Sheshi Skënderbej is the heart of Tirana, a wide pedestrian plaza covered in pale stone and ringed by the most important buildings in the country: the National History Museum, the Et'hem Bey Mosque, the Palace of Culture (housing the National Opera), the City Hall, and the National Bank. The slightly off-centre equestrian statue of Skanderbeg — Albania's fifteenth-century national hero — gives the square its name.
Once choked with traffic and Soviet-era megaprojects, the square was pedestrianised and resurfaced in 2017 with stones brought from across Albanian territory, and is now genuinely pleasant to cross at human pace. Come at sunset to see locals strolling and skateboarders gathering at the museum end. The fountains at the periphery light up after dark.