15 Sights in Tirana, Albania (with Map and Images)

Fortress of Justinian or simply known as Tirana Castle is a castle in Tirana, Albania. Its history dates back before 1300 and is a remnant from the Byzantine-era. The fortress is the place where the main east–west and north–south roads crossed, and formed the heart of Tirana. The current fortification has three known towers and it is undergoing a process of restoration, for touristic purposes. Inside the fortified walls of the former fortress, there are many buildings that can be visited, including restaurants, hotels, and cultural institutions.

Wikipedia: Fortress of Justinian (EN)

The Unknown Soldier Statue is a war memorial in Tirana for the soldiers that fell in the struggle against the Italian invaders during Second World War. The statue is located near the Albanian parliament and the Tomb of Kapllan Pasha. It was placed by the Albanian communists: For its construction, the 350-year old Sulejman Pasha Mosque built by the founder of the capital Sulejman Bargjini was destroyed. The sculpture features a soldier with a raised fist and rifle, struggling forward.

Wikipedia: Unknown Soldier (statue) (EN)

The Clock Tower of Tirana, was built in 1822 in Tirana, Albania by Et'hem bey Mollaj, a Bejtexhinj poet who also finished the Et'hem Bey Mosque next to the clock tower. Watchmaster Ismail Tufina was the first to assemble the Tirana clock mechanism in 1822. It is a monument of culture of first category, approved on 24 May 1948.

Wikipedia: Tirana Clock Tower (EN)

The Et'hem Bey Mosque is a mosque in Tirana, Albania. Closed under communist rule, the mosque reopened as a house of worship in 1991. Without permission from the authorities, 10,000 people attended and the police did not interfere. Frescoes outside and inside the portico depict trees, waterfalls and bridges.

Wikipedia: Et'hem Bey Mosque (EN)

The Presidential Palace, formerly the Royal Palace and popularly known as the Palace of Brigades, is the official residence of the president of Albania. The palace was commissioned by King Zog I of the Albanians to serve as his main official residence.

Wikipedia: Presidential Palace, Tirana (EN)

The Pyramid of Tirana is a structure and former museum located in Tirana, the capital of Albania. It opened as a museum in 1988 and became a conference center in 1991 following the collapse of Communism. During the 1999 Kosovo War, the building was used as a NATO base. In 2018, a new project was unveiled that would turn the pyramid into a youth IT center for Creative Technologies with a focus on computer programming, robotics, and start ups under the name of TUMO Center Tirana. The renovated structure, transformed by MVRDV, was opened to the public in May 2023.

Wikipedia: Pyramid of Tirana (EN), Website

The Parliament of Albania or Kuvendi is the unicameral representative body of the citizens of the Republic of Albania; it is Albania's legislature. The Parliament is composed of no less than 140 members elected to a four-year term on the basis of direct, universal, periodic and equal suffrage by secret ballot. The Parliament is presided over by the Speaker, who is assisted by at least one deputy speaker. The electoral system is based on party-list proportional representation. There are 12 multi-seat constituencies, corresponding to the country's counties.

Wikipedia: Parliament of Albania (EN), Website

The National Theatre of Albania was the main theatre in Tirana, Albania. In March 2020, the National Theatre of Albania was selected by Europa Nostra among the 7 most endangered monuments in Europe, as an exceptional example of modern Italian architecture from the 1930s and one of the most prominent cultural centers in Albania, facing impending threat of demolition. On 17 May 2020, the National Theatre building was demolished.

Wikipedia: National Theatre (Albania) (EN), Website

The Tanners' Mosque is a historic mosque located near the Tanners' Bridge in Tirana, capital of Albania. Built in the neighborhood of the handicraft-trade Tanners' guild around the seventeenth century in the Ottoman Empire, it was damaged by a lightning shot but continues to function thanks to improvements made by the family Resmja which even today continues to care for.

Wikipedia: Tanners' Mosque (EN)

The Pioneers of Enver was a pioneer movement functioning in Albania during its communist period. Formed as Debatik, an acronym for United Boys of Communist Ideas on 10 February 1942, the movement continued as Organization of Pioneers. After the Second World War, it was supervised by the Labour Youth Union of Albania, the youth wing of the Party of Labour of Albania.

Wikipedia: Pioneers of Enver (EN)

The Autocephalous Orthodox Church of Albania, commonly known as the Albanian Orthodox Church or the Orthodox Church of Albania, is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox church. It declared its autocephaly in 1922 through its Congress of 1922, and gained recognition from the Patriarch of Constantinople in 1937.

Wikipedia: Albanian Orthodox Church (EN)

The National Puppet Theater in Tirana was created in 1950 by a professional troupe and gave 500 shows every year, across the country. At the National Children's Theater performances, wire dolls, puppets, masks, shadows and pantomima, as well as actors show.

Wikipedia: Teatri_Kombëtar_i_Fëmijëve (SQ), Website

The Mosque of Mahmud Agha Kokonozi or New Bazaar Mosque is a mosque in Tirana, Albania. It is an Ottoman-era mosque built in 1750 and one of the few mosques that survived the communist dictatorship under the Hoxhaist regime.

Wikipedia: Kokonozi Mosque (EN)

The Museum of Secret Surveillance, also known as House of Leaves is a historical museum in Tirana, Albania. It opened on 23 May 2017 in the building that served as the Sigurimi's headquarters during the communist era.

Wikipedia: Museum of Secret Surveillance (EN)

The Fryderyk Chopin Monument in Tirana was unveiled on 12 November 2003 by Aleksander Kwaśniewski, a monument by the Polish sculptor Andrzej Renes, funded by the International Fryderyk Chopin Foundation.

Wikipedia: Pomnik Fryderyka Chopina w Tiranie (PL)