TIRANA, July 26 – More than 100 foreign tourists have been taken to the Sazan Island to visit the once-isolated place of the former communist military in Albania.
Last weekend, Albanian authorities opened this tourist spot, a former military base some 20 kilometers from the coastal town of Vlora, to local and foreign tourists.
Some 270 visitors were there during the first two days, authorities said.
The island’s many trenches and tunnels show how much money the once cash-strapped communist government spent fearing a Western invasion.
But now they’re hoping Westerners will come, both to see Sazan and the country’s other attractions — unspoiled beaches, tall mountains and history going back to ancient Greece.
Tourism is now only 4.8 percent of Albania’s GDP, and most current tourists are either Albanian migrants visiting from Greece and Italy, or ethnic Albanians from neighboring Kosovo, Macedonia or Montenegro.
In addition to its military history, Sazan is also home to rare birds and reptiles, with temperatures a pleasant 10 to 25C year-round.
Half the island’s shore is accessible only from the water, due to high rocks on land, but officials think it will be an appealing place for activities like bird-watching and diving. Sazan’s biodiversity, landscape and heritage are unusual for the Mediterranean.
Walking uphill on a mile-long pathway through pine trees and singing birds, many of the 3,600 one-man bunkers can still be seen dotting the hills, often in the shade of wild fig trees. It’s not easy getting inside the bunkers though: They’re still guarded — by lizards and the occasional snake.
Inland, the spooky, ruined buildings still contain old beds, kitchen utensils, school benches and chairs. More than 3,000 troops lived here at a time, with enough food, ammunition and fuel to sustain them for six months.
Due to lack of maintenance, roofs have collapsed on a tailor’s building and small battery factory. But much of the destruction occurred in the last 25 years, since Albania became democratic.
The now-empty ammunition and fuel depots were looted in 1997, when turmoil followed the collapse of pyramid investment schemes that bankrupted Europe’s poorest population.
More recently a cinema and former command building were destroyed as targets for joint military exercises with British troops.
The Italian army was stationed here in the 1930s; Italian floor tiles can still be seen in some places. Another interesting spot is a small separate villa, with old equipment that served to monitor movements of U.S. and Italian ships, especially during the 1950s and 1960s when Albania was close to the then-Soviet Union. And hidden among the pine trees on a hill is the villa of a communist defense minister, Beqir Balluku, who was executed by late communist dictator Enver Hoxha as part of a purge.
The National Coastal Agency is preparing a regulation on the visitors. The revenue collected from them will be used to manage the island and also try to launch an international school or research center for underwater and coastal heritage there.
Located on the Strait of Otranto linking the Adriatic and Ionian seas, the island is a half-hour by speedboat from Vlora, 140 kilometers south west of the capital Tirana. A daily boat shuttle runs from Vlora.
