12. TABAK BRIDGE
The Tanners' Bridge (Ura e Tabakëve) is an 18th-century ottoman period stone footbridge located in Tirana. The bridge was once part of the Shëngjergji Road that linked Tirana with the eastern highlands. The Shëngjergj Road furnished the city with agricultural produce and livestock. The bridge went across the Lana stream and was adjacent to the area of butchers and leather workers. The Lana was rerouted in the 1930s and the bridge was neglected. In the 1990s the bridge was restored to its former glory and is now used by pedestrians only.
The Tanners' Bridge was part of the road that connected Tirana with Debar through Shëngjergj, also called Shëngjergj Road (Rruga e Shëngjergjit). The road to Debar passed through Priskë e Madhe, Qafe Priskë, Domje, Shëngjergj, and further it continued through Bizë, Martanesh,
Zerqan and finally Debar. It was an important axis which linked Tirana with the eastern highlands of the city, and was mainly used by caravans of farming products or livestock to be butchered in the city. The butchering profession was owned by certain families such as Xheleti, or Kuka families. They were called tabakë in Albanian which is the profession that includes both butchering and tanning. The road within the city, a square and also the bridge itself were called Rruga e Tabakëve (English: Tanners' Road).
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