EUROPE a Albania • National Historical Museum – Tirana, Albania
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EUROPE A Albania • National Historical Museum – Tirana, Albania o The country's largest museum. It was opened on 28 October 1981 and is 27,000 square meters in size, while 18,000 square meters are available for expositions. The National Historical Museum includes the following pavilions: Pavilion of Antiquity, Pavilion of the Middle Ages, Pavilion of Renaissance, Pavilion of Independence, Pavilion of Iconography, Pavilion of the National Liberation Antifascist War, Pavilion of Communist Terror, and Pavilion of Mother Teresa. • Et'hem Bey Mosque – Tirana, Albania o The Et’hem Bey Mosque is located in the center of the Albanian capital Tirana. Construction was started in 1789 by Molla Bey and it was finished in 1823 by his son Ethem Pasha (Haxhi Ethem Bey), great- grandson of Sulejman Pasha. • Mount Dajt – Tirana, Albania o Its highest peak is at 1,613 m. In winter, the mountain is often covered with snow, and it is a popular retreat to the local population of Tirana that rarely sees snow falls. Its slopes have forests of pines, oak and beech. Dajti Mountain was declared a National Park in 1966, and has since 2006 an expanded area of about 29,384 ha. It is under the jurisdiction and administration of Tirana Forest Service Department. • Skanderbeg Square – Tirana, Albania o Skanderbeg Square is the main plaza of Tirana, Albania named in 1968 after the Albanian national hero Skanderbeg. A Skanderbeg Monument can be found in the plaza. • Skanderbeg Monument – Skanderberg Square, Tirana, Albania o The monument in memory of Skanderbeg was erected in Skanderbeg Square, Tirana. This 11 metres monument was inaugurated in the 1968 on the 500th anniversary of the death of Skanderbeg. The monument to Skanderbeg is created by Odhise Paskali. • Rozafa Castle - Shkodër, Albania o It rises imposingly on a rocky hill, 130 metres above sea level, surrounded by the Bojana and Drin rivers. Shkodër is the capital of the District of Shkodër, and is one of Albania's oldest and most historic towns, as well as an important cultural and economic centre. • Albanian Riviera - County of Vlorë, Albania o The area is a major nightlife, ecotourist, and elite retreat destination in Albania. It features traditional Mediterranean villages, ancient castles, Orthodox churches, secluded turquoise beaches, mountain passes, seaside canyons, coves, free flowing rivers, underwater fauna, caves, and orange, lemon, and olive groves. • Butrint National Park - Butrint, Ksamil, Albania o The park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is one of the most important archaeological sites in the country containing different artifacts and structures which date from the Bronze Age up until the 19th century. A number of major monuments are still extant including the city walls, late-antique baptistery, great basilica, theatre and Venetian castles. In addition to archaeological remains the site is robed by natural woodland with a complex ecosystem which depends on the nearby freshwater Lake Butrint and Vivari Channel which drain the lake into the Ionian Sea. • Berat Castle – Berat, Albania o A fortress overlooking the town of Berat, Albania. It dates mainly from the 13th century and contains many Byzantine churches in the area and Ottoman mosques. It is built on a rocky hill on the left bank of the river Osum and is accessible only from the south. It's situated at an altitude of 214 meters. • Lake Skadar - Border of Albania and Montenegro o Skadar Lake is the largest lake in the Balkan Peninsula with a surface area that seasonally fluctuates between 370 km2 to 530 km2. Skadar Lake itself is located on the western Balkan with approximately two- third (229 km2) of its surface belonging to Montenegro and about one- third (142 km2) to Albania. The lake’s water level also varies seasonally from 4.7 to 9.8 m above sea level. The lake extends in the NW-SE direction, and it is approximately 44 km long. • Gjirokastër Fortress - Gjirokaster, Albania o Gjirokastër Castle is situated at a height of 336 metres. The castle dominates the town and overlooks the strategically important route along the river valley. It is open to visitors and contains a military museum featuring captured artillery and memorabilia of the Communist resistance against German occupation, as well as a captured United States Air Force plane to commemorate the Communist regime's struggle against the "imperialist" western powers. • Durrës Archaeological Museum - Durrës, Albania o Established in 1951, is the largest archaeological museum in the country. The museum is located near the beach and north of the museum is the 6th-century Byzantine walls, constructed after the Visigoth invasion of 481. The 1997 rebellion in Albania saw the museum seriously damaged and looted. • Berat National Ethnographic Museum - Berat, Albania o Opened in 1979 and contains a diversity of everyday objects from throughout Berat's history. The museum contains original furniture and a number of household objects, wooden case, wall-closets, as well as chimneys and a well. Near the well is an olive press, wool press and many large ceramic dishes, revealing a glimpse of the historical domestic culture of Berat's citizens. The ground floor has a hall with a model of a medieval street with traditional shops on both sides and on the second floor is an archive, loom, village sitting room, kitchen and sitting room. • Lëkurësi Castle - Sarandë, Albania o A ruined castle in Lëkurës, southern Albania. The castle is located on a strategic hill point overlooking the town of Saranda, southeast of the town centre. From here one can control the whole town as well as the islands of Ksamil. • Drin o The Drin starts at the confluence of its two headwaters, the Crni Drim (Black Drim) in the city of Struga, and the Beli Drim (White Drim) in the city of Kukës in the Trektan area of eastern Albania. The Drin is extremely important for the Albanian economy, especially for its electricity production. Three dams are built over its cascades producing most of Albania's electricity. The Drin and its surrounding mountainous areas have a great variety of flora and fauna. Recently many fish species have been introduced such as the zander of northern Europe which is a predator of the native fish population. • Qemal Stafa Stadium - Tirana, Albania o The Qemal Stafa Stadium, named after Qemal Stafa a World War II hero, is a national stadium and the largest football stadium in Tirana, Albania. Construction started in 1939 and the stadium was inaugurated in 1946 for the Balkan Cup, which was won by the Albania national football team. The stadium has been used for football matches of the Albanian Superliga and the national team, athletic events, and the six Albanian Spartakiads. Although it was enlarged in 1974 to accommodate up to 35,000 spectators, in the 1990s it became an all- seater stadium, and its capacity was reduced to the current 19 700. • National Art Gallery of Albania – Tirana, Albania o The National Arts Gallery of Albania has a fund of over 4,000 works of art by Albanian and foreign authors, spanning seven centuries of Albanian cultural heritage. National Gallery of Art is a state institution under the Ministry of Tourism, Culture, Youth and Sports. • TID Tower – Tirana, Albania o The TID Tower is an under-construction high-rise in Tirana, Albania. The building is expected to be 85 metres tall. It consists of 25 floors. The design comes from Belgian architectural firm 51N4E, and construction started on 14 January 2007. At the beginning of May 2011 the building was almost topped out. • Lanë – Tirana, Albania o The main stream that crosses through Tirana, the capital of Albania. Its source is in the mountains east of Tirana. Although once clean, it now carries sewage. Before there were many buildings around and on the banks of the river, but they were torn down and removed in a campaign by Tirana's then mayor Edi Rama. Now most of its banks have been planted with different kinds of trees and grass. No fish live there now due to the high pollution of its waters. The Lanë flows into the Tiranë River near Bërxullë. • Bratko Museum - Korçë, Albania o It contains a collection of mostly Asian art. • National Museum of Medieval Art - Korçë, Albania o It was established on April 24, 1980. The museum has over 7,000 art and cultural items, mainly icons and less stone, wooden, metal and textile works representing various moments in Albania iconography development. In the principal hall are many works from anonymous artists of the 13th-14th century and well-known ones such as Onufri, Onufer Qiprioti, Teacher Kostandini, Jeromak Shpataraku, David Selenica, the Zografi Brothers, etc. • Selman Stërmasi Stadium - Tirana, Albania o The stadium is located approximately 400 m from the west side of the Lana stream and of former exhibition site "Shqiperia Sot". It was built in 1956 and named Dinamo Stadium until 1991 when it was given its new name. The Football Association of Albania and KF Tirana decided posthumously name the stadium after the eminent KF Tirana player, coach and president, Selman Stërmasi. The stadium has recently ended a long phase of construction, which involved development of the main pitch, central seated area, facilities around the ground and general lineaments. • Gjirokastër Ethnographic Museum - Gjirokastër, Albania o The museum is erected on the site of communist dictator Enver Hoxha's birth, and offers an insight into the traditional lifestyle in the town. • National Archaeological Museum – Tirana, Albania o Affiliated to Institute of Archaeology of the Academy of Sciences of Albania, the museum houses exhibits from prehistoric and historic times up to Middle Ages. It is also responsible for conducting many archaeological expeditions in the country and is the parent institution of several other museums in the country including the Durrës Archaeological Museum.