Elbasan, Albanian belly button 

Elbasan, also Elbasani, city in central Albania, capital of Elbasan District, on the Shkumbin River, near Tiranë. The city is the terminus of a railroad from Durrës and a market center for the area, where tobacco, olives, fruit, grapes, cotton, grains, and vegetables are grown. Industries include production of olive oil, wine, cigarettes, leather, textiles, flour, and handicrafts. A 15th-century fortress in Elbasan contains a museum of antiquities. The present city was built by the Turks in 1466 on the site of ancient Scampa, on the Via Egnatia. Population (1990 estimate) 83,300. 

Elbasan - The First Ferris Wheel in the
World, from National Geograpic Archives

Reinventing The Ferris Wheel

A splintery spin on this "pleasure wheel" was a bit of fun in Elbasan, Albania, in 1924. Such amusements may have originated from working waterwheels centuries ago; the earliest written description, of a Bulgarian ride, dates from 1620. American engineer George Ferris, Jr. , constructed the first modern Ferris wheel for the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1983. His 264-foot-high marvel was powered by a thousand-horsepower engine and supported 36 wooden cars, each holding 60 people. More than one million visitors paid 50 cents a ride.