Kruja fortress

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Kruja fortress
North side of the castle rock with the fortress

North side of the castle rock with the fortress

Creation time : 12th Century
Castle type : Höhenburg, spur location
Conservation status: ruin
Construction: Stone, wood
Place: Kruja
Geographical location 41 ° 30 '25.2 "  N , 19 ° 47' 38.8"  E Coordinates: 41 ° 30 '25.2 "  N , 19 ° 47' 38.8"  E
Height: 555  m above sea level A.
Kruja Fortress (Albania)
Kruja fortress

The fortress of Kruja ( Albanian  Kalaja e Krujës and Kështjella e Krujës ) is a fortress ( spur castle ) in the central Albanian city of Kruja . It was the center of the battles of Skanderbeg and his League of Lezha in the Middle Ages of Albania against the Ottoman Empire .

location

The fortress connects to the south of the center of Kruja with the bazaar.

The castle lies on a boulder that slopes steeply on all sides, which slopes slightly from east to west like the surrounding area. The maximum dimensions of the plateau are 270 by 150 meters. The area of ​​the facility is 2.25 hectares, the surrounding wall is around 800 meters long.

Due to the steep cliffs on all sides, there were only two entrances to the fortress. To the west of the fortress is a small kennel below the rock face, which can be reached through a well-guarded, narrow passage between Tekke and Hamam. There is a spring there, from which the name of the city of Kruja is derived.

history

The castle has been inhabited since the 4th or 5th century and was fortified with walls from the 12th century. As a result, it saw various owners, including the Thopia and from 1415 the Ottomans .

In 1443 Skanderbeg took over the castle without a fight. The fortress was besieged three times - in 1450 , 1466 and 1467 - by large Ottoman armies until it fell the fourth time in 1478 , ten years after the death of Skanderbeg. The Turks then built various houses in the Ottoman style, and also the fortress complex was largely rebuilt, so that today mainly Ottoman buildings can be seen.

An earthquake in 1617 caused rock walls to collapse in the southeastern area, which destroyed the castle wall above. According to Machiel Kiel, the fortress was razed by the Ottomans in 1831 during revolts against the Tanzimat ; Baki Dollma states 1855.

The Toptani House, a large and elaborately designed Ottoman mansion from 1764, housed the sub-prefecture, court and prison of Kruja until the Second World War.

buildings

View over the fortress from the museum terrace with the remains of the mosque in the foreground, ethnological museum on the left and Tekke in the center of the picture
Acropolis with ruins of the church, eastern perimeter wall and clock tower
Hammam

In addition to restaurants in the upper part and some residential buildings in the lower part, the castle has several sights:

  • Remains of churches have been found in the southwest and northeast. The chapel in the southwest dates from the 9th century. It is east of the Tekke. The church in the upper part of the castle behind the large tower, which archaeologists call the Acropolis, was probably built in the first half of the 15th century. Right next to it, the ruins of a small chapel were found, which should date from the 12th century.
  • Right next to the main entrance are the ruins of the Sultan Mehmed Fatih Mosque , which must have been established in the short period between the conquest of the complex and the death of Sultan Mehmed II in 1481, where there used to be a church. After the mosque was probably destroyed by the Ottomans in 1831, a completely new mosque was built in 1838 under Sultan Mahmud II . Of the mosque, which fell apart sometime after the Second World War, only the foundation walls and the lower part of the minaret remain. The latter was destroyed in a storm in 1917. The mosque served as a place of worship until 1937. Ammunition was stored there during the Second World War.
  • The hamam (Turkish bath) in the west of the complex was probably built in the 15th century.
  • On the highest point of the fortress in the northeast there is a Sahat Kula visible from afar . The clock tower, which is also called kulla e orës , was converted from a defensive tower in the 17th century and is still strongly reminiscent of a defensive structure. The tower is 15 meters high. The bell was donated in 1903 by a priest from Laç .
  • The Teqe of Dollme the Bektashi at the southwestern end of the complex carries the Year in 1788 as inscription.
  • The Ethnographic Museum was housed in a large mansion from Ottoman times .
  • Remains of various houses as well as other restored houses from Turkish times
  • The Skanderbeg Museum is a new building from the 1980s.

literature

  • Gjergj Frashëri: Conservime arkeologjike në kalanë ë Krujës . In: Instituti i Monumenteve të Kulturës (ed.): Monumentet . No. 31 . Tirana 1986, p. 35–46 ( PDF of the issue [accessed on May 8, 2016]).

Web links

Commons : Kruja Fortress  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e Machiel Kiel: Ottoman architecture in Albania (1385–1912) . In: Research Center for Islamic History, Art and Culture (Ed.): Islamic art series . tape 5 . Istanbul 1990, ISBN 92-9063-330-1 , Castle of Kruja, p. 176 ff .
  2. ↑ a b c Baki Dollma: Vende dhe ngjarje historike të Krujës e Kurbinit . "Dajti 2000", Tirana 2006, ISBN 99943-815-6-3 , The citadel of Kruja, p. 117 f .
  3. ↑ a b c d e Guntram Koch: Albania. Art and culture in the land of the Skipetars . DuMont, Cologne 1989, ISBN 3-7701-2079-5 , p. 136 ff (DuMont art travel guide).
  4. ↑ a b Oliver Jens Schmitt: Skanderbeg. The new Alexander in the Balkans . Friedrich Pustet, Regensburg 2009, ISBN 978-3-7917-2229-0 .
  5. ^ A b c Machiel Kiel: Ottoman architecture in Albania (1385–1912) . In: Research Center for Islamic History, Art and Culture (Ed.): Islamic art series . tape 5 . Istanbul 1990, ISBN 92-9063-330-1 , Fatih Camii, p. 179 f .
  6. ↑ a b Baki Dollma: Vende dhe ngjarje historike të Krujës e Kurbinit . "Dajti 2000", Tirana 2006, ISBN 99943-815-6-3 , Kalaja e Krujës, p. 18-21 .
  7. ↑ Baki Dollma: Vende dhe ngjarje historike të Krujës e Kurbinit . "Dajti 2000", Tirana 2006, ISBN 99943-815-6-3 , Shtëpia e Toptanasve në Kala të Krujës, p. 37 f .
  8. ^ A b Gjergj Frashëri: Conservime arkeologjike në kalanë ë Krujës . In: Instituti i Monumenteve të Kulturës (ed.): Monumentet . No. 31 . Tirana 1986, p. 35–46 ( PDF of the issue [accessed on May 8, 2016]).
  9. ↑ Baki Dollma: Vende dhe ngjarje historike të Krujës e Kurbinit . "Dajti 2000", Tirana 2006, ISBN 99943-815-6-3 , Xhamia e Fatihut në Kala, p. 31 f .
  10. ^ Machiel Kiel: Ottoman architecture in Albania (1385–1912) . In: Research Center for Islamic History, Art and Culture (Ed.): Islamic art series . tape 5 . Istanbul 1990, ISBN 92-9063-330-1 , Hamam, p. 186 f .
  11. ↑ Baki Dollma: Vende dhe ngjarje historike të Krujës e Kurbinit . "Dajti 2000", Tirana 2006, ISBN 99943-815-6-3 , Këmbana e sahatit të Krujës, p. 30th f .