Tank Base with Underground Garages SH

The grounds of a former military installation where a tank brigade of the Albanian army was stationed, tasked with defending the north of the country. The brigade was equipped with Type-59 tanks. Until around 2007–2009, tanks were still present on site, after which they were sent for scrap.

The base sits at the foot of a hill and consists of a flat open area and a cluster of tunnels bored into the hillside. The open area was used for parking vehicles in the open air, carrying out maintenance, and assembling troops. It also contains several buildings — a headquarters, barracks, storehouses, and the like — all now stripped to bare walls. The tunnels served as garages, a fuel depot, or housed the brigade headquarters. There are approximately eight tunnel-garages and four tunnels for headquarters and storage use. Each garage tunnel could accommodate four or five tanks. Some garages are connected to one another by narrow passages midway along their length. The tunnels were originally lined with plastic waterproofing, which survives in roughly a third of them. In one of the storage tunnels, a fire broke out, giving the surviving plastic panels an eerie, sinister texture.

The site has grown over somewhat with blackberry brambles and other vegetation. Locals graze livestock on the area where the tanks once stood. Entry is unrestricted — straight in from the main road.