From national to cultural monuments: an overview of architectural heritage protection in Albania (1912-1992)

Legislation on architectural heritage protection in Albania follows the political and historical events of the country. In this paper, I will outline how 'cultural monument' concept evolves within the main Albanian legislative timeline in the cultural heritage protection field. The discussion will highlight how cultural monuments significance, from the early concept of 'National Monuments' at the dawn of the new Albanian State, to 'Cultural Monuments' conceived as people common heritage, have always had, and still have, a pivotal role in the Albanian cultural debate. Purged from the regime ideology, those notions reflect the concept of monument intended as the main outstanding material testimony of an artefact or a constructive culture or of its formal and technical evolution which cannot be preserved through passive constraints. Finally, following the years after the regime collapse (1992), the recent updating of the national law on cultural heritage protection has been a priority for the country and the debate is still open. Thus, the 2000s legislative framework, evolved since the post-communist period until present, should be considered in the light of the transition from the notion of cultural monuments to that one of cultural heritage paying attention to cultural values recognition process and significance.