Tag: Yugoslav history

Ever stood inside a Cold War nuclear bunker built to survive an atomic blast? Across the Balkans, these strange concrete domes have become a unique part of the landscape. Built by Tito's communist regime in Yugoslavia and Enver Hoxha in Albania, Balkan bunkers are some of the most fascinating Cold War relics you can explore on our adventure holidays in Europe. From Albania’s mushroom-shaped bunkers dotted across beaches and mountains to Tito’s secret nuclear shelter hidden in the Bosnian hills, Balkan bunkers show us what it was like to live under paranoid surveillance states. With military tensions once again creeping into the news, these subterranean worlds feel newly relevant. Eerie though they are, local people have been turning old communist bunkers into everything from museums and tattoo studios to wine cellars. Being adventure travellers, we love exploring these hidden - and scenic - places. Scroll down to find out how we seek out the best Balkan bunkers on our Albania, Bosnia and Serbia hiking holidays : Albania: the capital of Balkan bunkers  If there is a global capital of communist bunkers, Albania claims it hands down. Under the paranoid dictatorship of Enver Hoxha, the country was sealed off from the world and obsessively fortified against imagined invasion. Between the 1960s and 1980s, an estimated 173,000 to 750,000 were constructed, giving Albania he highest concentration of Cold War bunkers anywhere in the Balkans – and arguably the world. These surreal mushroom-shaped domes were designed so that every citizen could, in theory, help defend the country. You don’t need to hunt for bunkers in Albania – they appear everywhere, like giant stealth tortoises. In city parks, perched above beaches, sunk into vineyards and looming over mountain passes. Some have been painted with bright yellow emojis, others turned into tattoo parlours. In Tirana,