Country Summary for ALBANIA

Definitions (Law No. 9048, Art. 3):

“Inventory”—record and the identification of cultural heritage objects. (§13)

“Protection”—method (legal or otherwise) of preserving, maintaining, restructuring, or conserving cultural heritage. (§15)

“Cultural Monument”—object or structure of cultural and historical value, protected by the state. (§16)

“Object Under Preliminary Protection”—includes tangible cultural property, expected to be declared cultural monument by the responsible body. (§17)

“Object Under Supervision”—cultural property not yet declared cultural monument, to be included as property under state protection. (§18)

“Unique Object”—architectonic work in general use or with artistic or ornamental features, which up to a given moment is identified as tangible cultural heritage. (§19)

“Heritage of National Values”—tangible or intangible cultural property with historic and cultural value to the Nation. (§27)

“Heritage of Museum Values”—tangible property that deserves to be preserved in a museum for its historic, cultural or artistic value. (§28)

“Heritage of Particular Values”—tangible or intangible cultural property of noticeable value. (§29)

“Heritage of Unique Values”—tangible or intangible cultural property unique in its kind. (§30)

“Archaeological Value”—monuments, historical settlements, and objects or parts from these constructions discovered in archaeological excavations bearing historical and cultural value. (§31)

“Ethnological Value”—tangible or intangible cultural property linked to essential national features. (§32)

“Traditional Craft”—tangible part and experience of our popular handicrafts' masters through centuries. (§33)

“Archaeological Area”—surface area over which archaeological excavations are taking place or where stratums bearing archaeological compositions have been identified. (§34)

The cultural heritage is composed of tangible and intangible values, which are part of the national property.

The tangible values of the cultural heritage are as follows:
1) Objects of immovable cultural heritage, where there are included:
a) centers, zones and regions, dwelling or non-dwelling, of archaeological historical, ethnological, architectonic and engineering value. Here are included also objects of such characteristic being of ruin situation, of over 100 years old.
b) Urban, architectonic and historical ensemble , buildings or building constructions of particular values; As such are the objects of this kind in ruin status, of over 100 years old;

2) Objects of movable cultural heritage, where there included:
a) Objects, parts or elements of objects, as described in letter “b” of point 1 of this Article, such as mosaics, capitols, sculptures, columns, mural pictures, icons, iconostate, characteristic ceilings, epitaphs, tombs, of 100 years old.
b) Archaeological movable stuffs, coming out from archaeological excavations, are collected by the archaeological searches or they come as occasional findings or which are preserved in collections or other various funds;
c) The artistic creations of all kinds and types. Here there are excluded the creations of the living authors;
d) Archive documents of national historical importance.
e) Manuscripts and publications, books and periodicals of particular historical and bibliographical values.
f) Various philatelic, numismatics art collections, of a seniority over 25 years old.
g) Traditional working, handcrafts and living tools. The mechanisms,     
h) Producing technology of traditional products;
i) Cold steel and fire arms, both handicrafts and fabricated productions of the beginning of World War II;
j) Individual objects of historical distinguished personalities.
k) The objects included into the properties’ inventory, declared under preservation or protection, of the museum network and of the artgalleries and state institutions of the country up to the year 1991.

The intangible values of the cultural heritage are as follows:
1) The use of the Albanian language in the literary works;
2) The memory recall verbal (wordy) folklore, written or recorded;
3) Vocal, choreographic or instrumental folklore;
4) Customs and traditional habits ( morals);
5) beliefs and traditional dependences;
6) various traditional crafts; (Law No. 9048, Art. 4)

Registry

1) The Institute of the Cultural Monuments, the National Centre of the Cultural Properties’ Inventory, the Institute of Archaeology, the Institute of Folk Culture and the General Directorate of the State Archives, in pursuing the scientific criteria, shall ascertain the values of the tangible and intangible cultural heritage, as such already declared, which are property of any physical or legal person, and make up their certification.

2) These objects, must be obligatorily recorded in the National Center of the Cultural Property Inventory, which issues the certification passport of the object based on the above mention data.

3) Whatever some change into the proprietorship of the objects should be registered in the National Center of the Cultural Property Inventory. (Law No. 9048, Art. 7)