Ali Pasha's fortress

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Aerial view of the fortress

The fortress of Ali Pascha Tepelena ( Albanian  Kalaja e Ali Pashë Tepelenës ) is a fortress near the ancient city of Butrint in southern Albania . It is named after Ali Pasha von Tepelena , who ruled there briefly around 1820. The building was erected before 1718.

The fortress is located on a small island at the mouth of Vivar channel that the Lake Butrint with the Ionian Sea combines. It can only be reached by boat. Butrint is about two and a half kilometers further east at the beginning of the canal. The rectangular facility is about 22 by 30 meters. In the corners there are towers that were armed with cannons - the western towers are round, the inland ones are square. The main entrance was on the north side directly on the canal, a battlement  walked along the other three walls. Even the inner courtyard was probably under water at times.

The fortress was first mentioned long before Ali Pasha was born: it is shown on a Venetian map from 1718 and probably belonged to the Corfiot Gonemi family. A rectangular tower above the later entrance was the oldest part of the complex.

In 1386 Butrint went to the Venetians . In the middle of the 17th century the city fell temporarily to the Ottomans . Then the Venetians expanded the fortifications. In 1800, Ali Pasha Butrint conquered by the French, who had ruled for two years over the area after the Republic of Venice  by Napoleon  been smashed and the Ionian Islands  to France were were. Ali Pasha had the fortress renewed; he controlled Butrint until his assassination in 1822. Thereafter, the fortress fell to the Ottoman army .

The fortress at the mouth of the Canal as seen from Butrint

There are other fortresses in the region, with which the rulers  wanted to secure the strategically important location on the Strait of Corfu and protect the rich fishing grounds around Butrint. Inside the ancient city of Butrint, on the acropolis, is the Venetian fort , which dates back to medieval structures, and at the foot of the hill there is a Venetian defense tower on the canal bank. On the southern side of the canal opposite the city is the Kalaja trekëndore (triangle castle ) , also under Venetian rule, probably built in the early 16th century on the site of previous buildings.

The facility is located within the Butrint National Park .

literature

  • Neritan Ceka : Buthrotum. Its history and monuments . Migjeni, Tirana 2006, ISBN 99943-672-8-5 .
  • José C. Carvajal, Ana Palanco: Kalaja e Ali Pashës në Butrint . In: Solinda Kamani (ed.): Butrinti në shekuj . Albanian Heritage Foundation, Tirana 2011, ISBN 978-9928-14701-1 , pp. 190-215 .

Web links

Commons : Fortress of Ali Pasha  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Butrint Foundation, Butrint National Park (Ed.): Butrint National Park - A guide to the Environment and Walking Trails .
  2. ↑ a b The castle of Ali Pasha. In: Butrint National Park. Butrint Foundation, archived from the original on October 15, 2013 ; accessed on December 2, 2014 .

Coordinates: 39 ° 44 ′ 30 ″  N , 19 ° 59 ′ 33 ″  E