Bunk'Art 1

Useful Information

Location:	Rruga Fadil Deliu, Tiranë 1001. (41.3531404, 19.8612073)
Open:	All year daily 9:30-18. [2024]
Fee:
Classification:	Secret Bunker
Light:	Incandescent
Dimension:
Guided tours:
Photography:	allowed
Accessibility:	no
Bibliography:
Address:	Bunk'Art 1, Rruga Fadil Deliu, Tiranë 1001, Tel: +355-67-207-2905. E-mail:
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then. Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

1972	begin of construction of the bunker.
24-JUN-1978	bunker inaugurated.
NOV-2014	BUNK'ART 1 opened to the public.
19-NOV-2016	BUNK'ART 2 opened to the public.

Description

Bunk'Art 1 is a history museum dedicated to the Albanian history from World War I to the Communist Regime. It begins with the fascist occupation of Albania by Italy after World War I and the resistance of the Albanian people. During World War II Albanian partisans' fought against the German fascist occupiers. After the war the political system changed massively but not to the better, during the post-war period a communist state was built. This soon became the dictatorship of Enver Hoxha, a period characterized by oppression, isolationist policy, and the mad construction of thousands of bunkers. The fall of communism and the democratic transition was also difficult, as it started with the Balkan War.

The museum is located inside a huge bunker system. It was built in the 1970s as a hideout for dictator Enver Hoxha during an atomic war. It was designed to shelter the highest state and party leaders in the event of a nuclear attack. The construction took several years and included advanced technology for maximum protection and comfort. So the bunker actually represents the fear and paranoia of the Cold War multiplied with the fear and paranoia of the communist regime towards a possible external attack. But it was also intended as a hideout during natural desasters as well as upraises of the population.

The bunker has numerous rooms for various functions. Beneath the historic museum and the art exhibition, there are also several rooms of the bunker which were restored and can be visited. One of them is a suite which was meant for Enver Hoxha and his wife. It was the biggest and most luxurious part of the bunker. It started with an anteroom where his personal secretary worked, then a working office and a bedroom with a bathroom. The furniture is the most elegant of the whole bunker, though it is rather dull from our modern viewpoint. It was also the only room where the walls were covered by fiber walls. Enver Hoxha participated in two military drills after the inauguration of the bunker, but never slept in this room.

A second suite was reserved for the Prime Minister Mehmet Shehu. As he was also Minister of Defense, he personally supervised the construction of the whole structure. It has the same structure as Enver Hoxha's suite, but is a few meters smaller. Then there is a typical room of an officer, a fully equipped communication room, the suite of the Chief of General Staff.

Another important exhibition is about the program of bunkerisation between 1975 and 1983. In 1971, the 12th Plenum of the Central Committee of PPSH started with this program. A small country with 1.1 Million inhabitants planned the construction of 220,000 bunkers, in other words one bunker for 5 people, ever family gets its own bunker. At the end "only" 173.371 bunkers were built, and most of them were small, have massive design flaws and construction flaws. They are the defences of a regime that had completely sealed itself off from the outside world. The program lasted for eight years and caused hundreds of work accidents among the soldiers who constructed the bunkers. It's an impressive monument of paranoia combined with too much power.

The bunker was built into the foot of a hill in the northern part of Tirana. To reach it follow the signs for the cable car Dajti Ekspres, cross the car park of the lower station towards north, there is a footpath to the bunker entrance. The bunker also has its own car park at the eastern end of Rruga Fadil Deliu. This road is rather rough at the end, but it's an official road.

BUNK'ART is a bunker which was transformed into a museum and an art exhibition. The BUNK'ART project started 2014 with the opening of BUNK'ART 1. It consisted of a video museum exhibition dedicated to the history of the Albanian communist army and to the daily lives of Albanians during the regime. It is located in the atomic bunker of the dictator Enver Hoxha, on the outskirts of Tirana. BUNK'ART 2 was opened two years later with additional exhibitions. It is located in a bunker in the middle of the city. One is the history of the Albanian Ministry of Internal Affairs between 1912 and 1991, another about the Sigurimi, the political police used by the regime of Enver Hoxha to subdue his people. The originator of this museum was the Italian journalist Carlo Bollino. It has a staff which does the historical research and is led by the journalist Admirina Peçi. The project is supported by the Albanian NGO “Qendra Ura”.