Lezha
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Lezhë Lezha |
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Coordinates: 41 ° 47 ' N , 19 ° 39' E |
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| Basic data | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Qark : | Lezha | ||
| Municipality : | Lezha | ||
| Height : | 10 m above sea level A. | ||
| Area : | 509.10 km² | ||
| Residents : | 15,510 (2011) | ||
| Bashkia residents : | 65,633 (2011) | ||
| Population density (Bashkia): | 129 inhabitants / km² | ||
| Telephone code : | (+355) 215 | ||
| Postal code : | 4501-4502 | ||
| Politics and administration (as of 2019 ) | |||
| Mayor : | Pjerin Ndreu ( PS ) | ||
| Website : | |||
| Culture and history | |||
| Local place name : | Lesh / Lesha | ||
| City foundation : | 385 BC Chr. | ||
| City Festival : | 20th November | ||
 View of Lezha (2014) |
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Lezha ( Albanian also Lezhë , Italian Alessio , Turkish Leş ) is a small town in north-western Albania with around 15,000 inhabitants (2011 census). The local administration even has around 29,000 inhabitants (as of 2009). Lezha is the capital of the Qark of the same name and the seat of the Roman Catholic diocese of Lezha .
By 2015 was an independent municipality Lezha ( bashkia ) , then with the other communities of the circle Lezha merged.
etymology
The name of the city of Lezha is derived from the Greek colony of Lissós ( Λισσός ), which is the predecessor of today's city. In ancient Greek , Lissós means "smooth", which refers to the flat plain in the area. The Romans later adopted the Greek name and called the city in Latin Lissus . In Albanian the place is called Lezha [ ˈlɛˑˌʒa ] (definite) or Lezhë [ ˈlɛˌʒə or ˈlɛʒ ] (indefinite). In the local Gegic dialect, the forms Lesha [ ˈlɛˑˌʃa ] and Lesh [ ˈlɛʃ ] are also common. The city was called Alessio in Italian by the Venetians in the Middle Ages .
geography
Lezha is located at the narrowest point of the Albanian coastal country and is about 50 kilometers north of the capital Tirana . The city center is traversed by what is now only a small tributary of the Drin River, which, coming from the north, first runs through the Zadrima plain, passes the narrow point in the city and then flows into the Drin Gulf southwest of Lezha . Immediately to the west of the city is the Kune-Vain-Tale nature reserve , which begins between Lezha and the port city of Shëngjin in the northwest and extends over ten kilometers along the Adriatic coast. Kune-Vain-Tale is a wetland, characterized by numerous lagoons and swamps .
The area of the municipality of Lezha was divided into the following municipalities until 2015:
| Surname | Residents | Community type |
|---|---|---|
| Lezha | 15,510 | Bashkia |
| Balldren | 6,142 | Komuna |
| Blinisht | 3,361 | Komuna |
| Dajç | 3.834 | Komuna |
| Kallmet | 4.118 | Komuna |
| Kolç | 4,228 | Komuna |
| Shëngjin | 8.091 | Komuna |
| Shënkoll | 13,102 | Komuna |
| Ungrej | 1,587 | Komuna |
| Zejmen | 5,660 | Komuna |
The city itself now forms an administrative unit (njesia administrative) within the municipality with an area of 5.5 square kilometers.
history
Antiquity
The first known settlers in the region were the Illyrians . They built in the 8th century BC A typical Illyrian hilltop settlement on the mountain Mali i Shelbuemit (also called Akrolissos , 410 meters above sea level). The beginning of the construction work on the lower hill, the Acropolis , is controversial in research. While, according to the Greek historian Diodorus Siculus (15, 13), Lissos was the Greek colony of Dionysius I of Syracuse in 385 BC. Was founded, older walls on the Acropolis seem to have originated in the 6th century BC. To close.
In Hellenistic times , Lissos was a heavily fortified city that looked more like a fortress than a city. But their importance was great because of their location on two important trade routes and its port. During the First Macedonian War , the city was conquered in 213 BC. Besieged by King Philip V and successfully captured. But as early as 209 BC It is said that Lissus was recaptured by the Illyrian kings Skerdilaidas and Pleuratos . In the first half of the 2nd century BC The city belonged to the kingdom of the Illyrian king Genthios of Scodra . In 168 BC The fortress was conquered by the Romans , who from then on called the city Lissus . The city belonged to the province of Macedonia . Since 118 BC It belonged to the province of Illyricum and was its southernmost city. During the time of the Roman Republic it gained importance because of its port on the Drin and also because of its sea port of Nymphaeum (today Shëngjin ), which is about four kilometers to the west . During the division of the Roman Empire in 395 AD, it came to the east and was assigned to the subject of Dyrrhachion (now Durrës ) in the 8th century .
middle Ages
Throughout the Middle Ages, Lezha's urban character and its function as a stop in east-west trade were retained. In 1240, the Franciscans in Lezha founded their first monastery in Albania. In 1343 the city was conquered by the Serbian Tsar Stefan Dušan . After his death it came into the possession of the Balšić (alb. Ballsha ), who in turn were followed in 1387 by members of the noble Dukagjini family , who ceded Lezha to the Republic of Venice in 1393 . Under the Venetian rule, the city of Alessio was an important base for the salt trade with Serbia.
In 1444, Skanderbeg gathered Albanian and Montenegrin princes in Lezha . In the League of Lezha they united against the advancing Ottomans . After a 24-year struggle, Skanderbeg died in Lezha in 1468 and was buried in St. Nicholas Church. Today he is celebrated as a national hero by many Albanians.
In 1478 the Ottomans conquered the city, plundered it and also destroyed the main church with the grave of Skanderbeg. In 1501 the Venetians were able to win back Lezha again. In 1506 the city - henceforth called Leç in Turkish - was finally part of the Ottoman Empire and remained in the hands of the sultanate for more than 400 years.
Ottoman era
From the end of the 16th century, the majority of the population were Muslim . While Lezha still had a certain importance as a port and trading center with connections to Kosovo in the first century of Turkish rule , the city was hit hard by the economic crisis of the Ottoman Empire after 1600 and the armed conflicts of the 17th century and became more and more deserted . Not least, the nearby Shkodra ( Turkish İşkodra ), where trade between Turkish Albania and the West has been concentrated since then, benefited from this .
20th century
The affiliation of Lezha to the newly created state of Albania in 1912 was, in contrast to many other areas, hardly controversial. During the communist rule from 1944, large factories were built in Lezha, but most of them have come to a standstill since its fall in 1990
In 1979 a powerful earthquake struck and most of the city was devastated. The old town below the fortress was hardest hit (so-called lower town ).
The population of Lezha has multiplied since the collapse of the communist system in the early 1990s due to the migration of the population from the poor mountain regions.
Attractions
Skanderbeg mausoleum
The most important sight is the Skanderbeg mausoleum in the middle of the city center. A memorial was built around the ruins of the medieval Church of St. Nicholas, where Skanderbeg was buried and later used as the Selimije mosque. Its inauguration took place in 1981. A simple plate and replicas of his helmet and sword - the originals are in Vienna - mark Skanderbeg's resting place. Around the church there are still some ruins from ancient times.
Lezha Fortress
The castle towers over the city, where wall remains from ancient and Ottoman times can be viewed. The current appearance owes the fortress of the comprehensive renovation from 1515 to 1521, the Sultan Suleiman I was commissioned. During excavation work in 1966, the remains of the fortress mosque were discovered, which was probably built at the same time as the renovation work on the fortress. It dates back to 1521. The steep hill offers a panoramic view of the city, plains, mountains and the Adriatic coast. In 2004, an Albanian-Austrian archaeological team undertook new excavations in the castle and in the lower town. An excavation campaign financed by the German Archaeological Institute followed in 2006 .
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Kune-Vain-Tale nature reserve
The lagoon system of Kune-Vain-Tale is an endangered nature reserve. In addition to 1087 hectares of swamp and brackish water lagoons, there are 185 hectares of forest and 557 hectares of sandy beach. 135 different bird and 58 fish species are counted here. A small hotel was set up in this retreat during the communist era, in a house that the Italian Count Galeazzo Ciano had built as a hunting lodge in the period before the Second World War .
economy
Although Lezha is not particularly large, it has always been an important marketplace in the region. The factories built during the socialist rule are all shut down today. The small port town of Shëngjin ( Italian: San Giovanni di Medua ) five kilometers west of Lezha is also no longer of great importance. Today the port has more potential as a bathing beach for tourists from the area and from Kosovo . Numerous hotels and other tourist infrastructure have emerged.
traffic
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All traffic routes that lead from north-west Albania to central Albania pass through Lezha. For a few years now, an expressway, the Rruga shtetërore SH1 , has been connecting Lezha with Fushë-Kruja not far from Tirana. However, it has a bad reputation as the “death road”, because too often fatal accidents happen on this route, so that in 2011 it was possible to count over 60 accident stones for the deceased.
The expressway to Shkodra was completed in 2005.
Lezha is also connected to the Albanian railway network. The route bypasses the bottleneck on the Drin through a tunnel.
Sports
The local football club KS Besëlidhja Lezha rose in 2007 to the first division , but could not hold up there and is now even playing third class in the categoria e dytë .
Personalities
sons and daughters of the town
- Anton Kryezezi (1710–1765), Roman Catholic prelate
- Viktor Tushaj (* 1962), politician
- Henri Ndreka (* 1983), football player
People associated with the city
- Gjergj Kastrioti "Skanderbeg" (1405–1468), prince, co-founder of the League of Lezha in 1444 and Albanian national hero
- Ndoc Gjetja (1944–2010), poet, lived in Lezha from 1951 on
literature
- Kujtim Dashi: Leksikoni i Lezhës. Author, media, institucione. Tirana 2005. (Side title: Who's who of Lezha, with English introduction) ISBN 99943-654-6-0 .
Web links
- Official website of the Bashkia Lezha (Albanian, English)
- Lezha Online
- Site of the Archaeological Park Lezha (English)
- German Archaeological Institute: Research Project, History and Antiquities
- University of Graz: excavation report (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d Ines Nurja: Censusi i popullsisë dhe banesave / Population and Housing Census - Lezhë 2011 . Results Kryesore / Main Results. Ed .: INSTAT . Pjesa / Part 1. Adel Print, Tirana 2013 ( instat.gov.al [PDF; accessed April 14, 2019]).
- ↑ a b c Njesia administrative Lezhë. (PDF) Këshilli i Qarkut Lezhë, August 6, 2009, accessed on April 29, 2019 (Albanian).
- ↑ Feride Papleka (ed.): Georg Kastrioti grave memorial - Skanderbegs . 8 Nëntori, Tirana 1987.
- ↑ Loro Gjeçi: Në Kalanë e Lezhës rests një nga xhamitë më të vjetra në Shqipëri (One of the oldest mosques in Albania is located in the fortress of Lezha). (No longer available online.) Drita Islame, May 15, 2013, archived from the original on November 4, 2013 ; Retrieved May 31, 2013 (Albanian). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ Fushë Krujë-Lezhë, rruga e vdekjes. Çdo 500 metra, 1 lapidar (Fushë-Kruja-Lezha, road of death. Every 500 meters an accident stone). (No longer available online.) Albanian Screen Radio Television , January 31, 2011, archived from the original on February 2, 2014 ; Retrieved May 31, 2013 (Albanian). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
