Easter in Albania

For a long time, roughly half-a-century, celebrating a religious festivity was a pure act of rebellion in Albania. Former dictator Enver Hoxha in his attempt to create the homo-sovieticus had banned anything from Christmas to Carnivals. Any challenge to the rule and you could be drop-shipped to the gulags as priority mail.

Tirana is the capital of Albania

Tirana is the capital and the largest city of Albania. Modern Tirana was founded as an Ottoman town in 1614 by Sulejman Bargjini, a local ruler from Mullet, although the area has been continuously inhabited since antiquity. Tirana became Albania's capital city in 1920 and has a population of over 600,000. The city is home to many universities and is the center of the political, economical, and cultural life of the country.