The Culture of Albania

The Albania culture has Greek, Roman, Italian, Byzantine, Turkish and Slavic influences.

Art - Painting was strongly influenced by Byzantine art between the V and the XV century, although by the end of the early Renaissance, between the XV and XVII centuries, the Italian influence was very strong. Paintings of religious images were created in the middle of the XVIII century and continued to be common until the XX century. Artists of the XX century, like Vangjush Mijo and Androniqi Zenge, introduced impressionism to the west. Odhise Paskal, another artist of the XX century made sculptures of Albanian heroes. The folkloric art of nowadays includes clothes decorated with ornaments of silver, wood pieces made by hand for domestic use and carpets of wool.

Architecture - the architectonic but old monuments in Albania are from the first millennium before Christ and were constructed by the Illyrians. Greek and the Romans who occupied Albania still constructed structures that are still visible in urban and rural landscapes. The Christian religious architecture emerged in the north of Albania, whereas the Turkish and Islamic architectonic style emerged in the south.

In the middle of the XX century, most of the Albanian cities had residences of two floors with tiled roofs. In regions with wood the houses were constructed of planks instead of brick. Nowadays, this type of Soviet house predominates in the urban zones and the suburbs, whereas the style of traditional architecture predominates in the rural and mountainous regions.

Museums and Libraries - Albania has several museums of archaeology, ethnography and religious and nonreligious art. In Tyrant, the capital, lays the National Museum of Archaeology, founded in 1948. The most prestigious library is the National Library, founded in 1922 and located in Tyrant. It has a million books, the majority acquired through the communist confiscation of private libraries. Another library with a great collection is in the University of Tyrant, founded in 1957.