Rubik, Albania

41.77444444444419.78611111111177Koordinaten: 41 ° 46 'N, 19 ° 47'

Rubik ( Albanian: Rubiku ) is a small town in northern Albania in the mountainous region of Mirdita. The municipality has 4454 inhabitants, of which lives about half of the families in the village itself. It is situated on a narrow point in the river valley below a rock fan. There are also in the community another eleven villages. The earth around Rubik is not very fertile. The river is also entered in the recent past after heavy rainfall repeatedly over the banks and the city has partially flooded.

In the previously mentioned rock stands a church which is one of the most historically important religious buildings in the country. As one of the few churches in the region, it was not completely destroyed by the Communists. The small Kisha se Shëlbuemit ( Church of the Ascension ) was built in the 12th and 13th centuries as a simple, Byzantine construction. The frescoes in the apse have been dated to the year 1272. The church on the strategic rock was while fighting in World War II and subsequent rebellions of the local population severely damaged. As a result, it was hardly entertained. Only in the 1990s, the church was renovated with foreign support again. Austrians restored the frescoes. Belong to the church today a ruined Franciscan convent and a chapel dedicated to Saint Anthony ( Holy Evangelist Nou ).

Until the Second World War, Rubik was not much more than a few houses around the church. In the interwar period, copper was found in the vicinity. The Communists built as part of the industrialization of the country, a small town as well as a metallurgical factory, was melted in gold, silver and copper. Since the collapse of communism, the factory no longer works. The closure of the only major local employer did for most residents unemployment. The only significant revenue sources of emigrants since then.

The site is characterized by numerous apartment blocks. The town stretches along the main road, wedged between the hill slopes and the wide river bed. On the other side of the valley lies the copper factory, formerly heavily polluted the environment. As a result of heavy rainfall there have been repeated floods that have caused damage to homes, roads, bridges and other infrastructure significantly in Rubik and environment. The fan is last burst its banks in 2002.

The railroad track of Milot after Rrëshen across the river was shut down mid-1990s; the tracks were removed in part.

Rubik is conveniently technically located on the road from Durres to Kosovo. The transport corridor is completed at the time to a four-lane highway. The highway follows the former Eisnbahnstrang on the eastern riverbank. From Milot to Rubik the course is completed as a dual carriageway. Immediately after leaving the village, where the old road crosses the river in the north of Rubik, ending the new line.