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Derelict Albanian military island opens to tourism
http://www.france24.com/en/20150810-derelict-albanian-military-island-opens-tourismDerelict Albanian military island opens to tourism
Latest update : 2015-08-10
Former communist Albania's most secretive military base, the strategic Sazan island on the Adriatic Sea, has opened its derelict bunkers and tunnels, hoping to turn it into a top tourist draw.
Situated at the entrance of Vlora bay in southwestern Albania and at a strategic point on the Otranto canal that separates the Adriatic and Ionian seas, the tiny island of only a dozen square kilometres (4.5 square miles) was through centuries coveted by various armies: Roman, Ottoman, Greek, Italian and even German.
At the end of World War II, it fell under the control of Albanian communist leader Enver Hoxha, who in the 1950s opened it to Soviet allies eager to survey the entire Mediterranean from there.
The 3,000 soldiers who were stationed on the island lived under constant fear of an attack, but the worst enemy they ever had to face was loneliness.
