Pyramid

The pyramid, as it’s popularly known, opened in 1988 as a museum dedicated to the recently deceased Albanian dictator-cum-pharaoh Enver Hoxha. Designed by Hoxha’s daughter Pranvera, the building was reportedly the most expensive ever constructed in Albania. After the regime collapsed, the place became a conference centre and location of a club (called The Mummy, of course). Demonstrations prevented plans to demolish the structure, and recently it was transformed by Dutch architects MVRDV into a playful complex with colourful scattered boxes, with an educational centre and cafés inside. The exterior is fitted with steps providing free access to the peak, a great spot for sunset views. Near the street crossing, the Peace Bell is a memorial from 1999 made by the children of Shkodra; the metal for the bell came from thousands of bullet cartridges fired off in the lawless 1990s.