Albania
The City
Turkish monuments, Rome and Istanbul, Skënderberg Square, Mt. Dajti, Aulon, olive groves and vineyards, Apollonia and Orichum, fortress of Kanina, Ali Pasha Tepelena, Hohenstaufen, Sultan Sulejman, village of Kaniné, Ismail Qemali, Ottoman minarets, Italian architecture,
Tirana Travel Guide
Tirana is the capital of Albania, and the biggest city of the country. Still it is a small and compact place that is best explored on foot. Its architecture bears considerable influence of Italian as well as Turkish monuments, lying as it does exactly between Rome and Istanbul. The Skënderberg Square is a huge open space in the centre of the city while Mt. Dajti, at 5,030 ft, towers over the eastern side. Tirana is dotted by many museums.
This road goes from brand new to shaky along mountain passes, hairpin bends down to deserted beaches, miles and miles through olive groves, from Greek styled village to village. It is feasible to hitch hike all the way to Saranda in one day, but it is worth more time than that.
Vlora is proclaimed a hero city. It is an old city, where important
events in the struggles for freedom and independence have taken
place. In ancient times the city was known under the name of Aulon.
At the beginning it was only a port. Aulon was famous for its olive
groves and vineyards.
After the fall of Apollonia and Orichum, it became the principal port of Illyria.
In the fifth century Aulon was the centre of diocese. The emigrations of barbarians
damaged it badly and brought the withdrawal of the city deeper in land.
During the Middle Ages the city was fused into one with the fortress of Kanina, which is situated a few kilometres to the south east.
In 1081 Vlora was seized by the Normans and the German Hohenstaufens, and in 1272 incorporated into the kingdom of Arberia. In the fourteenth century, Byzantine armies visited it again, the Serbs as well as the feudal lords of the Balshas from north Albania.
In the fourteenth century, as it has passed to the Balshas, it became an important trading and handicraft centre noted apart from wines and salt, for its swords, its ships and its silk.
The invading Turks took it in 1417, and Sultan Sulejman - The Magnificent - built a fortress by the sea in 1531, which is believed to have been designed by the Ottoman architect - Sinan.
Worth a visit are in this context the village of Kaniné and ruins of the castle of Kaniné. It is said that as long as the village of Kaniné is saved, Vlora will be rebuilt. But the opposite will not happen.
By the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, Vlora had again become
an important economic centre and port. it was taken by Ali Pasha Tepelena
in 1812.
It was in Vlora that an Assembly was convened, which proclaimed Albania as an independent state, forming the first national government headed by Ismail Qemali on the 28th of November, 1912. At this time Vlora became the capital of the country. The government remained there until January, 1914.
Vlora was occupied by the Italian troops in 1914 during the first World War, but they were driven from the main land in 1920, by a volunteer army. Reoccupied by Italians in 1939, and by the Germans in 1943. Vlora was liberated in October l5, l944.
The 1992 elections in Albania ended 47 years of communist rule. The shaking off of the restrictive weight of the communist regime is expressed in the attitudes of freedom and fun found in the Albanian people. The untamed color schemes of the newly redecorated buildings here are a visual demonstration of this energetic rebirth. The oppression that stifled life here for years has been discarded and a "new lease on life" attitude is evident in this city. Tirana itself is an enticing mix of stern Soviet Bloc cement buildings, Ottoman minarets and 1930’s Italian architecture which juxtapose the wild color schemes of newer buildings, which have literally been redecorated by local artists. The religious buildings in Tirana are a wonderful mix of Christian and Muslim shrines, which speaks to its varied heritage and multi-cultural present. There is also a pulsing nightlife scene and Tirana is famous for its all night café culture.