Travel Guide Tirana

Situation - Tirana, 862,000 inhabitants (2017) is the capital of the country. It is located 18 km southwest of Tirana Airport, 37 km east of Durrës, 45 km northwest of ElbasanPresentation - Whether you like it or hate it, Tirana cannot leave indifferent. For some, it is crowded, polluted and noisy for others, it is a febrile and bubbling city where the life and the vague memory of a reversed dictatorship are palpable. At any rate, it is a city that is rapidly changing. If you intend to become one of those rare tourists who have the curiosity to dwell on it, do not make the mistake of limiting your visit to museums, however interesting they may be. If winter is a little sad, the beautiful season offers urban scenes that you enjoy watching. By following the rhythm of the local population, by rushing to the avenues, in the parks and the coffee terraces, at 7:00 p. m. when heat fades, you will share this Mediterranean activity that is the promenade and evening discussion. Young people call these convivial pre-evenings "Xhiro".Geography and climate - Traversed by the tiny Lana River, the city extends into the large central Albanian plain, at an average altitude of 110 m. Terraced to the east at Mount Dajti (1,612 m) and Priska Mountain, it is bordered by the heights of Krrabe. Tirana enjoys a typical Mediterranean climate with generally mild winters and warm and sunny summers, often interconnected with torrential rains. The average annual temperature is 15 ° C. In July, the warmest of the year, mercury frequently flirts with 30-31 ° C. In winter, frost days are rare and count on fingers with one hand.Etymology - There are several assumptions about the origin of the word "Tirana". According to some, this name would have the same origin as the name of Iran's capital, Tehran, and would commemorate an Ottoman victory on the Iranians, a unlikely assumption because the name Tirana is mentioned in a previous Venetian document dating back to 1418. For others, Tirana would come from "Tirkan", a castle built at the B.C.B.C. and whose ruins can still be seen at the foot of Mount Dajti, east of the city. Some Greek and Latin sources would finally suggest that Tirana would come from «you ranat», a term used by inhabitants to designate materials transported by the waters of the mountains.