Pickaxe and Rifle
Enver Hoxha’s socialist bunkers
The quest for freedom and democracy in Albania started some 30 years ago, when popular revolutions spreaded all over the country. In a couple of months the demonstrations brought to the first multi-party elections of the Balkan State (March 1991). Before that moment Albanians were living for decades under the isolationism of a ferocious socialist dictatorship. After the fall of the regime, in less than thirty years, the country has changed a lot on the path towards liberal democracy. The route is still far to be fully accomplished but there is a general will of leaving the past behind, starting from its architectonical remnants from the brutalist period as well as from the previous Italian fascist occupation.
In this complex context, thousands of defensive bunkers are still lying as ubiquitous elements of the Albanian landscape and force the community to face its recent History. All these concrete structures of various dimensions were designed during the government of Enver Hoxha, the communist leader of the State from 1944 to 1985.
Nobody knows their actual number: some estimates suggest that they might be up to 750,000, scattered all around the country. Their construction took place from 1967 until 1986 and it follows a fixed engineered drawing created by Josif Zagali, a military architect whose career followed the destiny of the regime itself. Zagali was a partisan during WWII and then became one of the closest advisors of the dictator. In 1974 he was accused of espionage and was finally sent to a labour camp. Only a few years before his death he repented for his loyalty to the regime. Despite this hectic rush, though, none of the bunkers have ever been used in a real conflict (or as a defensive device against an enemy invasion) during Hoxha’s rule.
The structures have today lost their original purpose and most of them lie in ruins or in full abandonment (while only a few have been converted to civil or private use), but they still represent a vivid testimony against nationalism and authoritarian regimes.
![A command-and-control bunker, known as Pike Zjarri ("firing point") or PZ, in Bilisht, close to the border with Greece. PZ bunker domes have a diameter of 8 metres and weigh around 400 tons](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/a4cb444c0008d8e1af194987c248fb86811ae2ff6912d1aabbf61b79dbf24870/Albania-013-OK.jpg)
![Underground bunker in the centre of Tirana, now transformed into museum](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/f5ecb2300b7b7080c77ec2292792aae3fb2a5995d763015b99ce629d8bfd7839/Albania-016-Tirana-centre.jpg)
![A bunker now converted into business warehouse for the conservation of fish products in Labinot Fushë](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/bdd12f4d37944403c23168207dc58f539832436fee29145baf8f59d9dee436ef/Albania-018.jpg)
![A bunker now used as private storage facility in the Cape of Rodon area](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/85c08af249cb1c9c3928a076a1f68dc53781ecb39ca02df6e57f143f91f15784/Albania-014.jpg)
![Porto Palermo Tunnel. This submarine bunker is one of the biggest fortifications of Albania](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/cf214087a993650c516466acf542f383277ee165cd762958a14a42af4a9d1862/Albania-009.jpg)
![Collapsed QZ bunker in Memëlisht. Qender Zjarri ("firing position") bunkers are the most common ones in the country. They had space for one or two people](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/9514243f796115383fce53e75e6da8225bb8f67de85c66df08d76bf4666fc6da/19.jpg)
![A peddler uses an old entrance of the underground bunker in Gjirokastër to show her textile items](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/ba931e53e2049ecffca5b7853cedaf75c469540f7f94785e45dd50e66bc6917b/10.jpg)
![This former PZ bunker is now a private property in Lezhë](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/29791b91e687ffe6862e4492df04d1641f825040507f9149f2936ea888950a61/22.jpg)
![This bunker has been adapted as an accomodation at the entrance of a camping in Udenisht](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/549c5564348e0cc37de9d5a53b71ba88fa05dcfeba19126fb6bda0407cb998e1/15.jpg)
![A tomb in the Tirana cemetery converted from an old military bunker](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/4d1c6b5ccb636e6e5b4c7cbad692b11db6ea23d852f064c10743c3ccc0d22c53/Albania-003-Tomba-Tirana.jpg)
![A re-assembled QZ bunker within a paintball field in Tiranë](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/88e91182139399bf3643367c2382e8a186c690619f25fc9d2ece429176f852df/23.jpg)
![QZ bunker alongside a central road in Durrës](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/2ed157933aacbb77a21252c86c947161f28658628cf6bb6686cf374ff2285e11/06.jpg)
![A bunker converted into restaurant on the beach of Golem](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/2ad2b51b49ba8db8dc1d4ddd2d3abe52ef7c3bfa0cd33e7bf0970edfa88764ce/Albania-004-Golem--restaurant.jpg)
![A bunker close to a restricted area next to the port of Durrës](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/2436d78b1192a29f5b560cebbd32d1523ea15538cdc54248e9d460362aa1155e/08.jpg)
![A concrete tunnel dug into the rock, close to the thermal baths of Bënjë](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/8a23b5bd56e1fbff0971611eb09d2240aed5d62e24cd05c454da2ac1db70f931/Albania-002.jpg)
![Bunkers in Tale](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/bf55b7214902b4c1df3025dd09cc47f8c3d3d2439c2d6554a16655b3434fe1ab/20.jpg)
![PZ bunker next to a house in Mirakë](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/1681ce72d30fb71f338054daa888404a933eca66585c570aad206a8516d1dca5/Albania-011.jpg)
![QZ bunker on the SH8 road, close to Himarë](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/2ef7bb032e9fe33c1a119c1f6170899760855fb9726271922ee3ff71a673bf6c/24.jpg)
![The writing on the bunker says: "The land is for rent". Librazhd, central Albania](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/ab44dd30a621a873a7da13d7740a514aea91f2c451777185a403ab369e044a1f/16.jpg)
![QZ bunker among the Albanian Alps, a few miles away from the village of Theth](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/6246982921bcdabe03ee32ba481da172a2eb3b7c1d9ba028be8976b0db3f66d9/21.jpg)
![A pomegranate tree found its way inside an abandoned QZ bunker](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/146090877926780646fb13c7ed50ef2f521f860626a9711f96d3a8f0907ee432/03.jpg)
![QZ bunker facing the border with North Macedonia in Pogradec](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/14bbec898dd14098e42cc890e83b1c722ccf1305df2b7cafdfa365a033eba860/13.jpg)
![QZ bunker in Mesopotam](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/4f30f6aa9cd354f4df4f2657313784558d0392de0943876216bc75d16b626fef/Albania-020.jpg)
![This bunker became the studio of a well-known tattoo artist in Lashaj](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/4edea093ea712f8966a459391297fa6088e440bef59a69e80ad72f7218a53d78/25.jpg)
![A bunker in a public park in Shkodër](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/c0ae8b989d80310127fd6d7619266339737a55dff839ff9c080f9b92af3ed7b2/17.jpg)
![Cape of Rodon. The entrance of a fortified tunnel, now in full abandonment](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/6ae24291bc69040ccf78d449f0629d51a5f8795246cb9ff406de2e521fbfa3db/Albania-015.jpg)
![Collapsed bunkers on the banks of Lake Ohrid, Pogradec](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/b875a6750c3f5a8a28e60cb0471389e44c08dc151dcc948f3c6bb3beba167d68/Albania-010.jpg)
![Exit of the Cold War Tunnel in Gjirokastër. This former nuclear bunker (now a tourist attraction) crosses underground the whole old city](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/32c52ef8f0aa1f2786b8995b12d46a3a201fbe67bbc08e68d0c2c3afbd575490/Albania-021-Argirocastro.jpg)
![Closed entrance of a tunnel, in the centre of Berat](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/8c392f87e396465312de26b28736a4763bf5aea262cbe4c4dd4fac6f753ed0c6/Albania-007-OK.jpg)
![PZ bunker on the beach of Golem](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/73891e4922f3b706e08466e14605fec3fb7cfb88d38e5daf7e12f97516c56b59/Albania-006-Golem--beach.jpg)
![Urbanautica Catalogue, 2020](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/d57d0dbe8ef1c8155c9da678f4d6436dea2dcd486b8d837b37afa9f6e40c4eff/04.jpg)
![Urbanautica Catalogue, 2020](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/71c918c126c15d37fedc87eb30299557e82461ab095c2dd92ed0b3f8e904d022/03.jpg)
![Urbanautica Catalogue, 2020](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/b85dfe4c15bbba31e32b47bb1c7596d91270ac53716467ec321bd955e719564a/02.jpg)
![Urbanautica Catalogue, 2020](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/0c9777385c900ba82d49f987d090a31ac5ec2ad76ae9293ac680263bec335671/01.jpg)
![Bunkers exhibition @ Fotogalerie Friedrichshain, Berlin (Germany) ph. Claire Ducresson-Boët](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/8c992a3f9ac9dc7db353f610a26a6f06743301beed8fb23bbc91222b91e14fa7/TRANSITION_ClaireDucressonBoet_26.jpg)
![Bunkers exhibition @ Lab27, Treviso (Italy) ph. Noemi Civiero](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/ea34c779a6c61eb7385e437e465f09b8ed09ed52fdff66dccea1057b83254497/post-bellico-installaz3.jpg)
Filippo Bardazzi ©2024