The Dëshmoret e Kombit (National Martyrs) Boulevard was built in 1930
and given the name Zogu I Boulevard. In the communist period, the part
from Skënderbej Square up to the train station was named Stalin
Boulevard.
The National Museum of History is the largest and finest museum in
Albania, and you'll find it next to the 15 storey Tirana International
Hotel, the tallest building in the country. A huge mosaic mural entitled
Albania covers the façade of the building. To the east, the Palace of
Culture has a theatre, restaurant, cafes and art galleries, and the
Soviet influence is apparent in its clunky architecture. The entrance to
the National Library is on the southern side of the building. The Palace
of Culture (Pallati I Kulturës), where the Theatre of Operas and Ballet
and the National Library stand, was completed in 1963 on the site of the
former Trade of Tirana building, with the first brick being placed by
Soviet president Nikita Hrushov in 1959. The monument to Skënderbeu,
raised in 1968, is the work of Odhise Paskali in collaboration with
Andrea Mana and Janaq Paço. It commemorated the 500th anniversary of the
death of the national hero.
Opposite that is the cupola and minaret of the Mosque of Ethem Bey, one
of the city's most distinctive buildings. The construction, by the best
artisans in the country, of the mosque in the centre of Tirana was begun
in in 1789 by Molla Beu of Petrela (a locale in Albania). It was
finished in 1821 by his son, who was also Sulejman Pasha’s grand-nephew.
The Clock Tower was started by Haxhi Et’hem Beu around 1821-22, and was
finished with the help of the richest families of Tirana. Its
installation was the work of the Tufina family. In 1928 the Albanian
state bought a modern clock in Germany, and the tower was raised to a
height of 35 metres. The clock was damaged during World War II, but was
restored to full function in July 1946.
The monument to Mother Theresa, 12 metres high, was inaugurated in the
Dëshmoret e Kombit cemetery in 1971.