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Then and Now

By aligning historical photographs with contemporary views taken from the same vantage point, Forgotten Albania documents how places have changed across time.

About the Project

Forgotten Albania is a visual documentation project dedicated to Albania’s architectural, urban, and cultural history. By pairing archival imagery with modern reconstructions, the project highlights continuity, loss, and transformation in the Albanian landscape.

The focus lies on cities, villages, and everyday environments that are central to lived experience and widely recognised within Albanian history. The images presented here do not depict marginal subjects, but familiar and representative settings, used to illustrate broader political, social, and urban processes across different historical periods.

A detailed explanation of the project’s aims, methodology, and sources is provided on the About page.

Explore by Location

All documented sites are organized geographically. Locations can be explored through an interactive map linking photographs to their historical and spatial context.

Ismail Qemal Vlora (1844-1919), Rruga Anita Bitri, Vlora, Bashkia Vlorë, Vlorë County, 9401, Albania

Buthrotum, SH81, Xarrë, Bashkia Konispol, Vlorë County, 9706, Albania

National Museum of Education, Shëtitorja Shën Gjergji, Korçë, Bashkia Korçë, Korçë County, Southern Albania, 7001, Albania

A wartime photograph shows a deceased civilian on the boulevard in front of Hotel Dajti during World War II. The modern view presents the same location as a restored urban axis, illustrating the boulevard’s transition from a site of conflict to a normalized civic space.

A 17th-century map depicts Kanina Castle as a fully developed fortress dominating the Bay of Vlorë. Modern drone footage reveals the surviving ruins and altered topography, illustrating the site’s strategic decline and long-term transformation.

 

This project is ongoing. New locations and comparisons are added over time.