Tirana is the capital city of Albania. There are o lot of places that you can visit in there. Of course that based in the interest of everyone there different options. If you come here for the first time you should begin from the center part and then see other parts.
1. First of all the center part include Skanderbeg Square and the monument of Skanderbeg. From there the roads to other part of the city, just radiate out. The beautiful view of this square and the roads radiating out of it are seen even in the google maps or other maps online. Nearby there is also the Lana River that passes between two important roads.
2. National History Museum of Albania is just nearby and is recognizable from its mosaic on the front which face Skanderbeg Square. The Museum date its opening on 28 October 1981 and above it has the mosaic. The large mural mosaic is titled ‘The Albanians’ and it describes ancient to modern figures of Albanian history.
Inside the museum there are included 8 pavilions, as following:
– The Pavilion of Antiquity, is one of the richest with about 500 or more objects that are very important for the history of the country.
– The pavilion of Middle Ages, offers o lot for visitors. In there visitors have access of the economic, cultural, political and social development of Albania.
– The Renaissance pavilion is very rich in original objects such as documents, books, photographs, banknotes, weapons, national flags and other cultural objects. These are unique objects to the national History and culture of Albanians through mid-19th century till 1912.
– The Independence pavilion is the one that reflect historical moments after the Declaration of Independence in 1912 until 1939. Also in the area of this pavilion there is the corner dedicated to the patriotic contributions of F. Noli.
– The Albanian Iconography pavilion has a 70 items collection of the Post-Byzantine art in Albania. The objects showed there belonged to different churches in Albania: Gjirokastra, Elbasani, Fieri, Berati etc., which are dating from the early 16th century until the early 19th century, and all works from the best painters of that time.
– The pavilion of National Liberation Antifascist War that has 220 objects. It reflects the events starting from the War of Vlora in 1920 until the end of World War II in 1945, but also there are many relics from national martyrs and heroes who gave their lives in the war against Fascism and Nazism. Other documents there reflect the support, sheltering, and protection of the Jewish population during the period of Holocaust in Albania.
– The pavilion of Communist Terror was inaugurated in and it displayed documents, photographs or films(reflected the cleansing operations against the anticommunist forces), objects, which belong to the period of one-party system in Albania between years 1945 – 1990. The showcases there displayed relics belonging to numerous persons convicted or executed by the regime of that time.
– Also there is the Mother Teresa pavilion, that is dedicated to Mother Teresa’s family, life and work. The visitors are acquainted with her charitable work all over the world for which she has been assigned with many international awards.
3. Then you can see next to each other, the Clock Tower, and on the next door is the Mosque of Et’hem Bey. The big tower of the clock is is built by a poet Et`hem bej Mollaj in 1822 and also finished the Et`hem bej Mosque that is next to the clock tower. Ismail Tufina, a famous watch-master assembled it in the early 1822 but only in May 1948 it was approved as a cultural monument. Within the tower there are 90 stairs that go in spiral fashion.
4. The Mosque is from the 18th century and is an important part of Albanian history. The construction of it started in 1791-1794 by Molla bey and finished by his son in 1821 Haxhi Ethem bey and his grand-grandson Sulejman Pasha. The Mosque was closed during the totalitarianism period and was declared historical monument. When visitors enter in it they must take their shoes off.
5. After that you can see the Sky Tower that has a beautiful view of the city. It is recommended to be visit in the evening seeing the lights up all over Tirana and spent some time in that bar with friends. It was built around the year 2000 and at that time was the tallest building with 17 floors in all Albania. It was known as the Vodafone Tower in Tirana and was one of the high-rise building in the capital in the early 2000.
