88 Monuments of culture await the tourists this season

Throughout the whole country, there are 88 monuments of culture which can be seen by foreign and Albanian tourists during the newly opened tourist season. An official sources says that the Ministry of Tourism, Culture, the Youth and Sports views cultural heritage as on of the most important fields , which during 2008 is expected to be a lead potential in the growth of Albania’s economic potential.
During 2007, work continued intensively on the High School for Restoration in Tirana, the completion of the final draft of the file to proclaim Berat a Value of World Culktural Heritage, under the protection of UNESCO; on the draft of the Five Year Master Plan to restore the Museum city of Gjirokastra, on the drafts of restoration projects to restore two streets in the Historical Center of Shkodra. Last year 25 objects of art and 35 monuments of culture were restored completely. It’s also reported that the Ministry prepared relevant materials for the protection of another 231 monuments of culture, which had been totally neglected. One of these objects is the restoration of the fund of icons at the National Museum of Medieval Art in Korca, in cooperation with Italian experts and the enforcement of the law against illegal constructions on the sites of monuments.(Tirana Times Staff)