Sights · 37 of the best in Tirana
Postbllok – Checkpoint
Bunker, Berlin Wall and Spaç
Photo Credit
Image courtesy of © Pasztilla aka Attila Terbócs · CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia CommonsAbout Postbllok – Checkpoint
At the corner of the boulevard and Blloku, Postbllok marks the checkpoint that once guarded the leadership’s quarter. Co-created by the writer and former dissident Fatos Lubonja and the artist Ardian Isufi, the memorial brings together a concrete bunker, concrete supports from the Spaç labour camp, where political prisoners suffered between 1968 and 1990, and a painted section of the Berlin Wall from Potsdamer Platz. It takes five minutes to see and stays with you much longer.
Where Blloku began
Until 1991, the streets of Blloku were closed to ordinary Albanians. The quarter was reserved for the leaders of the Communist Party and their families, and guards stood at the checkpoints. At the corner of the main boulevard and the entrance to Blloku, Postbllok marks one of those checkpoints.
Three pieces, one memorial
The memorial was created by the writer and former political prisoner Fatos Lubonja and the artist Ardian Isufi. It brings together a small concrete bunker of the kind built in their hundreds of thousands across Albania; concrete supports from the mine at Spaç, the notorious labour camp where political prisoners suffered between 1968 and 1990; and a brightly painted section of the Berlin Wall from Potsdamer Platz.
A bunker, a slab of the Berlin Wall and concrete posts from a mine where prisoners worked: three pieces that tell one story.
Together they speak of isolation, imprisonment and, finally, the fall of the walls that divided Europe.
How to see it
It takes five minutes to look at and longer to absorb. Read the panels, then look across the boulevard to the government buildings and down into Blloku, now full of cafés and bars, and think about how recently this was forbidden ground.
Our advice: stop at Postbllok on your walk from the Pyramid into Blloku, and then visit the House of Leaves or Bunk’Art 2 to understand the system it remembers.
Why it's on our list
- Open-air memorial
- Berlin Wall section
- By Blloku
Opening hours, prices and seasonal openings change, so please check with Postbllok – Checkpoint before you go.
Plan your visit
- Where Corner of Bulevardi Dëshmorët e Kombit and Blloku
- Allow Ten minutes
- Created by Fatos Lubonja and Ardian Isufi
- Next Walk into Blloku
What’s nearby
Distances from Postbllok – Checkpoint are approximate, measured in a straight line (as the crow flies). Times are approximate too: walking at about 80 metres a minute, cycling at about 15 km/h and driving at typical city-traffic speeds. Traffic and routes vary.
Nearest taxi ranks
- Taxi rank, Bulevardi Dëshmorët e Kombit100 m1 min walk
- Taxi rank, Rruga Ibrahim Rugova150 m2 min walk
Key sights
- The Pyramid of Tirana250 mWalk 3 minCycle 1 minCar or taxi 4 min
- Tirana Castle650 mWalk 8 minCycle 3 minCar or taxi 5 min
- Bunk’Art 2700 mWalk 8 minCycle 3 minCar or taxi 5 min
- House of Leaves700 mWalk 9 minCycle 3 minCar or taxi 5 min
- Skanderbeg Square750 mWalk 9 minCycle 3 minCar or taxi 5 min
- Et’hem Bey Mosque750 mWalk 10 minCycle 3 minCar or taxi 5 min
- Clock Tower of Tirana800 mWalk 10 minCycle 3 minCar or taxi 5 min
- National Historical Museum950 mWalk 12 minCycle 4 minCar or taxi 6 min
- New Bazaar (Pazari i Ri)1.1 kmWalk 14 minCycle 4 minCar or taxi 6 min
- Grand Park & Artificial Lake5.0 kmCycle 20 minCar or taxi 18 min
Getting around
- Tirana International Airport (TIA)13 kmCar or taxi 43 min