PALACE OF BRIGADES IN TIRANA

Palace of Brigades in Tirana, Many of you have heard about the Presidential Palace in Tirana, the former Royal Palace and nowadays known as “Palace of Brigades”. The Royal Palace is open for the public only in weekends. The Royal Garden is truly amazing with big trees, colorful flowers and statues.

This palace has been surrounded by high walls and guards, and no one can come close to it without an invitation from insiders. The palace designed by three Italian architects, including Giulio Berte on 1936. Due to the outbreak of World War II, and the 1939 Italian Invasion of Albania, King Zog I fled Albania and never had a chance to see the Palace fully constructed. The Italians finished construction and used the Palace mainly for the Army Headquarters. The building was redesigned and completed in 1941, by the Florentine architect Gherardo Bosio.

The latest decades the Palace serves – even now- as the official residence of the President of the Republic of Albania and hosting State Receptions and Ceremonies, such as the annual end-of-year “Presidential Ball”. On 8 October 2016, inside the premise of the Presidential Palace was organized the wedding reception of Prince Leka II with Ms. Elia Zaharia.

Architecturally, the Palace belongs to a Rationalism style. It is unique in its genre, not only in the country but in the wider sphere of Fascist architecture, including in Italy itself. Its bas-reliefs were covered with drapes in the 1970s during the Cultural Revolution, but not destroyed.

Royal Garden, situated near the Grand Park of Tirana, but the palace gardens are quite extensive. The Royal Palace is surrounded by trees for nearly 200 meters. The gardens are decorated in patterns and shapes of various designs. The Royal Park has an area of 74 ha. In various areas there are fountains, sculpture gallery, tree-lined gardens, spiral-shaped flowers and labyrinths, flower garden and forest path. Also there are many sculptures, not all in good shape, which require an immediate restoration. The importance of this buildings stays in the fact that it resisted all the people’s interference. The woods are more than 80 years old, the same for other plants in the garden. Everything inside: the walls and rooms are preserved, but still need reassessment and revitalization because it hides a great potential of Albanian heritage. We would prefer to see there a guide, to show us all the history and the importance of everything hidden here. Probably the best way to visit this palace is to guide visitors and not let them wandering in the garden and everywhere. The good news is that Tirana has another interesting and important destination to impress the tourists.