Leaving North Macedonia came with some definite reluctance, even though our time ahead in Albania was something we were looking forward to. Ohrid and Skopje ended up being some of the unexpected highlights of our Balkans trip so far, and came with a number of surprises and delights.
The road to Tirana, Albania from Ohrid was not too long, with the day’s journey consisting of 4 hours driving including the border crossing and the traffic in Albania, as well as a stop along the way in Elbasan, Albania.
After crossing into Albania on the other side of Lake Ohrid, the scenery was pretty much the same except for the nuclear bunkers we had heard about, an Albanian cultural distinction, began showing up along the road. While the rest of Yugoslavia had Josip Tito, Albania had the more extreme and isolationist Stalinist leader, Enver Hoxha, from the 1960s to the 1980s. As part of his isolationist, extremist, and paranoid regime, his government fortified Albania by building more than 750,000 bunkers. The bunkers came at a high cost to Albania, and diverted scarce resources away from more pressing day to day concerns. They were later abandoned in 1992 when the government was dissolved marking the end of Communism in Albania (Hoxha died in 1985).
Under Hoxha, Albania became a one party, Communist state. As a Stalinist, where state atheism was implemented, Muslims and Christians were summarily persecuted (while terrible, at least he had some vision in the nonsensical role our major religions play). During his later rule, he broke politically with the Soviet Union and China, becoming even more isolated, and outlawed traveling abroad as well as private business and ownership practices. All in all, Hoxha has been judged by historical to be one of the most brutal Communist, totalitarian rulers, and fought Tito’s pull to become part of Yugoslavia, citing the mistreatment of ethnic Albanians in Kosovo (rightfully so).
Some good came of his rule, similar to stories elsewhere in Communist times. Despite the crack down on personal freedom, Hoxha reversed rebuilt Albania after World War II, establishing the first railway line as well as other major infrastructure and electrification. He also improved the literacy rate from 10% to more than 90%, eliminated epidemics, and established some agricultural independence. The later years of his reign saw stagnation owing to his political breaks with the Soviet Union and China. As his paranoia increased in the 1960s, Hoxha outlawed traveling abroad and private property/business. Many dissidents were imprisoned or exterminated. 200,000 people passed through the hard labor camps (similar to the Soviet gulags) and many died, and thousands of people went missing in Hoxha’s regime, and the exact death toll is unknown but could be up to 100,000 of his own Albanian citizens. His wife, Nexhmije, was no peach either. Dubbed Lady MacBeth, she was a high ranking Communist official in her own right, head of the Albanian Secret Police, and was complicit in many of the mass graves and missing persons cases. As is characteristic as most totalitarian rules and power couples, they led a life of Western luxury and excess, while their people had very little and were quite cut off from resources, advancement, and the world.
Some of this history was relayed to us by Nida, who hailed from Tirana, as well as our guide, Kledi, who we met in his hometown of Elbasan, which was on the way and made for a small stop for lunch and brief tour. Kledi traveled with us throughout Albania and ended up being our favorite guide, not only for his calm and kind demeanor, but also for his intellectual and erudite background and deep knowledge of the regional culture and politics. He was able to connect the past to the present in a relatable way, which only the best guides are able to do. Kledi can be found in the first picture below.
Elbasan itself has been in service since Illyrian times – in fact in 2010 archaeologists discovered two Illyrian graves near the castle walls. Since those times, it became a city along a very popular trading route and became one of the most important for the Roman Empire. It became abandoned after the the decline of the Roman Empire until Ottoman times in the late 15th century when it was re-established. The Ottoman sultan Mehmed II built the castle on the historical Greek/Roman site of Scampis, and used the castle and fortress as a base for his military operations against the Albanian commander Skanderbeg, an Albanian feudal lord who rebelled against the Ottomans. We would be learning more about Skanderbeg in Tirana and also in his home village in the mountains of Kruja. Think of Skanderbeg as Albania’s national hero.
From the main square (Skanderbeg Square), we got to see the ruins of the 5th century basilica and the statue of on of the Young Turks, Aqif Elbasani, who became an activist for the Albanian national cause.
From Skanderbeg Square, Kledi then took us into Elbasan historical district, which was marked by a Roman castle, towers, & fortress, with a wall surrounding it (in Ottoman Turkish il-basan literally means “the fortress”). We went through the gate and then were inside the old fortress, where we got to see the Mosque of Et’hem Bey.
Elbasan is the 4th largest city today in Albania, located on the Shkumbin River, in the highlands at the eastern end of a fertile, well-watered plain and next to the Skanderbeg Mountains. It also contains the Elbasan Arena, first built in Communist times in the 1960s, and recently renovated accommodate Albania’s national football team during the construction of their regular stadium in Tirana.
After our short historical tour, we went inside a garden area next to the fortress walls for a very pleasant love. The grounds themselves were the best part, and made you feel connected to both the Roman and Turkish history. We ordered a mediocre pizza that came with a different selection of toppings as described on the menu (of course, with olives which Brendan hates), and an Aperol Spritz.
Finished with lunch, the group followed Nida and Kledi through the small door in the fortress wall from the courtyard, and we all boarded the bus to continue our journey to Tirana.
