Tirana @ a abdat

Tirana is the capital and largest city of Albania. It is located in the centre of the country, enclosed by mountains and hills, with Dajti rising to the east and a slight valley to the northwest overlooking the Adriatic Sea in the distance. It is among the wettest and sunniest cities in Europe, with 2,544 hours of sun per year. Tirana was founded in 1614 by Ottoman Albanian general Sylejman Pasha Bargjini, centered on the Old Mosque and türbe. The site of present-day Tirana has been continuously inhabited since the Iron Age and was likely the core of the Illyrian kingdom of the Taulantii. Lively Tirana has come a long way from its grey, communist era (1944 to 1991). The Albanian capital is bursting with colour, from parks and thoroughfares flourishing with foliage to apartment buildings painted in vibrant hues. Busy traffic rolls past captivating mosque minarets and dome churches, as Tirana's chic locals stroll through clean, safe streets to sprawling patios for an espresso, raki (fruit brandy) or fancy cocktail in the dapper Blloku neighbourhood. Look at the skyscrapers popping up everywhere, especially around the shiny new Skanderbeg Sq, for more evidence that this aspiring European Union capital is on the rise. Tirana is home to a mixture of architectural styles reflecting the influential periods in its history. Its current appearance was considerably shaped by two totalitarian regimes, once by the fascist regime of Benito Mussolini during the Second World War and the regime of Enver Hoxha in the aftermath. The Palace of Brigades, the ministries buildings, the government building and the municipality hall are designed by Florestano Di Fausto and Armando Brasini, both well-known architects of the Mussolini period in Italy. The Dëshmorët e Kombit Boulevard was built in 1930 and given the name King Zog I Boulevard. In the 20th century, the part from Skanderbeg Square up to the train station was named Stalin Boulevard. The Royal Palace or Palace of Brigades previously served as the official residence of King Zog I. It has been used by different Albanian governments for various purposes. Because of the outbreak of World War II, and the 1939 Italian invasion of Albania, Zog I fled Albania and never had a chance to see the Palace fully constructed. The Italians finished it and used it as the Army Headquarters. In the 21st century, Tirana turned into a proper modernist city, with large blocks of flats, modern new buildings, new shopping centres and many green spaces. Albania had most of its infrastructure destroyed by fascist Italy during World War Il and had a self-anointed monarch before that. Enver Hoxha went on to rule Albania with an iron fist until his death in 1985 due to natural causes at the age of 76. Born in Gjirokastra and a former teacher, 34-year-old Hoxha was 'elected' in March 1943 in a contest with no challengers. Six years later, student-led protests erupting from Shkodra and Tirana toppled the communist regime in favour of the parliamentary democracy it is today. It's hard to conclude with exact numbers, but around 30,000 people were held as political prisoners and between 6000 and 25,000 were executed. To stifle dissent, paranoid Hoxha used a vast network of spies, brutal prisons throughout the country, rigid border security and torture. Some of these inhumane practices were coordinated from the House of Leaves, a former obstetrics hospital turned into an interrogation (read: torture) centre. Named after the dense trees that obscure it from the busy street, the House of Leaves is now a sombre museum highlighting the extent of communist spying.