The bunkers - Tirana city guide

Many wouldn't think that Albania would become a great tourist destination one day and that these bunkers would have played a role in that. The major question that pops into our heads is why there are so many bunkers everywhere?

Well, it was due to national propaganda perpetrated by the communist regime. Fearing invasion during the Cold War, Albania’s leader Enver Hoxha forced his country to build tens of thousands of bunkers. Long after the regime’s collapse, many still remain and are now overgrown and left alone in the landscapes of Albania, lined like unearthly statues in deserted environments.

There are plenty of intriguing bunkers to visit around the city and this soundscape reflects just one of these abandoned lonely hulks standing throughout all weather conditions eroding grain by grain. If you listen to this haunting recording while looking at the photograph you can feel what the photograph cannot: a living presence across a duration of time.

Recorded by Rafael Diogo as a city sound guide for Cities and Memory - see more at https://citiesandmemory.com/city-sound-guides