Historical Museum L

During the communist era this small town served as the administrative centre of its district, and a local history museum operated here documenting the region’s history, natural environment, mineral deposits, industry, and the traditional crafts and labour of the local population.

The museum has since closed, and its building has become a playground for neighbourhood children who hurl stones at the remaining windowpanes and cover the walls in graffiti. Inside the near-empty shell, however, a number of exhibits have managed to survive: sculptures, a scale model of an iron-nickel ore-processing complex complete with a mine shaft, maps and informational charts, and posters and photographs recording Enver Hoxha’s official visits. One would like to believe that the collections once housed in the now-bare display cases were not simply looted, but moved somewhere for exhibition or at least for storage.

The building is unguarded, though partially covered by security cameras owing to a mosque construction site nearby. Approaching the museum is entirely unobstructed.