As the centrepiece of Vlore’s Square of the Flag, the Independence Monument marks Albania’s declaration of independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1912.
It was designed by Mumtaz Dhrami, a prolific 20th-centrury sculptor who completed a host of works around Albania in communist times.
His Independence Monument is from 1972 and exemplifies the socialist-realist style, so today it memorialises both Albania’s independence and the country’s difficult post-war years.
