Skanderbeg square

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The landmarks of Tirana on Skanderbeg Square (2017): clock tower , Et'hem Bey mosque , ministries and Skanderbeg statue

The Skanderbeg Square ( Albanian  Sheshi Skënderbej ) is the main square of the Albanian capital Tirana . It is centrally located in the city, surrounded by public buildings; several streets end here coming from all directions.

It is named after the Albanian national hero Skanderbeg . Its total area is around 38,000 square meters - a large part is now a pedestrian zone with no traffic . Economically, culturally, in terms of infrastructure and politics, the square is the center of the country.

history

View of the center of Tirana (1914), the district shown was later completely demolished and is now the northern part of the square

In 1917, during the occupation by Austria-Hungary in World War I, a public town square was laid out, which later became Skanderbeg Square. However, this area west of the bazaar was previously known as Sheshi Skënderbej or Sheshi i Tregut , even if it still had little of a space. An officer's mess, built by the Austrians in 1917, still stands today - used as a puppet theater - on the south-western edge of the square. After Tirana was chosen as the capital in 1920 and the number of inhabitants increased rapidly, several development plans were subsequently created, all of which provided for a central square at this point, running from the north-south axis through Tirana's center, to the north of Bulevardi Zogu I. , in the south of the Bulevardi Dëshmorët e Kombit . The first broad, straight streets were laid out through the maze of houses.

Part of the square at the Et'hem Bey Mosque (1943)

Skanderbeg Square was not completed until the late 1930s. At its center was a circular fountain that was destroyed in the war in 1944 and has not been replaced. Opposite the Et'hem Bey Mosque was the town hall from 1930, to the left of it in the acute angle between Kavaja and Durrës streets the Kursaal café . Both buildings, the town hall and the café, were demolished as part of the subsequent redesign of the square. Other planned buildings in the northern half were never realized. The northeast corner of the square formed the transition to the bazaar area. To the south of the well, the oval complex with the ministries joined. At that time these still formed the southern end of the city, but an expansion beyond that had long been planned. In addition, on the western edge of the square, the headquarters of the National Bank was set back.

socialism

After the war, Skanderbeg Square was redesigned several times. The bazaar district with the Orthodox cathedral and town hall had to make way for the new monumental buildings when Skanderbeg Square was redesigned from the 1960s to make room for a large area for political events and rallies against the backdrop of Stalinist monumental buildings. The Kulturpalast was the first new building in the style of modern socialist architecture with a high portico  made up of 18 columns between 1960 and 1966. In 1979 the Hotel Tirana , the tallest building in the city with 15 storeys, was inaugurated well into the 1990s. Two years later the National Museum was inaugurated, for which the square was expanded again - to the west. The initially undeveloped lawn in front of it had to give way after the death of Enver Hoxha when a large statue was erected there in his honor. At that time and during Hoxha's lifetime, the square primarily served as a representation.

In honor of the namesake Skanderbeg, on the 500th anniversary of his death in 1968, an eleven-meter-high bronze equestrian statue was erected in the center of the square. The monument was designed by Odhise Paskali . The monument of Joseph Stalin , which previously stood at this point, has been moved.

The place in the socialist era
Tirana in 1978 2.jpg
Street view of the northeast side (1978)
Tirana Square 1988.jpg
View to the south over Skanderbeg Square (1988)


1990s

Since the collapse of the communist system, Skanderbeg Square has been heavily influenced by car traffic. As a central hub, it now connected many parts of the city with one another. Before that in the 1980s, there was no traffic regulation - the very few vehicles crossed the square almost at will. Later, a large roundabout was introduced and driving on the areas in the middle was forbidden, so that these became partly difficult to access islands in the wild.

The Hoxha statue in the northwest part of the square was overthrown during student protests in February 1991. During the transformation process , political rallies and demonstrations took place repeatedly on Skanderbeg Square. But concerts were also held on the stage in front of the Kulturpalast, for example a concert by DJ Bobo in 1999 with 150,000 spectators. In the 1990s, there were also a few fairground shops on the square next to countless small stalls, as they were all over the city at that time.

and display information about the image
View to the west from the minaret of the Et'hem Bey Mosque (taken around 2004)

After 2000

The mayor at the time, Edi Rama ( PS ), had plans to redesign it from 2008 onwards in order to modernize and Europeanise the square. Together with the city administration and experts, he organized an international competition, which the architecture studio 51n4e won in 2008. The renovation work began in March 2010, but was delayed because the state government , which is dominated by the Democratic Party , objected. They should end in 2012. The reconstruction envisaged a restructuring of the square into a pedestrian and public transport zone in order to give it a clear purpose. All traffic should be diverted to bypass roads. The construction costs should amount to around 11.5 million euros . A new building was planned between the National Bank and the museum, which will close off the square more clearly. In addition, a few skyscrapers were planned around the square, including the already completed TID Tower .

“In the center of the city you can still find what was at the beginning: the mosque, the heart of that Ottoman village a hundred years ago. Today the square and the boulevard that extends from it form the heart of the city. Framed by the buildings from the Italian-Fascist period and the Palace of Culture, which is the symbol of our political love story with the Soviet Union. Not far from there is the Hotel Tirana, the symbol of our political love story with China, then the National Museum, a symbol of our narcissism and our self-isolation. And then there are the empty areas that were left behind by the fallen monuments and remind us of the emptiness in which we are still caught in a tension between past and future. In this void we are now trying to build the square of the future. "

- Edi Rama
Central parts of the square in summer 2012 after completion of the redesign
Green area and monument in the middle of the then redesigned square (2014)

After Rama was voted out of office in the summer of 2011 and the democrat Lulzim Basha was elected as the new mayor, a new design plan was implemented that provided for more green spaces and did not ban traffic from the square. Instead of gray, it was now green that dominated: the southern part between the ministries is a lawn that extends north to the center of the Palace of Culture. Lawn can also be found on the square in front of the bank, as has a strip in front of the Palace of Culture. The well system in the northern area was demolished in favor of a wide, paved area. In the western part there is now a small park with many newly planted trees, for which a section of the road has also been removed. The state of Kuwait provided a grant of ten million euros for the project from 2010 onwards .

Car traffic was still going around the central and southern part in a large roundabout. Narrower lanes, cycle paths and traffic islands give pedestrians and cyclists new space and safety.

Today's form

In 2016, under the new mayor Erion Veliaj , the redesign of the square began again with the aim of freeing it from traffic and turning it into a large pedestrian zone. In addition, an underground parking garage was built in the western area . Veliaj essentially took up the plan of his predecessor Edi Rama. The aim was to design a traffic-free area as in earlier times and thus to offer the public, especially children and young people, a space for leisure activities. The € 13.5 million redesign was inaugurated in June 2017. The project was funded by the United Arab Emirates . The dissolution of the traffic areas was preceded by regular car-free days, which were specifically designed with attractions for children and young families and thus encouraged the population to accept the ban on cars.

The space is often used for events and activities. There are Christmas markets, sporting events, concerts - but also space for games and free activities.

layout

The square lacks a uniform appearance: it consists of several areas that have been added over time, and only little uniformly designed buildings that are rather low compared to the size of the square. The Skanderbeg Square consists of an oval main part and three square secondary parts, which connect to the north and northwest. In addition to the architecturally designed oldest part with the uniform ministries and the city administration (Bashkia) in the neo-Renaissance style, there are large areas with a few large monumental buildings.

Plant until 2010

On the edge of the central and southern part, there was a large roundabout with about three to four lanes. The areas in the western part were cut through by a few extensions of the access roads.

In the central part there was a fountain with a few water features, but it was rarely in use. In the middle of the southern part was a small park or garden, which was a little lower - to give the buildings a more imposing effect - and was lined with a few tall trees. Around 2005, the conifers in the park in the southern part were felled.

In contrast to the mostly asphalted areas, the small side section in front of the National Bank was planted with trees.

Plant from 2012 to 2016

Under Mayor Basha and Prime Minister Berisha, the square was given several green spaces. A lawn stretched over the entire length of the eastern part, in the middle of which stood the Skanderbeg monument and which was surrounded by the large roundabout. A use of this area was not intended. A small park with trees was created in the western part between the bank and the museum. There were paths and benches. This part was also surrounded by traffic.

Plant since 2017

Newly designed place in summer 2017

The square is now a large pedestrian zone, most of which is free of traffic. The traffic routing affects the square at the edges, so far to the west, in front of the puppet theater, the ministries and the mosque. The oval in front of the ministries is still a lawn, newly enriched by a few trees. Between the mosque, bank, opera and museum, an almost square area made of stone slabs has been created, which is still interspersed with some trees in the southwest. The stone slabs come from all areas of Albania and are intended to symbolize national unity. 100 fountains are set into the ground. To the north of the National Bank is the entrance to the underground car park and a strip of green that is intended to shield the area in the west from traffic. A circular inlet in the slab floor serves as access to the parking garage.

building

Skanderbeg Monument and Ministries (2008)

The square is used by the Tirana International Hotel , the Palace of Culture with Opera and National Library , the Et'hem Bey Mosque and the clock tower behind it, the City Administration ( Bashkia ) , the Ministry of Public Works, Transport and Telecommunications, the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Energy, today's puppet theater , which housed the parliament from 1924 to 1939 , the headquarters of the Democratic Party of Albania , Banka e Shqipërisë and the National History Museum (clockwise from north). The large mosaic on the facade of the National Museum, which shows Albanians from different eras, still characterizes the whole square.

Public transport

Most of the bus routes from Tirana started at Skanderbeg Square. The starting point was three bus stops: one set back a little behind the clock tower in the east, the other two on the western edge of the square at the beginning of the two arterial roads Rruga e Durrësit and Rruga e Kavajës .

Web links

Commons : Skanderbeg Square  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f Architecture office 51N4E : The design concept for Skanderbeg Square . In: Adolph Stiller (Ed.): Tirana . Architecture in the Ringturm XXII. Müry Salzmann Verlag, Salzburg / Vienna 2010, ISBN 978-3-99014-030-7 , p. 85-93 .
  2. ↑ a b c d e f Artan Shkreli: 25 years of urban planning in Tirana from 1916-1941 . In: Adolph Stiller (Ed.): Tirana . Architecture in the Ringturm XXII. Müry Salzmann Verlag, Salzburg / Vienna 2010, ISBN 978-3-99014-030-7 , p. 20-37 .
  3. ↑ KuK war mapping department No. 7, captain v. Milius: City map of Tirana (April 1917) . In: Adolph Stiller (Ed.): Tirana . Architecture in the Ringturm XXII. Müry Salzmann Verlag, Salzburg / Vienna 2010, ISBN 978-3-99014-030-7 , p. 10 .
  4. ↑ a b c d e Besnik Aliaj, Keida Lulo, Genc Myftiu: Tirana - The Challenge of Urban Development . Tirana 2003, ISBN 99927-880-0-3 .
  5. ^ Armand Vokshi: Tracce dell'architettura italiana in Albania 1925–1943 . DNA Editrice, Firenze 2014, ISBN 978-88-903947-4-4 , pp. 140 .
  6. ↑ Katia Accossato: Tirana: From Form to Non-Form . In: Adolph Stiller (Ed.): Tirana . Architecture in the Ringturm XXII. Müry Salzmann Verlag, Salzburg / Vienna 2010, ISBN 978-3-99014-030-7 , p. 43-57 .
  7. ↑ Carthalia. Retrieved January 28, 2011 .
  8. ^ Tirana International (Ed.): Tirana International - 30 Years of History . Tirana 2009.
  9. ↑ Open Hearts - from small engagements to international appearances. Archived from the original on April 8, 2012 ; Retrieved September 11, 2011 .
  10. ↑ The dispute over the thing in the middle. In: albanien.ch. April 6, 2010, accessed September 11, 2011 .
  11. ^ Moritz Haller: Beyond the future (interview with Edi Rama) . In: Adolph Stiller (Ed.): Tirana . Architecture in the Ringturm XXII. Müry Salzmann Verlag, Salzburg / Vienna 2010, ISBN 978-3-99014-030-7 , p. 75-83 .
  12. ↑ http://www.kuna.net.kw/ArticleDetails.aspx?id=2195004&language=en
  13. ↑ a b c Feargus O'Sullivan: Rebuilding a City from the Eye of a Child. In: Citylab. December 17, 2018, accessed January 4, 2019 .
  14. ↑ Hapet “Xhevahiri i Rilindjes Urbane”, startoi i financuar nga arabët
  15. ↑ Sheshi “Skënderbej”, punimet drejt përfundimit. In: top-channel.tv. Top Channel , March 28, 2017, accessed April 4, 2017 (Albanian).
  16. ↑ Benet Koleka: Tirana's chaotic square becomes island of pedestrian calm . In: Reuters UK . ( reuters.com [accessed June 13, 2017]).

Coordinates: 41 ° 19 ′ 42 ″  N , 19 ° 49 ′ 6 ″  E