Tirana ( ) is the capital and largest city of the Republic
of Albania
. It
was founded in 1614 by
Sulejman Pasha
and became Albania's capital city in 1920.
The Municipality of
Tirana lies on the river Ishëm
, about inland and is located at (41.33°N, 19.82°E)
in Tirana
District
, Tirana County
. Tirana's average altitude is above sea
level and its highest point measures 1,828 m at
Mali me Gropa.
In addition, there are two main rivers
that run through the city: the Lanë
and the
Tiranë
. The city also contains a total of four
artificial lakes: Tirana Lake, Kodër-Kamëz Lake, Farka Lake, and
Tufina Lake. The city is on the same parallel as Naples, Madrid and
Istanbul and on the same
meridian as Budapest and Krakow.
History
Early period to 1418
The area
now occupied by the city of Tirana has been populated since
Paleolithic times dating back 30,000 to
10,000 years ago as some tools were found near Mount Dajt
's quarry terrain, as well as inside the Cave of the Pellumba. It can be said that
Tirana's
precincts are one of the earliest
regions in Albania to be inhabited. Various
remains discovered in
fortresses,
churches,
villages and during
urban constructions in and around Tirana, give
evidence to a continuous activity throughout the chronological
stages of
human development. The oldest
discovery in the area of Tirana has been a mosaic with several
other remains of buildings of the later antiquity, found at the
Kroi i Shengjinit (Fountain of Shengjin), near a Medieval temple. A
castle, possibly called
Tirkan, was built by Emperor
Justinian in 520
AD
and restored by Ahmed Pasha Toptani in the 18th century. The area
had no especial importance in
Illyrian and
Classical times.
There were medieval
settlements in the area at Prezë
, Ndroq
, Lalmë and
Petrelë
Castle. In 1418,
Marin Barleti,
an Albanian
Catholic priest and scholar, the first to write The History of
Albania, in a Venetian document of "
Plenum Tyrenae",
referred to this area as a small village. There are references to
"
Tirana e Madhe" and "
Tirana e Vogël" (Greater
and Smaller Tirana).
Under Ottoman rule
The records of the first land registrations under the
Ottomans in 1431-32 show that Tirana
consisted of 60 inhabited areas, with nearly 2,028 houses and 7,300
inhabitants. The 1583 census records show that Tirana had 110
inhabited areas, with 2,900 houses and 20,000 inhabitants.
Süleiman Pasha Mulleti (or
Sulejman Pashë
Bargjini), a local ruler, established the Ottoman town in 1614
with a
mosque, a commercial centre and a
hammam (Turkish sauna). The town was located
along
caravan routes and grew rapidly in
importance until the early 19th century.
During
this period, the mosque in the centre of
Tirana, the Et'hem Bey
Mosque
designed by Molla Bey of Petrela, began to be
constructed. It employed the best
artisans in the country and was completed in 1821
by Molla's son, who was also Sulejman Pasha's grandnephew. In 1800,
the first new comers arrived in the
settlement, the so-called
ortodoksit.
They were Vlachs from
villages of Korçë
and Pogradec
who settled around the area of today's Artificial
Lake of Tirana. Later, they started to be known as the
llacifac and were the first
christians to arrive after the foundation of the
town. In 1807, Tirana became the center of the Sub-Prefecture of
Krujë-Tirana.
After 1816, Tirana languished under the
control of the Toptani family of Krujë
. In
1865, Tirana became a Sub-Prefecture of the newly created
Vilayet of Shkodër and Sanjak of
Durrës. The
Albanian language
started to be taught in Tirana's schools in 1889. The patriotic
club "Bashkimi" was founded in 1908 while on 26 November 1912, the
national flag was raised in agreement with
Ismail Qemali. During the
Balkan Wars, the town was temporarily occupied
by the Serbian army, and in 1914-15, it took part in uprising of
the villages lead by Haxhi Qamili.
.jpg/230px-Bazar_Tirana_(ca._1900).jpg)
Tirana's Bazaar seen in a postcard of
1902.
As a capital city
On February 8, 1920, Tirana was chosen as the temporary capital of
Albania, which had acquired independence in 1912, by the Congress
of Lushnja. The city retained that status permanently on December
31, 1925.
From 1920 to 1924 Tirana experienced attacks
from the army of the Kingdom of
Serbs, Croats and Slovenes
and the forces of Zogu at the Shkalla e Tujanit
(Step of Tujan). The first regulatory plan of the city was
compiled in 1923 by Eshref Frashëri, and completed by the
Geographic Institute of Florence. Durrës Street was opened in 1922
and called
Nana Mbretneshë (Mother Queen). Many houses and
surrounding properties were demolished to make way for it. In 1924,
Tirana was the center of the Revolution of June lead by
Fan S. Noli.
Since
1925, when they were banned in Turkey
, the
Bektashis, an order of dervishes who take their name from Haji Bektash, a Sufi saint
of the 13th and 14th centuries, made Tirana their primary
settlement. The city was the venue where the Pact of Tirana
was signed. The existing parliamentary building was raised in 1924
and first served as a club for officers. It was there, in September
1928, that
King Zog I was crowned
King.
Monarchy and World War II
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.
Dëshmorët e Kombit (National
Martyrs) Boulevard was built in 1930 and named "Zogu
I Boulevard". In the communist period, the part from Skanderbeg
Square up to the train station was named "
Stalin Boulevard". In 1939, Tirana was
captured by Fascist forces. In November 1941,
Enver Hoxha with other Albanian communists
founded the
Communist Party
of Albania. The town became the center of the Albanian
communists' in mobilizing the people of Tirana to fight against the
Italian
fascists and later Nazi Germans,
while spreading ideological
propaganda.
The town was liberated after a fierce battle between the Communists
and the people of Tirana against the German forces, on November 17,
1944. The
Nazis eventually withdrew and the
communists seized power.
Under communist rule
The former building of Tirana's
Municipality.
Following the coming to power of the communists, the city
experienced a significant period of development in every aspect. On
the urbanization field, the city saw the creation of
socialist styled
apartment complexes, and factories. In the 60s,
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
modern day Skanderbeg Square. In the place of today's "Hotel Tirana
International" building used to be established the
Autocephalus Orthodox Cathedral, the biggest in the country. Near the
grounds of today's Opera house at the Palace of Culture used to be
the Old
Bazaar (
Pazari i Vjetër).
The National Historic Museum is built on the grounds of the former
building of the Municipality of Tirana, which was demolished in the
60s.
The
first structure which used to house the Parliament
of Albania
in King Zog's period, was
turned into a children's theater and named the Dolls' Theater
(Teatri i Kukullave).
In the political aspect, the city was visited by a number of
important political figures.
In 1959, Soviet
president
Nikita Khruschev visited Tirana,
and while in the capital took the opportunity to lay the first
brick on the foundations of the new Palace of Culture.
In 1964,
the Premier of the People's Republic of China
, Zhou Enlai met with
Enver Hoxha upon his arrival. In 1984, the city was
visited by the Minister-President of the German state of Bavaria
Franz Josef
Strauss. Tirana served as the venue upon which the
ceremony of death of the
First Secretary of
the Albanian Party of Labour took place, in 1985.
Four years later, in
1989, Oskar Fischer, Minister for Foreign Matters of the German
Democratic Republic
visited Tirana.
The transition period
Lana river after the rebirth
New Pedestrian Bridge in Tirana
The post communist period is described to have been the worst one
in terms of the urban development of the city. Tirana experienced a
chaotic development as
high rise buildings
started to be constructed without planning, and
illegal structures rose on public areas. New
informal districts started to form around the city as internal
migrants gathered from around the
country.
The rebirth
Tirana saw a radical change at the turn of the millennium.
Beginning in the year 2000, Tirana's Municipality undertook a
massive
political campaign to
return public space to the general public. The campaign called
"Return to Identity" included the transformation of Lana River
banks, Rinia Park and others to their pre-1990 state. The overall
infrastructure has improved as
considerable number of roads have been reconstructed. Common spaces
between apartment buildings have been targeted by a subsequent
campaign in bringing back green spaces and a vast number of illegal
buildings have been demolished. It is observered that some existing
green spaces are used for the construction of skyscrapers and
multi-functional centers. Apartment buildings are being built on
grounds of former residential houses.Tirana's mayor,
Edi Rama, has led an initiative to paint the
façades of Tirana's buildings in bright
colours, although interiors of those building are still falling
into ruins.
There are future regulatory and building plans for Tirana. Some of
them include: Skanderbeg's Square Rehabilitation, The Zone of the
Lake, Priority Zone "E", etc.
Demographics
Tirana's expansion from 1990 to
2005.
As of September 2008, the city's urban population was officially
estimated at 616,396.
In 1703, Tirana had about 4,000 inhabitants and by 1820 the number
tripled to 12,000. The first
census,
conducted in 1923 (a few years after Tirana became
capital city of Albania) showed a total
population of 10,845.
During the 1950s, Tirana experienced rapid industrial growth, and
the population increased to about 137,000 by 1960.
After the end of
communist
rule in 1991, Tirana experienced its fastest population growth
as people from
rural areas moved to the
capital in search of a better life. In 1990, Tirana had 250,000
inhabitants, but the large-scale influx since then from other parts
of the country has increased the population to well over
800,000.
Below is a detailed account of population development of Tirana
through the years:
Tirana's development through the years
| Year |
Area
(km²) |
Population
(inside city limits at that time) |
Notes |
| 1431-32 |
|
7,300 |
First land registration under Ottoman Empire |
| 1583 |
|
20,000 |
Census of region of Tirana |
| 1703 |
|
4,000 |
|
| 1820 |
|
12,000 |
|
| 1901 |
|
15,000 |
|
| 1923 |
|
10,845 |
First census of population |
| 1930 |
8.0 |
25,079 |
|
| 1937 |
5.0 |
35,000 |
|
| 1945 |
|
59,900 |
1957 Regulatory Plan statistics |
| 1950 |
10.6 |
|
|
| 1955 |
|
108,200 |
1957 Regulatory Plan statistics |
| 1970 |
31.0 |
180,000 |
From the academic journal, Studime Historike |
| 1985 |
15.4 |
200,000 |
|
| 1989 |
|
277,567 |
1989 National Census of Tirana County |
| 2001 |
|
610,000 |
2001 National Census of Tirana County |
| 2008 |
41.8 |
726.547 |
Civil Status Office of Tirana |
| The data refers to the numbers published on
the official website of the Municipality of Tirana and
INSTAT. |
Health
The largest hospital in Tirana is called Mother Theresa Hospital
(
Qëndra Spitalore Universitare Nënë Tereza), which is
associated with University of Tirana, Faculty of Medicine. The
Hospital is a 1,456-bed facility that offers comprehensive
inpatient tertiary care to over 12,000 patients annually. The
hospital is currently undergoing major changes in infrastructure
and equipment.
Climate
Tirana has a generally
Mediterranean climate. The average
temperature varies from a low of 2°C in January to a high of 31°C
in July and August which are also the driest months, each with
around 3 cm of precipitation on average. The wettest months
are November, and December averaging around 19 cm. Snow is
very rare, but negative temperatures have been registered in
Tirana.
Culture
"Taivani" one of Tirana's most modern
and frequented restaurants.
Dajti Mountain overlooking Tirana
Petrela Castle near Tirana.
National Historical Museum.
- For a detailed list, see Landmarks section below.
The main
cultural and
artistic institutions of Tirana are the National
Theater, the Theater of Opera and Ballet, the National Gallery of
the Arts (
Galeria Kombëtare e Arteve), and the Ensemble of
Folk Music and Dances. Another cultural event includes performances
of renown world
composers performed by the
Symphonic Orchestra of the
Albanian Radio and Television.
The city has been a venue for the Tirana Biennale and Tirana Jazz
Festival.
Tirana is home to historical and cultural sites:
- Castle/Fortress of Tirana (Kalaja e
Tiranës), the historical core of the capital
- Church of Kroi of Shëngjin
(Kisha e Kroit të Shëngjinit)
- Prezë Castle/Fortress (Kalaja e
Prezës)
- Petrela Castle/Fortress (Kalaja e
Petrelës)
- Tirana's Mosque of Et'hem Bej (Xhamia e Tiranës)
- The Center of Tirana, as a monumental ensemble,
- The Bridge of Tobaccoes (Ura e Tabakëve),
- Kapllan Pasha's Grave (Varri i Kapllan Pashës)
- The Clock Tower (Kulla e Sahatit)
Tirana has 8 public
libraries, one being the
National Library of Albania (
Biblioteka Kombëtare), 5
museum-houses and 56 cultural
monuments.
Education
Tirana is
host to the University of Tirana
, Polytechnic University of
Tirana, Agricultural University, Academy of Physical Education
and Sports, national and international academic research
institutions, as well as NGO.
Tirana has seen the creation of a vast number of private academic
institutions. They include
University of New York,
Tirana, Luarasi University, Zoja e Këshillit të Mirë,
Academy of Film and Multimedia "Marubi",
and many others.
Additional public academic institutions include the Academy of the
Arts, Academy of the Sciences, Military Academy and the Institute
of the Ministry of the Interior.
Districts
The Municipality of Tirana is divided into 11 smaller
administrative units referred to as
Njësi Bashkiake
(Municipal Units). These are made up of their own mayor and
council, and sometimes are also known as
Mini-Bashki
(Mini-Municipality).
In 2000,
the centre of Tirana, from the central campus of Tirana
University
up to Skanderbeg Square was declared the place of
Cultural Assembly, and given special claims to state
protection. In the same year, the area began a process of
restoration under the name ‘Return to Identity’. The area to the
west of the university, adjacent to
Shën Prokopi Park, was
formerly reserved for the occupation of important government and
party officials. It remains a desirable residential area.
Economy
Tirana is Albania's major
industrial
centre. It has experienced rapid growth and established many new
industries since the 1920s. The principal industries include
agricultural products and machinery,
textiles,
pharmaceuticals, and metal products.
Tirana began to develop in the beginning of the 16th century, when
a bazaar was established, and its craftsmen manufactured silk and
cotton fabrics, leather, ceramics and iron, silver, and gold
artifacts.
Sited in a fertile plain, the Tirana area
exported 2,600 barrels of olive oil and
14,000 packages of tobacco to Venice
by
1769. In 1901, it had 140,000 olive trees, 400 oil mills,
and 700 shops. The Tid tower at 85 meters is being constructed in
the city. It will redefine architecture in Albania.
Environment
The city suffers from problems related to
overpopulation, such as
waste management, lack of running water and
electricity as well as extremely high levels of
air pollution from the 300,000 cars moving
around the city. The problem is exacerbated by aging
infrastructure. Despite the problems, Tirana has also experienced a
very rapid growth in the construction of new buildings.In recent
years pollution has worsened as the number of cars has increased by
several orders of magnitude. These are mostly older, diesel cars
that pollute much more than the newer models in circulation
elsewhere in Europe. Additionally, most of the fuel used in Albania
contains larger amounts of
sulfur and
lead than that allowed in
European Union countries. In recent years
pollution from construction has become a major concern for the
inhabitants of the city. Another peril to the city comes from
untreated
solid waste. Saint Prokopi
Park, a vast forested park in the outskirts of the city, has some
effect on absorbing CO
2 emissions. Tirana is cleaned by
government workers everyday, and trees have been planted around
many sidewalks. Mayor Edi Rama has promised that he will plant
100,000 more trees in Tirana. He has claimed that by 2012-2014
Tirana will have the cleanest air in the Balkans. This will
increase Albania's life expectancy. So far over 2000 trees have
been planted.
Media
Tirana is
the central media hub of Albania.
The city
is home to the headquarters of the
Albanian Radio and Television (RTSH), Albania's
public broadcaster, and national commercial broadcasters such as
Top
Channel
and TV Klan. Numerous
radio stations operate in the capital, the
most notable being
Radio Tirana,
followed by commercial Top Albania Radio and
Plus 2 Radio.Tirana is home to the
publication of a vast number of
dailies:
Shqip,
Zëri i Popullit, Shekulli, Gazeta
Shqiptare and Koha Jonë being the most famous.
Notable people
Below are some of the most notable personalities born in Tirana:
Sports
Tirana is the major centre for sport in Albania. Tirana's football
clubs are the biggest in Albania.Tirana has two stadiums,
Qemal
Stafa stadium with a capacity of 20,000 people. This is the
main and biggest stadium in Albania. The second stadium is
Selman Stermasi stadium which can hold 11,000 people.The
Tirana sportive infrastructure is developing fast because of
Municipality and MTKRS investments.From 2007 Tirana Municipality
has build up to 80 sport gardens in most of Tirana
neighbourhoods.
Transport
SH 2 - Tirana's Overpass from Durrës
Municipal, national and international transport links have
developed over recent years as demand has increased.
Until recent years,
overland connections through Greece
and Montenegro
have had various problems with bureaucracy or
security. The following section is liable to change and is
only indicative.
Bus
Local transport within Tirana is by bus or taxi. Coach and minibus
services run, according to demand, to the coast and northern and
southern Albania from different locations in Tirana.
International coach
services connect to Greece, via Korçë and then
taxis to the border, to Kosovo
, and to the
Republic of
Macedonia
.
Rail
There are
regular passenger services to Durrës
and Pogradec, via Elbasan
. The railway station is north of Skanderbeg
Square, in Boulevard Zogu I.
There are no international passenger
services, although there is a freight-only railway through Shkodër
to Montenegro (though this is currently disused).
Air
Tirana International Airport Nënë
Tereza
(Mother Theresa in Albanian), also known
as Rinas Airport, was reconstructed in 2007. It is located
15 kilometres northwest of the city, off the road to Durrës.
Airlines using Rinas include
Albanian
Airlines.
Flights run to Athens
, New York
(seasonal charter), Rimini
, Bari
, Genoa
, Rome
, Bologna
, Munich
, Frankfurt
, Istanbul
, Vienna
among other
places. It is one of the biggest airports in the
region.
Several
foreign airlines also serve Rinas Airport: Alitalia (from Rome and Milan
), British Airways (from London
Gatwick Airport
), Austrian
Airlines (from Vienna), Adria
Airways (Ljubljana
), Jat Airways (Belgrade
), Malev (Budapest
), Olympic Air (Athens), Hemus Air (Sofia
) and
Turkish Airlines (Istanbul). In summer there is a direct charter flight
from JFK
, New
York
.
Sea
Tirana does not have a port of its own.
However, the port
city of Durrës is no more
than half an hour away from the capital. Passenger ferries
from Durrës sail to Trieste
, Ancona, Otranto, Bari, Lecce, Genova (Italy)
Zadar, Dubrovnik (Croatia), Maribor, Koper
(Slovenia), Gdansk (Poland), Bar (Montenegro), Corfu (Greece),
etc.
Landmarks
"The Albanians" a mosaic on the façade of the National Historical
Museum
- Skanderbeg Square: the central hub of the city, named after the
Albanian hero, Skanderbeg.
- Et'hem Bey Mosque: at the south east corner of Skanderbeg Square -
begun in 1789 by Molla Bey and finished in 1821 by his son, Haxhi
Et'hem Bey, great-grandson of Sulejman Pasha.
- The Clock Tower (Kulla e Sahatit) next to the Et'hem
Bey Mosque, was started by Haxhi Et’hem Bej around 1821-22 and was
finished with the help of the richest families of Tirana. Its
installation was the work of the Tufina family. In 1928 the
Albanian state bought a modern German clock and the tower was
raised to a height of 35 metres. The clock was damaged during World
War II and it was repaired in July 1946.
- Government buildings: at the south end of Skanderbeg
Square
- National Historic Museum: north side of Skanderbeg Square
- The headquarters of the Bektashi Sufi
Order can be found in the eastern edge of the city.
- Roman Catholic Church of Saint Paul: completed in 2001, the
largest church in Tirana.
- Orthodox Church of St Prokop was built in 1780.
- Roman Catholic Church of Saint Maria was built in 1865, paid
for by Emperor Franz Joseph of
Austria.
- The Tabakëve and Terzive bridges
(respectively in front of the Parliament building and on Elbasani
Street) date from the beginning of the 20th century.
- The mosque that is also the tomb of Kapllan Hysa, near the
monument to Ushtari i Panjohur (‘the unknown soldier’) was built in
1816.
- The National Library was established in 1922, with 5000
volumes.
- The Fortress or Castle of Petrela, 12 kilometres from Tirana,
dates from the fourth century BC. It took its current form in the
13th century, under the rule of the Topiaj family, and later became
the property of the Kastrioti family.
- The Palace of Culture (Pallati i Kulturës), where the
Theatre of Opera and Ballet and the National Library stand, was
completed in 1963 on the site of the former Trade of Tirana
building, with the first brick being placed by Soviet president
Nikita Khruschev in 1959.
- The monument to Skënderbeu (Skanderbeg), raised in
1968, is the work of Odhise Paskali in collaboration with Andrea
Mana and Janaq Paço. It commemorated the 500th anniversary of the
death of the national hero.
- The monument to Mother Albania,
12 metres high, was inaugurated in the Dëshmoret e Kombit (Martyrs
of the Nation) cemetery in 1971.
- The Academy of Sciences building was completed in April 1972.
The building housed the first Albanian Parliament, and is depicted
on the reverse of the Albanian
100 lekë banknote issued in 1996.
- The Gallery of Figurative Arts was created in 1976 and includes
around 3200 works by Albanian and foreign artists.
- The International Center of Culture, formerly the Enver Hoxha Museum, was inaugurated in 1988.
Popularly referred to as ‘the Pyramid’, it was designed by a group
of architects under the direction of the dictator's daughter,
Pranvera Hoxha, and her husband
Klement Kolaneci.
- The National Historical Museum was built in 1981. The
ornamental mosaic on its facade is called "The Albanians".
- The presidential palace, Tirana, also known as the Palace of
Brigades, was built by King Zog as his residence in the 1930s.
International relations
Twin towns — Sister cities
Tirana is
twinned with:
See also
References and notes
References:
Notes:
External links
.JPG/180px-Tirana's_Overpass_From_Durres_(1).JPG)
Top topics
Wikis
Quiz
Map
Search
