Another unique fixture on the cityscape is its concrete bunkers. From 1967 to 1986, some 173,000 of them were built across the country by the paranoid hardline Communist régime of Enver Hoxha, ranging from simple little pillboxes (top left, above) to elaborate underground command centers. Many are simply mouldering, but others have been turned into bars, cafés, and even tourist accommodations. Here in Tirana, two of the command centers have been turned into museums, and we visited one, built in 1982 and now called Bunk´Art 2 (photos two through four here), which beyond the original installations has plenty to say about about that era, its abuses, and its surveillance.

Read more in my post Our Eye-opening Exploration of Albania.

David Paul Appell