in the space of just 30 years the capital of albania has gone from being one of the
poorest and most secretive cities in europe to one of the most vibrant youthful and colorful.
it really is an astonishing transformation, so come with me on a tour of tirana - there'll be
pyramids bunkers mosques murals and of course plenty of cafes!
you know skanderbeg square is a wonderful place to see tirana coming to life in the
morning with cyclists families students and commuters all crisscrossing from every angle,
it really is the beating heart of this city. to understand tirana today you have to understand
albania's history. after centuries of ottoman rule the 20th century was particularly traumatic
for albania. it began with the first and second balkan wars then an invasion from greece, in the
20s the repressive regime of king zog, italian influence became italian occupation in 1938
only to be followed quickly by German occupation. the albanian nationalists and partisans fought
each other and the germans with the partisans eventually emerging victorious but this was a
short-lived victory as it ushered in the era of Enver hoxha a stalinist dictator who repressed
his people with a brutal form of communism that left even the soviet union and china surprised.
the country became in effect a european version of north korea, the secret police spied on everybody
there were bunkers all over the country to protect it from potential invasion and its population
were not allowed to leave. it wasn't until the fall of the berlin wall that albanians rose up
and grasped their freedom. in 1992 the communist regime was ousted. however it hasn't all been
plain sailing since the fall of communism, in the late 1990s the country had to contend with the war
in neighboring kosovo and also riots following a financial crash but the country managed to
bounce back again and now in the 21st century you only have to spend a small amount of time
here in tirana to know that this city and this nation are really moving forward with confidence.
of course Enver Hoxha and the party faithful lived in luxury here in the district called the block.
back then it was heavily guarded nowadays it's known as the district for nightlife bars and
cafes - he'd have hated that! so what kind of architecture can you find here in tirana well
there are one or two ottoman relics like here at the tanner's bridge then you can find some grand
1930s italian pieces like at mother teresa square, of course there's plenty of communist concrete
some in its original colours but most of it in post-revolution technicolor there's a lot of
1990s and then 21st century cutting edge there are cranes everywhere there's so much building going
on, and then also the revival of classic islamic architecture in the shape of the huge new mosque.
there's very little ottoman architecture left in tirana so we have to be very grateful for the
18th century mosque of et'hem bey which stands in the corner of skanderbeg square the interior
is adorned with the most intricate frescoes and this indeed was part of a much larger complex
at the time including a bazaar and also the clock tower which is the only other part that remains.
we're very lucky to have it because during the brutal regime of Hoxha he declared albania to
be an atheist state and many of the mosques were destroyed. worshipping was of course
completely outlawed during those times. thankfully the mosque is now open again.
tirana's pyramid was designed by the daughter and son-in-law of the dictator Enver Hoxha and was
supposed to be his mausoleum where for decades to come albanians would pay their respects
but Hoxha forgot that very few dictators are loved after they die and in fact very few are loved even
whilst they're alive. it's been derelict for many years but it's great to see that it's
finally being redeveloped into a building that the locals can truly be proud of and embrace
tell you what while i go and get a coffee you go and do some sightseeing
this is probably the coolest cafe in the city, full-on albanian retro!
Enver Hoxha didn't just build pillboxes and bunkers all over the countryside
he built them here in tirana too nowadays
it's open as a museum and an art gallery and i've really been looking forward to exploring it
as you descend further into the bunker it becomes more heartbreaking, more harrowing,
to see how one evil man and his regime kept an entire nation in chains for 45 years.
the country was a giant prison almost a thousand people died just trying to cross the border and
almost nobody could come in. it was the epitome of a hermit kingdom closing in on itself with no
friends at all, and then prison camps within the greater prison holding thousands upon
thousands of so-called political prisoners, those that weren't executed. if there was
ever a work of art that demonstrated why brutal dictatorships must fail then this is surely it.
i'll leave the final word to mother teresa herself
tirana's museum of leaves opposite the orthodox cathedral sounds like a relaxing incursion into
nature but it's not, it's far more sinister than that, the leaves refer to the millions
upon millions of sheets of paper collected by the former secret police the sigurimi
on virtually every single member of the albanian population during the communist regime
the odo restaurant serves traditional albanian cuisine
in very large portions, i'm going to have to go for a long long walk!
my accommodation here in tirana is the sarotel which i highly recommend, friendly service,
centrally located and extremely good value for money. tirana seems to be
changing very very quickly there is there's construction everywhere - yes last five or
six years i can say there has been a lot of changes regarding the the new flats new buildings
regarding new streets the new director of government of tirana he has made a lot of changes
with new ideas the new olympic park of tirana we have new areas where we can go with our families.
do you think the image of tirana is changing? are more tourists from abroad now coming?
yes the number of tourists year by year is growing up so that's very
important for us 80 percent of economy of albania i can say that is by tourism. i've
also noticed that most albanians like you speak excellent English! thank you thank you very much
i think the self-proclaimed lord of albania must be very pleased to see how his young nation
is now flourishing in the 21st century. that's all from tirana. it's a city that's exceeded
all of my expectations it's not afraid to look back
on its difficult history but it's really looking forward, plus it's got a fantastic cafe culture.
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