Tirana

Tirana is Albania’s capital and largest city, located in the country’s central region. It is the seat of national government and Albania’s principal urban center.

Sulejman Pasha Bargjini: An Ottoman Albanian general who founded Tirana as a town in the early seventeenth century. He established the settlement around which the later capital grew.
Skanderbeg Square: Tirana’s central plaza, named for the fifteenth-century Albanian national hero Skanderbeg. The square anchors the city center and connects several major civic buildings.
Enver Hoxha: Albania’s communist leader from the end of World War II until his death in 1985. His government concentrated power and monumental state projects in the capital.
University of Tirana: A public university founded in 1957 and based in Albania’s capital. It is one of the city’s principal centers of higher education.
Urbanization in Albania: The movement of Albania’s population toward towns and cities, especially after the end of communist rule. Migration and urban growth have rapidly expanded Tirana beyond its earlier footprint.
Albanian Declaration of Independence: The 1912 declaration that proclaimed Albania an independent state after centuries of Ottoman rule. Independence created the national state whose political center Tirana would become.
Et'hem Bey Mosque: An eighteenth- and nineteenth-century mosque in central Tirana, noted for its painted interior and exterior. It is one of the historic landmarks preserved beside Skanderbeg Square.
Edi Rama: An Albanian politician and former artist who served as Tirana’s mayor before becoming prime minister. As mayor, he promoted colorful building facades and urban improvements.
National Historical Museum of Albania: Albania’s largest museum, located on Skanderbeg Square in Tirana. Its exhibits present national history at the capital’s most prominent civic plaza.
Albanian civil unrest of 1997: A nationwide crisis in Albania triggered by the collapse of pyramid investment schemes. Tirana became a central stage for protests and political upheaval during the crisis.

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