Tirana yesterday...Tirana today


The name of the city I live in has a close phonetic connection to the word....Tyrant!! Et voila the dictionary's definition: An absolute ruler, especially one who is harsh and oppressive- Big Brother, despot, dictator, führer, man on horseback, oppressor, strongman, totalitarian. Baaaaad guy...

M.i.l.l.i.o.n.d.o.l.l.a.r.q.u.e.s.t.i.o.n: Has this meaning something to do with the origin of the name? From what I am reading, it seems that it does not.

From the many hypotheses that I have read, I picked the ones that I prefer:

Hyp. 1- Honouring my Greek buddy Dimitri and the film Big Fat Greek Wedding...the first hypotheses is that Tirana comes from the old Greek word for 'dairy'= 'tyros'; in theory, Tirana's area was in the past a field where shepherds gathered to trade dairy products. However, this sounds like a Greek nationalistic intervention to the Albanian heritage...yoghurt, greek tyros....naaaay...not convincing.

Hyp. 2- Another explanation is that Tirana was so named by Sulejman Pasha, a Turkish martinet during Turkey's conquest of Persia around the 17th century, after Tehran (capital of ex-Persia, now Iran). Tehran/Tirana, Teran/Tiran, Tirin/Tiran...Fieesta! See the connection?

Hyp. 3- The previous version has been refuted because it seems there are documents from the 15th century where the name of Tirana appears; Mr. Pasha, adamant to be considered the founder, explains that when visiting Tirana's field back in the 17th century came across a woman who was "Po Tir An" (spinning silk)...

Any other version?

See an old and a new picture from Tirana. The new one...from my office's window.
Today I am going to Voskopoje, a wonderful, unknown place, hidden in the mountains.

La Tirana

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