This is what the Pyramid of Tirana looked like in 1996 and it had been opened in 1988 as the Enver Hoxha Museum, the inept communist leader of Albania who trashed the country’s economy and banned the entire population from travelling overseas. The now disgraced Hoxha was widely detested and as soon as communism fell the museum closed, despite it being the most expensive building constructed in the country. During the 1999 Kosovo War, it was used as a base by NATO and it was also used as a conference centre.
There was a great deal of confusion about what to do with the structure, with some people wanting it to be demolished, but there were many others who wanted it repurposed. So, in 2023, that’s what they did, they repurposed it and put steps up so that people could walk up it. This was a little bit of a throwback to the past when local kids used to climb up it and then slide down, which wasn’t quite what the authorities wanted.
Here it is today, with the interior being a little under-used, although there are cafes and some charitable institutions use the facilities.
The views from the top.
It was probably a little too hot to be climbing all these steps if I’m being honest. Climbing the steps seems popular with locals and visitors, with Tirana being increasingly visited by tourists. All this freedom would have horrified Enver Hoxha, who was perhaps rather fortunate to have died from natural causes before communism collapsed, as otherwise he would have joined his wife, Nexhmije Hoxha, in prison. The only museum to Hoxha in the city today is that which tells the story of his totalitarian rule where people lived in fear.