Bunk’Art 2

What this bunker was

Bunk’Art 2 occupies the former Ministry of Internal Affairs bunker on Rruga Abdi Toptani, around half a minute on foot from Skanderbeg Square. Built between 1981 and 1986, it was designed to withstand a chemical or nuclear attack. The 1,000-square-metre complex contains 24 rooms, including a suite intended for the interior minister and a communications hall.

The facility was code-named Objekti Shtylla—“Pillar Object”. It was originally accessible only from inside the ministry. The street-level entrance and exit were added later, when the bunker became a museum.

Read the museum as a timeline

The exhibition is arranged in three chronological sections:

• 1912–1939: the gendarmerie from independence to the Second World War.
• 1939–1944: security forces during the fascist and Nazi occupation.
• 1944–1991: the police and Sigurimi during the dictatorship.

The last section is the core of the visit. Documents, photographs, testimony and surveillance material explain how the secret police monitored and persecuted perceived opponents. The original bunker setting gives this material its force: concrete corridors, heavy doors and rooms built for a state apparatus preparing for crisis.

What to look for

Do not treat Bunk’Art 2 as a general bunker museum. Its subject is the machinery of internal control: policing, political persecution, prisons, internment and surveillance.

Take time with the files and listening equipment, rather than only photographing the architecture. The museum also uses artistic and multimedia installations alongside historical material. Information is presented in Albanian and English, so an independent visit is straightforward.

Allow about one hour as a minimum. Give yourself longer if you plan to read the displays closely. The subject matter is serious and can be distressing, particularly in sections dealing with repression and political prisoners.

Arrival and practicalities

Walk from Skanderbeg Square via the Clock Tower area to Rruga Abdi Toptani; the concrete dome makes the entrance easy to identify. The museum is open daily, currently listed as 09:30–18:30.

A combined Bunk’Art 1 and Bunk’Art 2 ticket is available and remains valid for 72 hours. Personal guides and audio guides in English or Italian are available; bring headphones if using an audio guide.

The route is underground, with confined spaces intrinsic to the building. Visitors uncomfortable in enclosed corridors should factor that in before entering.