Skanderbeggebirge
| Skanderbeggebirge | ||
|---|---|---|
 Kruja and Mali i Krujës |
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| Highest peak | Mali me Gropa ( 1848 m above sea level ) | |
| location | Albania | |
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| Coordinates | 41 ° 22 ′ N , 19 ° 56 ′ E | |
| Type | Fold Mountains | |
| Age of the rock | Triassic , Jurassic and Lower Cretaceous | |
| particularities | Foothills | |
 View from Dajti to the north with the western chain on the left and the eastern chain with Maja e Liqenit on the right behind |
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The Skanderbeggebirge ( Albanian Vargmalet e Skënderbeut ), often also referred to as the Western Rim Chains ( Albanian Vargmalet Perëndimore ), is a coastal edge mountain range in Albania , which extends with a length of around 80 kilometers from Vau-Deja in the north to almost Elbasan in the south . It separates the coastal regions in the northern half of Albania from the mountainous interior.
The mountains drop steeply in the west to the coastal plain that stretches along the Adriatic Sea . In the east of the mountain range are highlands - in the north the Mirdita , in the south the mountains of Martanesh - and the basin of Mat . The mountain range is bounded in the north by the Drin and also by the Mat . Various other rivers arise in the mountain range, but break through the striking outer mountain ranges in deeply cut gorges, such as the Tirana River , the Tërkuza , the Zeza and the Droja , tributaries of the Ishëm , and the Ores .
The name comes from Mali i Skënderbeut ( 1540 m above sea level ), a mountain named after the medieval Albanian prince Skanderbeg . The name was subsequently expanded to include more and more areas.
geology
The mountain range is due to a thrust that runs from north to south through all of Albania. It was created through strong lifting and folding . While the summit regions consist of limestone ( Nummulitenkalk , Krastakalk ), the lower part is flysch . Ultrabasic rock is found in the east .
Most of the limestone comes from the Triassic , Jurassic and Cretaceous ages .
In Krrabë in the south of the mountain was lignite promoted.
structure
After a first part in the north, the Skanderbeg mountains run in two parts. The western chain with Mali i Krujës and Dajti drops steeply to the coastal plain. It is also called the kruja chain . The chain with Mali i Skënderbeut and Mali me Gropa runs further east . In between lies the Villza corridor, which widens to the south .
Northern section
In the northernmost section south of Vau-Deja the mountain range is not yet too high, in the Maja e Shitës it reaches a height of 614 m above sea level. A. Over the next dozen or so kilometers, the peaks gradually get higher. The Mali i Velës northeast of Lezha is already 1170 m above sea level. A. high. South of Mali i Velës , the mountain range widens, but is also less high as a result. An arm branches off to the west at this mountain, but it soon bends to the south and subsequently runs parallel to the other strand.
The River Fan , coming from the Mirdita , runs through the mountains south of Mali i Velës in a deeper section coming from the northeast and flows into the Mat, which has cut through the mountains in narrow gorges coming from the southeast. It is the first big breakthrough and the only way across the whole mountain range.
To the south of the Mat, the mountainous region is regaining altitude. At Laç the chains change their course towards the southeast.
Kruja chain
The Kruja chain begins at the Mat incision, is repeatedly cut into individual blocks by streams, but rises less quickly than the eastern one. Only the Mali i Krujës , on the slope of which the town of Kruja is located, is one of the 1,000- meter peaks ( 1176 m above sea level ).
The western chain becomes higher and higher in the further course south of Kruja. The gorges that break through the chain and separate it into a long series of blocks are cut correspondingly deep. The highest mountain is the Dajti ( 1613 m above sea level. A. ), home mountain of Tirana , the approximately 1500 meters rises steeply from the plain. The Dajti and some peaks north of it have a surf terrace that has been raised to around 1000 meters.
The chain no longer reaches these heights south of Tirana. The Dajti is followed by the Mali i Priskës ( 1365 m above sea level ) and a series of mountains below 900 m above sea level. A. East of Krraba , the Mali i Kalasë (also Shkrepi i Gurit ) reaches another 1091 m above sea level. A.
Both chains quickly lose height in the southernmost section towards Elbasan , where the Shkumbin River emerges from the mountains.
Longitudinal furrow
The fertile, wooded high valleys of the Vilza Corridor ( Albanian Korridor i Vilzës ) lie in the flysch between the two chains . The sections separated by passes are the headwaters of the rivers that break through the Kruja chain: The Droja in the north, south of it the Zeza , Tërkuza , Tirana and the Erzen , whose basin is particularly large.
Eastern chain
Herbert Louis referred to the Skanderbeg Mountains in contrast to the Albanian Academy of Sciences, only the eastern chain. This forms the watershed between the Mat in the east and the rivers that drain the coastal plain in the west.
The northern main massif of the eastern chain is the Mali i Skënderbeut (Skanderbeg mountain) west of Burrel . He reaches in the Maja e Skënderbeut (Skanderbeg peak) 1540 m above sea level. A. and a little further south in the Maja e Liqenit a height of 1724 m above sea level. A. There are also glacial tracks and smaller glacial lakes here . South of this mountain is the Shtama Pass , where a road at 1250 m above sea level. A. overcomes the mountain range. The Murriza Pass further south, which used to be crossed by the caravan route to Dibra , is about the same height.
Their ridge is less clear and the mountain range becomes wider. In addition, a third chain of individual elevations lies to the east, the highest of which is the Maja e Sukës ( 1708 m above sea level ).
The chain holds its height. To the east of Tirana lies the Mali me Gropa (mountain with holes) mountain block , a barren karst landscape that is interspersed with countless sinkholes and is reminiscent of the surface of the moon . It comprises three fields totaling 26 square kilometers. Its highest point is the Maja e Miçeku të Shënmërisë ( 1828 m above sea level ).
In the further course the heights decrease again towards 1000 meters. The chain character is completely lost, and in the east the mountains merge into the mountains of Martanesh and the Çermenika, which are also in the range of 1000 to 2000 meters.
South of the Shkumbin, the mountain range is continued in the massifs of Mali i Polisit and Mali i Shpatit .
nature
The steeply sloping Kruja chain forms a border between the strongly developed coastal areas and the hinterland of Albania. Large parts of the mountains east of the Kruja range are therefore still natural, hardly developed and only sparsely populated. Traditionally, the lower part of the mountain range is covered with oak forests and higher parts with beech forests; also pines occur. The large forests are retreats for wild animals such as wild boar (Sus scrofa) , wild cats (Felis silvestris) , fox ( Vulpes vulpes ), marten (Martes) , badger ( Meles meles ) and, more rarely, deer ( Capreolus capreolus ) and brown bears ( Ursus arctos ) .
Two national parks together protected an area of 312 square kilometers. The Dajti National Park covers large areas up to the eastern chain north, east and south of the mountain of the same name. To the north is the smaller Qafë Shtama National Park . A gondola lift leads from Tirana to the terrace on Dajti as an easy connection to the national park.
During winter, snow at altitudes of 1000 meters is normal. With increasing distance from the sea, it lasts longer and can still be seen in spring.
Development
In a 6,544-meter-long tunnel under the Dajti, water is carried from springs on Mali me Gropa to Tirana, which is converted into electricity in the small VI Lenin power plant , which was completed in 1951 .
The Mat breakthrough was the location of the first large hydroelectric power plants in Albania. The narrow incisions were used in the 1950s to build two dams, the Ulza and Shkopet reservoirs . Later the Tërkuza was dammed further south. The Bovilla Reservoir , completed in the 1990s, is used to supply Tirana with water.
Since many of the breakthrough valleys are very narrow and steep, they often had to be bypassed in the past. A traditional caravan route from Tirana to the Mat valley led along the northern slope of the Dajti through the Shkalla e Tujanit and the Murriza Pass through the mountains. The transition from Kruja to Burrel over the Shtama Pass was expanded to a simple driveway by the Italians in the 1940s. However, it lost its importance when the SH 6 was built through the Mat breakthrough in the 1950s . Only the wide valley of the Fan with the place Rubik and the flatter northern part of the mountains were more accessible.
Currently under construction is the Rruga e Arbërit , a new expressway that follows the old caravan route from Tirana to the east. This is the first modern road into the hinterland of the Kruja range.
Culture
In the Erzen Gorge Gryka e Skronës south of Tirana there is a large cave that was inhabited in the Paleolithic . Finds on Dajti also indicate settlement in the Paleolithic and Iron Age .
Kruja and the surrounding mountains were the sphere of influence of the Albanian prince Skanderbeg . During his battles against the Ottomans in the 15th century, he repeatedly withdrew to the mountains in order to attack the Turkish troops from there. That is why the mountains east of Kruja were named after him.
There is an old pilgrimage site near Laç : the monastery in the mountains above the city , dedicated to St. Anthony of Padua , is visited by members of various religions. Since the end of the ban on religion imposed by the communists, numerous Catholics have again gathered at the monastery on June 13th.
Kruja was a center of Bektashism . A sanctuary on Mali i Krujës above the city is one of the presumed tombs of Sari Saltik .
literature
- Herbert Louis : Albania. A knowledge of the country mainly because of my own travels . Published by J. Engelhorn's successors in Stuttgart, Berlin 1927.
- N. Meçaj: Vergmalet e Skënderbeut . In: Albanian Academy of Sciences (ed.): Gjeografia fizike e Shqipërisë . tape 2 . Tirana 1991, p. 171-191 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Herbert Louis : Albania. A knowledge of the country mainly because of my own travels . Published by J. Engelhorn's successors in Stuttgart, Berlin 1927, p. 17 .
- ↑ a b Cay Lienau: Geographical Basics . In: Klaus-Detlev Grothusen (Hrsg.): Albanien (= Südosteuropa-Handbuch ). tape VII . Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1993, ISBN 3-525-36207-2 , pp. 1 .
- ↑ Akademia e Shkencave e RPSSH (ed.): Fjalor enciklopedik shqiptar . Tirana 1985.