Rrëshen | |
---|---|
Administrative Unit | |
Coordinates: 41°46′N 19°53′E / 41.767°N 19.883°ECoordinates: 41°46′N 19°53′E / 41.767°N 19.883°E | |
Country | Albania |
County | Lezhë |
Municipality | Mirditë |
• Administrative Unit | 120 km2 (50 sq mi) |
Elevation | 90 m (300 ft) |
Population (2011) | |
• Administrative Unit | 8,803 |
• Administrative Unit density | 73/km2 (190/sq mi) |
Time zone | CET (UTC+1) |
• Summer (DST) | CEST (UTC+2) |
Postal Code | 4601-4602 |
Area Code | 0216 |
Vehicle registration | MR |
Website | www |
Rrëshen (definite Albanian form: Rrësheni) is a small town and a former municipality in Lezhë County, in northern Albania.
In 1921, the city served as the de facto capital of the unrecognised state of the Republic of Mirdita.
At the 2015 local government reform it became a subdivision and the seat of the municipality Mirditë. It was the administrative seat of the former Mirditë District The population at the 2011 census was 8,803.
As an administrative seat, the town has schools and a hospital. After the Communist era, new facilities such as a hotel, a restaurant and a cultural centre sprung up in the area. The trunk route from the Kosovar border to Tirana and Durrës pass to each side of Rrëshen, providing good communications with the capital and the Adriatic. Before the Second World War, the city was classed as a small village but administrative change and a rise in the mining industry have boosted the city's status although since the fall of Communism, most of the mines have become disused. This has resulted in mass migration to Tirana and larger more industrial centres.
Its Katedralja e Jezusi i Vetmi Shpëtimtar i Botës is the episcopal see of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Rrëshen, which was created in 1996 by promoting the Territorial Abbacy of Shën Llezhri i Oroshit from Territorial Abbey to a bishopric. It is a suffragan in the province of the Metropolitan Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Tiranë–Durrës.