2.2.1 Tirana, the construction of a capital city. Birth and evolution of the Ottoman city

2.2.1 Tirana, the construction of a capital city. Birth and evolution of the Ottoman city

Based on the theoretical research, the Architect Marco Stigliano has summarized this article for the design of the Albanian capital, Tirana, as follows:

The Ottoman conquest of Albania, which began in the 14th century, found in Tirana an important crossroads between the main transport routes between East and West.

The transformation of Tirana from a village to a city dates back to the seventeenth century when various religious buildings began to be built, as part of the desire to convert the population from Christianity to Islam. An urban system with a "diffuse archipelago" was formed: a series of distinct urban nuclei, which probably referred to powerful local families, organically organized around the centrality of the mosque which became the element of social and political aggregation of the population .

The first urban nucleus of Tirana probably grew around the old Pasha Sulejman mosque (1614), at the center of the current conformation of the city, at the intersection of the main interregional transit arteries. Along with the mosque, other buildings were erected, including those of the feudal lords and their relatives, on the right bank of the river Lana. The second urban nucleus was created in the early 18th century around the Fire Mosque about 600 meters north-west of the first nucleus, where today Rruga Barrikadave intersects Rruga Fortuzi. The mosque was called "Beshiri mosque" after its builder. The third nucleus was built north-east of the first and the Zajmi mosque was erected there, at the intersection of Rruga Dibrès and Rruga Thanas Ziko. The fourth nucleus dates back to the time of the foundation of the Haxhi Ethem mosque, about 200 meters west of the old mosque.

In other neighboring areas, around the first nucleus, other agglomerations were born, always with a mosque as a fulcrum (Stèrmas 1840; Kokonozi and Bèrxolli in the 19th century; Karapici 1858; etc.). Each of these nuclei was born independently of the others, until, as they grew up, they had merged to form a spontaneous urban design in patches of leopard. Added to this was the feudal fragmentation of the land and the absence of a central administration.

The construction of the Sulejman Pasha mosque, the Baths, the Inn, the Oven and the Pasha Kapllan Tomb, historically and architecturally symbolize the birth of the city of Tirana1. All these buildings, except the last one, have been destroyed over time, especially during and after World War II. The most historicized current pre-existing structures of the Ottoman period, the Ethem Beu mosque and the Clock Tower, were built between 1794 and 1822.

The city in this period was recognizable in two distinct areas: a residential one, with low brick houses, very extensive without apparent limits with the countryside; the other denser represented by the bazaar, a real shopping center, destroyed and rebuilt several times. The latter insisted on an area of about two hectares along the road to Dibrës at the intersection with the main interregional roads; Demolished and rebuilt in 1905, it had the typical appearance of the Ottoman market, the narrow and winding streets were defined by single-storey buildings consisting of a shop and a back room with wooden roofs that protruded in a cantilevered way. protect from bad weather. In 1960 the bazaar was definitively demolished to make way for the Palace of Culture.