Rinia Park (Parku Rinia, the “Youth Park”) is the leafy park on the main boulevard between Skanderbeg Square and Blloku. Locals often just call it “Taiwan”, after the restaurant and entertainment complex in the middle of it, with its fountain and terraces.
| Quick facts | |
|---|---|
| Where | Bulevardi Dëshmorët e Kombit, next to the Pyramid and the House of Leaves (Google Maps) |
| Price | Free |
| Time needed | 15–30 minutes, longer with a coffee |
The park dates from the communist era. In the 1990s and 2000s it was famously crowded with kiosks and illegal cafés, until the city cleared them in the early 2000s, part of the transformation of Tirana under then-mayor Edi Rama. The Taiwan complex, with its restaurants, café and fountain, was built around the same time.
The nickname comes from the complex itself. The white, terraced building sits on its own in the middle of the green, surrounded by fountains and water, so it looks a bit like a small island in the park. Tirana locals compared it to the island of Taiwan, and the name stuck, first for the building and then for the whole park.
Besides the restaurants, the Taiwan building also houses a casino and café complex, plus bowling and billiards in the basement. Out in the park there’s a large outdoor chess board with human-sized pieces that anyone can play on, and it usually draws a small crowd of onlookers. Rinia Park is also a favourite spot for dog walkers and people with pets, and for office workers and students who come to relax on the benches in the middle of the day.
Today it’s a pleasant place to sit in the shade, with good playgrounds for kids and benches around the fountain. It’s not a destination in itself, but you’ll walk through it anyway between the Pyramid, the House of Leaves and Blloku.
