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The three hypothesis for the origins of Tirana's name
1- “Tirana “, it is thought that comes from the word “
Theranda”, mentioned in the ancient Greek and Latin sources,
that aborigines called Te Ranat, because the field was
formed as a result of stiff materials that the waters from
the surrounding mountains brought.
2- “Tirana“ comes from “Tirkan“. Tirkan was a castle in
Dajti‘s mountainside. Even nowadays, there exist the ruins
of this ancient castle that dates with the beginning of the
I-century B.C. This is thought to have been the castle that
the Byzantium historian Prokop (VI-century) called the
Castle of Tirkan.
3- “Tirana“ comes from old Greek, “Tyros” which means dairy.
It is thought that this variant remained, because in the
field of Tirana, the shepherds of the nearby areas used to
trade dairy products.
For the first time Tirana’s name in the nowadays form was
mentioned in 1418 in a Venetian document.
For the first time the registration of lands was done under
the ottoman invasion in 1431-1432. Tirana had 60 inhabited
areas with near 1000 houses and 7300 inhabitants. In the XV
-century as Marin Barleti mentions, there was Tirana e Madhe
and Tirana e Vogël (Big and Small Tirana).
In the registrations of 1583, the area of Tirana resulted to
have 110 inhabited areas, 2900 houses and 20,000
inhabitants.
Sulejman Pasha, whose background was from Mullet,
established Tirana in 1614. First, he constructed a mosque,
a bakery and a hamam (Turkish sauna).
Two centuries later, the direction of the city went to the
family of Toptani, from Kruja. The two oldest neighborhoods
of Tirana were that of Mujos and that of Pazari, situated
between the actual center and “Elbasani“ street, in the two
sides of Lana.
In 1703 Tirana had 4000 inhabitants.
In 1769 Tirana ‘s area exported 2600 barrels of olive oil
and 14.000 stuffed packages of tobacco to Venetian trades.
In 1820 Tirana had 12.000 inhabitants.
In 1901 Tirana had 15.000 inhabitants.
At the beginning of the XX - century Tirana had 140.000
olive trees, 400 oil mills, while the market numbered 700
shops.
In 1838 Tirana had 38.000 inhabitants.
In 1945 it had 60.000 inhabitants. The mosque in the center
of Tirana, called the mosque of Ethem Beu began its
construction in 1789 by Molla Beu from Petrela. The mosque
was finished in 1821 from Molla Beu‘s son, Sulejman Pasha‘s
grandnephew. The best masters of Albania worked for it.
Haxhi Et’hem Beu started the Clock’s Tower around 1821-1822
and it was finished with the help of the richest families of
Tirana. The family of Tufina made the restoration of the
Clock. In 1928 the Albanian state bought in Germany a modern
clock and the Tower was raised in the height of 35 m. During
the World War II, the Clock was damaged, but it restarted
work in July 1946.
The Orthodox Church of Saint Prokop was built in 1780.
The Catholic Church of Saint Maria was constructed in 1865
with the Austrian-Hungarian expenses of the Emperor, Franc
Josef. Bridge of Tabakëve and bridge of Terzive (actually
the bridge of the “Elbasani” Street) date with the beginning
of the XIX century. Kapllan Hysa‘s mosque (near to the
monument “Ushtari I Panjohur “ (The Unknown soldier) was
constructed in 1816.
The Library was established in 1922 and had 5000 volumes.
The Fortress of Petrela, 12 km far from Tirana, dates IV
century BC. It took the actual form in the XIII century,
under the rule of Topiaj and later passed to the property of
Kastriots.
Tirana become the temporary capital on 8 February appointed
by the Congress of Lushnja and finally took this status on
December 31, 1925.
Tirana is the world main center of bektashis from 1925, a
year when the bektashis were stopped and expulsed by Turkey.
Estef Frashëri compiled the first regulatory plan of the
city in 1923. “Durrësi“ Street was opened in 1922 and was
called “Nana Mbretneshë “(Queen Mother). A lot of houses and
yards were demolished for its construction. The existing
Parliamentary building was raised 1924 and firstly, it
served as a Club of Officers. There, on September 1928,
Ahmet Zogu proclaimed the Monarchy.
The center of Tirana is projected by well-known Italian
architects of Mussolini period, Florestano de Fausto and
Armando Brasini.
Their works are the Palace of Brigades (the ex-Reigning
palace), the ministries buildings, the National Bank and the
Municipality.
“Dëshmoret e Kombit “ (Martyrs of the Nation) boulevard was
constructed in 1930 with the name “Zogu I“ boulevard. In the
communism period, the part from “Skanderbeg“ square up to
the Train Station was named “Stalin“ boulevard.
The Palace of Culture where the Theatre of Operas and Ballet
and the National Library stand was finished in 1963. It was
raised on the ex-old Trade of Tirana and the ex- soviet
president Nikita Hrushov put on the first brick in 1959.
The monument of Skanderbeg built in 1968 is a work of Odhise
Paskali in collaboration with Andrea Mana and Janaq Paço. It
was placed there for the occasion of the 500-th anniversary
of the death of our national hero.
The monument “Mother Theresa”, 12 m high was inaugurated in
the cemetery “Dëshmoret e Kombit “ in 1971.
The Academy of Sciences was finished on April 1972.
The Gallery of Figurative Arts was created in 1976 and it
includes around 3200 works of Albanian and foreign authors.
The National Historic Museum was built in 1981 and the
ornament on its frontal part is called “Albania“.
The International Cultural Center, the ex- museum “Enver
Hoxha“ was inaugurated in 1988. “The Pyramid“ was projected
by a group of architects under the direction of Pranvera
Hoxha and Klement Kolaneci.
In 1990 Tirana had 250.000 inhabitants. Actually, the
massive overrun of inhabitants from all the other parts of
the country in the capital has increased the population of
Tirana to over 700.000 inhabitants.
In 2000 the center of Tirana, from the Central University
Corpus and up to the “Skanderbeg“ square was declared as
Cultural Assemble with particular values under the state ‘s
protection, that same year in this area began a restoring
process named “Return to Identity.”
Source: Albanian Government
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