TIRANA, June 19 – A new travel guide for foreign visitors to Tirana has been launched in English offering all information tourists need to know when visiting or staying in the Albanian capital. “Some history on Tirana, places and monuments that must be visited, hotels, restaurants, trade centres, cultural events, cinemas, theatres and a Tirana map are all included in the guidebook which has been made available to travel agencies and tour operators.
Speaking at a launch ceremony, Tirana Mayor Lulzim Basha expressed the determination of the municipality to invest in cultural heritage and historical objects left in oblivion since years but which are very attractive to tourists.
“With this guide, we are doing our duty to help travel agencies and tour operators organize the tourist itinerary of Tirana better. It is an itinerary which in the past couple of years has doubled by shedding light into the old foundations of the Tirana fortress, the mosaic of Tirana or other reference points such as the Eagle, the Independence, the Post-Bllok memorials and many other monuments inaugurated on the 100th anniversary of independence in 2012,” said Basha.
The Tirana Mayor says he expects the tourism industry in Tirana and the chain of businesses related to it to open up 20,000 jobs until 2015.
Tirana’s history and development
Tirana was established in 1614 by Sulejman Pasha from the village of Mullet. Firstly, he constructed a mosque, a bakery and a Turkish sauna.
However, the capital outskirts boast settlements and archeological heritage dating back from ancient times such as the Paleochristian basilica near Peza of the 3rd century (Durak village), and the 4th century basilica of Tirana or the Church of Kroi i Sh쯧jinit.
The Tirana district also has two fortresses, the 4th-century Petrela fortress and the 15th- century Preza fortress.
The center of Tirana was the project of Florestano de Fausto and Armando Brasini, well known architects of the Benito Mussolini period in Italy. The Royal Palace (Palace of the Brigades), the Town Hall, the government ministry buildings, and the National Bank are their work. D촨mor촠e Kombit (National Martyrs) Boulevard was built in 1930 and named “Zogu I Boulevard”.
Following the communist takeover in 1944, the capital city experienced a significant period of development. In terms of urbanization, the city witnessed the creation of socialist-styled apartment complexes and factories. In the 1960s, the historical identity of the city faced a critical moment as the central square was redesigned. As a result, a number of buildings of cultural and historical significance were demolished to make way for the formation of present-day Skanderbeg Square. The Old Bazaar used to be located near the modern Palace of Culture. The National Historical Museum was built on the grounds of the former building of the Municipality of Tirana, which was destroyed in the 1960s. The building that used to house the Parliament of Albania during King Zog’s reign was turned into a children’s theater and named the Dolls Theater.
Tirana experienced radical changes at the turn of the millennium. In 2000, a massive political campaign began to beautify and to liberate public space, which was previously occupied by illegal commercial establishments. The campaign, called Return to Identity, included the transformation of river banks, of parks, and of other public structures to their state before 1990.
