The collapsed, old building of the Municipality of Ulcinj between the Clock Tower and the Namazgjah Mosque in Čaršija will probably be turned into the Maritime Museum of the city, and its reconstruction for this purpose, worth between 800.000 and one million euros, will be financed entirely by the capital of Albania - Tirana, as a gift.
"The conceptual project, which was built by the late Saim Nimanbegu, is before the parliament of Tirana for adoption and we expect a green light very soon. Bearing in mind that the building has all the necessary papers and permits for reconstruction, the works could start soon", a representative and official of the Force told the News. Ilir Chapuni.
His initiative about the urgent need for Ulcinj to have a Maritime Museum received the support of the then newly appointed Ambassador of Albania to Montenegro at the end of last year. Jacqueline Peto and the president of Tirana Erion Veliaj.
Capuni then said that Peto announced the implementation of that project in a welcome speech at the celebration of the Albanian Flag Day on November 28, 2023, which was organized by the National Council of Albanians in Montenegro.
"She announced at the time that the president of Tirana accepted our idea, so the city of which she is the head, Ulcinj, will gift the Maritime Museum where we can present the rich treasury and ancient maritime tradition of the people of Ulcinj through the ages," said Capuni at the time, who deserves the greatest credit for Ulcinj will finally have the opportunity to get a facility that has been lacking for decades and which will undoubtedly enrich the tourist offer of the southernmost municipality.
The President of Tirana Veliaj, Čapuni added, recently had a conversation with the President of the Municipality of Ulcinj Genci Nimanbeg, confirmed that the Assembly of the capital of Albania will soon adopt a proposal on the reconstruction of the Maritime Museum in the southernmost Montenegrin city.
The building of the former Municipality is one-story and has about 255 square meters inside, as well as the land belonging to it.
"We will do the settings and exhibits. We will create an expert group that will deal with it - collecting old maps, documents, pictures, artifacts... I think realistic format models of small vessels that sailed these seas will be particularly interesting," said Capuni.
The space around the building will be used to place models of ships and their parts, anchors...
As possible locations for the maritime museum, Pašina and Jola Zec's house on Pristan were previously considered, but the choice of Ulcinj fell on the old Municipality building.
"We were choosing a place for the Maritime Museum. In Tirana, they told us that they need a complete project with all restoration conditions. In this way, they renovated all the villas in Albania. That's why they recommended that we deliver everything to them completely, which we did," said Čapuni.
He noted that all maritime museums have enough space to display boats, anchors and other parts of ships.
"Only the section that would cover the Battle of Lepanto, in which the people of Ulcinj took part, would occupy more than 100 square meters. Ulcinj's maritime tradition is very rich. More than half of the book History of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries of Montenegro, by the author Dinko Franetović, refers to Ulcinj", said Capuni.
The news previously announced that on September 21, 2019, he and a group of enthusiasts from Ulcinj, Herceg Novi and Albania organized an exhibition of maritime traditions in Ulcinj, which had a huge impact in the region.
Čapuni, who was then president of the Ulcinj Municipality, suggested after the exhibition that a Maritime Museum be built on the Pier, next to the Seamen's Church, at the location of the former supermarket, which until then was owned by the Municipality.
He reminded that the Ulcinj shipyard - škver - was once located on that location, and assessed that the museum would complete the offer of Ulcinj and especially Pristan, which, as he said then, apart from Turbet, the Seamen's Mosque and the Earthquake Monument, does not have any landmarks that could attract tourists throughout the year.
However, the majority of councilors voted for the sale of that location for about one million euros for the construction of a hotel, leaving Ulcinj without an important facility.
"At that time, some claimed that there was never a skver. They are denied by old photos of smaller vessels that I own. Vessels were built and repaired there by masters from Ulcinj from the Ustabećiri, Tivari families... There is now another hotel at that location, which the architects agree looks like a foreign body in that area," said Čapuni.
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