Monday, September 21, 2015

Hoxha's Blisters Across Albania

Enver Hoxha was the dictator of Albania from 1944 until his death in 1985. The most iconic legacy of his rule are strange little concrete domes. Under Hoxha’s direction, Albania built 750,000 of the bunkers to defend a country the size of Maryland.

Even today the chunky mushrooms are everywhere … and they’re nearly indestructible.

The bunkers are all built to a standard design in small or large variants. Albania’s communist regime plopped the prefabricated fortifications all over the country, especially along the tiny country’s coastline.

But as the years wore on, Hoxha also insisted on placing thousands of bunkers in slightly more problematic spots — on city streets and in cemeteries, playgrounds and vineyard.

Everywhere, really.

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