This summer Albania plans to debut what it hopes will become a new
selfie spot for tourists: Sazan Island, a former military base that
still has bunkers and tunnels designed to withstand nuclear attack.
"What once was an isolated, unreached spot, a mystery to almost all
Albanians but a few then-communist leaders, may now turn into an
attractive place, especially for foreign tourists," says Auron Tare of
Albania's National Coastal Agency.
Sazan Island is still technically a military base, but only two sailors
remain, offering night shelter to navies patrolling Albanian waters.
"It's a mysterious island, part of the old communist Albania's mystery,"
says Celine Damery of France's Conservatoire du Littoral, which
conserves coastal areas.
The island's many trenches and tunnels show how much money the once
cash-strapped communist government spent fearing a Western invasion. But
now they're hoping Westerners will come, both to see Sazan and the
country's other attractions — unspoiled beaches, tall mountains and
history going back to ancient Greece. Tourism is now only 4.8 percent of
Albania's GDP, and most current tourists are either Albanian immigrants
visiting from Greece and Italy, or ethnic Albanians from neighboring Kosovo, Macedonia or Montenegro.
In addition to its military history, Sazan is also home to rare birds
and reptiles, with temperatures a pleasant 50 to 77 degrees F (10 to 25
C) year-round. Half the island's shore is accessible only from the
water, due to high rocks on land, but officials think it will be an
appealing place for activities like bird-watching and diving. Damery
says Sazan's "biodiversity, landscape and heritage" are unusual for the
Mediterranean.
Walking uphill on a mile-long pathway through pine trees and singing
birds, many of the 3,600 one-man bunkers can still be seen dotting the
hills, often in the shade of wild fig trees. It's not easy getting
inside the bunkers though: They're still guarded — by lizards and the
occasional snake.
Inland, the spooky, ruined buildings still contain old beds, kitchen
utensils, school benches and chairs. More than 3,000 troops lived here
at a time, with enough food, ammunition and fuel to sustain them for six
months.
Sazan "was Albania's airplane carrier into the sea, the port of defense
for (the nearby city of) Vlora and the Karaburun peninsula, the key to
controlling the Otranto Strait," says Ibrahim Gaxholi, 73, commander for
the base from 1975 to 1992.
Due to lack of maintenance, roofs have collapsed on a tailor's building
and small battery factory. But much of the destruction occurred in the
last 25 years, since Albania became democratic. The now-empty ammunition
and fuel depots were looted in 1997, when turmoil followed the collapse
of pyramid investment schemes that bankrupted Europe's poorest
population. More recently a cinema and former command building were
destroyed as targets for joint military exercises with British troops.
The Italian army was stationed here in the 1930s; Italian floor tiles
can still be seen in some places. Another interesting spot is a small
separate villa, with old equipment that served to monitor movements of
U.S. and Italian ships, especially during the 1950s and 1960s when
Albania was close to the then-Soviet Union. And hidden among the pine
trees on a hill is the villa of a communist defense minister, Beqir
Balluku, who was executed by late communist dictator Enver Hoxha as a
traitor.
http://abcnews.go.com/Travel/wireStory/albania-sees-tourism-island-military-past-30976486
http://abcnews.go.com/Travel/wireStory/albania-sees-tourism-island-military-past-30976486
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