Tirana (tᵻˈɹɑːnə , tiˈɾana; Tirona) 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. Due to its location at the Plain of Tirana and the close proximity to the Mediterranean Sea, the city is particularly influenced by a Mediterranean seasonal climate. It is among the wettest and sunniest cities in Europe, with 2,544 hours of sun per year.
Tirana was founded as a city in 1614 by the Ottoman Albanian general Sylejman Pasha Bargjini and flourished by then around the Old Mosque and the türbe. The area that today corresponds to the city's territory has been continuously inhabited since the Iron Age. It was inhabited by Illyrians, and was most likely the core of the Illyrian Kingdom of the Taulantii, which in Classical Antiquity was centred in the hinterland of Epidamnus. Following the Illyrian Wars it was annexed by Rome and became an integral part of the Roman Empire. The heritage of that period is still evident and represented by the Mosaics of Tirana. Later, in the 5th and 6th centuries, an Early Christian basilica was built around this site. The name Tirana might be a borrowing from doric Tursanoi, reflecting the Tyrrhenians, as tosk is another ethnonym derived from tyrrhenians
After the Roman Empire split into East and West in the 4th century, its successor the Byzantine Empire took control over most of Albania, and built the Petrelë Castle in the reign of Justinian I. The city was fairly unimportant until the 20th century, when the Congress of Lushnjë proclaimed it as Albania's capital, after the Albanian Declaration of Independence in 1912.
Classified as a gamma-world-city, Tirana is the most important economic, financial, political and trade centre in Albania due to its significant location in the centre of the country and its modern air, maritime, rail and road transportation.
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Durrës (ˈdʊrəs , ˈdurəs; Durrësi) is the second most populous city of the Republic of Albania and seat of Durrës County and Durrës Municipality. It is one of Albania's continuously inhabited cities, with roughly 2,500 years of recorded history. It is located on a flat plain along the Albanian Adriatic Sea Coast between the mouths of the Erzen and Ishëm at the southeastern corner of the Adriatic Sea. Durrës' climate is profoundly influenced by a seasonal Mediterranean climate.
Korçë (ˈkɔɾtʃə; Korça) is the eighth most populous city of the Republic of Albania and the seat of Korçë County and Korçë Municipality. The total population is 75,994 (2011 census), in a total area of . It stands on a plateau some above sea level, surrounded by the Morava Mountains. The area of the Old Bazaar, including Mirahori Mosque, is considered as the urban core of the city.
The Bektashi Order or Bektashism is an Islamic Sufi mystic order originating in the 13th-century. It is named after the saint Haji Bektash Veli (d. 1271). The Albanian community is currently led by Baba Mondi, their eighth Bektashi Dedebaba and headquartered in Tirana, Albania. Bektashism began as a Shia Islamic Sufi order in Anatolia during the Ottoman Empire. In 1876, a Salih Nijazi was appointed as the baba "leader" by prominent Bektashi members.
This essay discusses about the renovation project for Skanderbeg Square in Tirana, designed by Belgium office 51N4E. The text put forward a critical reading of the project within the framework of the politics of the ‘Urban Renaissance’, launched by Prime M ...
This article focuses on the history of one specific area of the city of Tirana, the capital of Albania: the downtown area, or the so-called 'small ring'. The text analyzes the interventions put forward by different administrations (both right and left-wing ...
The aim of this study is to serve as a basis for future thinking on the development of Albanian cities, providing practical tools, knowledge, and an overview of the rich potential of the census for spatial analysis. The precise geo-localization of all the ...