27 June 2008 | A massive underground compound built during the totalitarian regime of Albania’s communist dictator Enver Hoxha in his city of birth, Gjirokastër, is opening up for visitors after almost four decades, national media reported today.

The settlement, according to the Gazeta Shqiptare newspaper, was built in the 1970s in order to house all the former communist leaders in the case of a foreign attack or danger. It contains a system of tunnels with more than 100 rooms, as well as bathrooms and toilets.

The underground settlement is just another material evidence remaining from the paranoia of Enver Hoxha, one of the world most isolationaist dictators, who had more than 700,000 bunkers built between 1950 and his death in 1985. Their concrete domes still dotting the entire country’s landscape, they were intended to protect Albanians in case of a foreign invasion.

But while the bunkers are readily visible and could be enetred into freely, this was not the case with the underground compound. Even though the residents of the Gjirokastër have known about the tunnel’s existence for some time, it has taken the municiplaity nearly 37 years to open its inside to the public. Because of the high tourist interest in the place, local authorities reporedly intend to ‘revive’ it by renovating it and putting in electricity. According to Gazeta Shqiptare, it is very probable that a special museum, dedicated to the communist past, will also be opened at the place.

This will likely add another reason to warrant a visit to the southern Albanian city. As a UNESCO World Heritage, Gjirokastër - beautifully located in the valley between the Gjerë Mountain and Drin River, boasts a well-preserved Ottoman part. The Kalaje e Gjirokastres castle which overlooks the city dates to pre-Christian times.

Readers' Comments: A new guidebook to Gjriokastra will be published early in 2009, titled Gjirokastra: the essential guide, it contains lots of practical information for travellers to Albania and is packed with interesting cultural and historical information on Gjirokastra and the surrounding region (including the communist command tunnels). This is the first guidebook on the market that does justice to the rich and diverse cultural history of Gjirokastra and, as the title suggest, will be an essential companion to travellers to this region. Published by the Gjirokastra Conservation and Development Organization, it will be available from Oxbow Books - http://www.oxbowbooks.com/, and the Tourist Information Centre in Gjirokastra (Telephone: +355 84 67077, Website: www.gjirokastra.org , Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it ). Felicity Booth, Butrint Foundation