Laç

Laç
Laçi
( Designation in an indefinite and definite form )

41,635 19.712777777778 40Coordinates: 41 ° 38 ' N , 19 ° 43' E

Basic data

Qark :

Lezha

Municipality :

Kurbin

Height :

40 m above sea level A.

Area :

13.5 km²

Residents :

17,086 (2011)

Population density :

1266 inhabitants / km²

Telephone code :

(+355) 053

Postal code :

4701-4702

Culture and history

City Festival :

June 12

The former phosphate factory

Laç [ laʧ ] ( Albanian also Laçi ) is a city in northern Albania with 17,086 inhabitants (2011). Laç is the capital of the Kurbin municipality .

Geographical location

Aerial view with the Church of St. Anthony at the top right

The place is located on the edge of the flat coastal plain 35 kilometers north of Tirana and ten kilometers from the coast of the Adriatic Sea. The first mountain range of the Skanderbeg Mountains rises behind the town .

history

Laç is a place of pilgrimage known throughout the country . Before the Second World War, thousands of people visited the monastery in the mountains , which is dedicated to St. Anthony of Padua . Since the end of the religious ban imposed by the communists , numerous Catholics have gathered again on June 12 at the pilgrimage site, which is also visited by Muslims .

Until the 1950s, Laç was only a small village. Only with the settlement of some factories (fertilizers, copper processing, glass) did it develop into an industrial city. The cityscape, which is dominated by prefabricated buildings , is designed accordingly .

In 1967 the communists built a large phosphate factory north of the city , which became an employer for many residents. The factory already looked crumbling at the end of the 1980s. Nevertheless, it was only completely shut down in 2000 and is now an industrial ruin that can be seen from afar.

In 2015 the municipality ( bashkia ) Laç was merged with the other municipalities in Kurbin County . The city forms an administrative unit (njesia administrative).

Transport and economy

Houses in Laç

Thanks to its proximity to the A1 / SH1 motorway , the town has good transport links. To the north, Lezha , Shkodra and Montenegro can be reached quickly, to the south it goes to Tirana and Durrës and Kukës and Kosovo can be reached quickly via the motorway . The SH1 expressway from Fushë-Kruja to Lezha freed the town from through traffic.

The Hekurudha Shqiptare only sparsely serve the local train station.

After the closure of the phosphate plant and other factories, Laç suffered from severe unemployment. A French company had taken over parts of the phosphate factory after it had been closed for the first time in 1993 and continued small-scale production. It is feared that improperly stored materials on the factory site will pollute the groundwater.

military

The Albanian army has its tank battalion stationed in Laç .

Sports

The local soccer club KF Laçi has been playing in the top league since 2009 . In 2013 and 2015 he won the Albanian Football Cup.

sons and daughters of the town

Arjan Dodaj (* 1977), auxiliary bishop in Tirana-Durrës
Eklent Kaçi (* 1999), pool player

Web links

Commons : Laç - collection of images, videos and audio files

Njesia administrative Laç (PDF, Albanian)

Pilgrims in Shna Ndo - Pictures by Bevis Fusha on the pilgrimage (2007)

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b Ines Nurja: Censusi i popullsisë dhe banesave / Population and Housing Census - Lezhë 2011 . Results Kryesore / Main Results. Ed .: INSTAT . Pjesa / Part 1. Adel Print, Tirana 2013 ( instat.gov.al [PDF; accessed April 14, 2019]).
↑ United Nations Environment Program: Post-Conflict Environmental Assessment - Albania. Retrieved August 31, 2009 .

[instatle2011-1] Ines Nurja: Censusi i popullsisë dhe banesave / Population and Housing Census - Lezhë 2011 . Results Kryesore / Main Results. Ed .: INSTAT . Pjesa / Part 1. Adel Print, Tirana 2013 ( instat.gov.al [PDF; accessed April 14, 2019]).

[2] United Nations Environment Program: Post-Conflict Environmental Assessment - Albania. Retrieved August 31, 2009 .