Grazhdan Castle
The Grazhdan castle is found near Peshkopi in northern Albania.
Description
[edit]The castle is located around 15 km southeast of Peshkopi, on a terrace between the streams of Grazhdan and Maqellara.[1] The castle was built in Late Antiquity around the time of Constantine the Great, rebuilt with a smaller wall around the time of Justinian I, and was strategically located where a branch of Via Egnatia met the Lissus–Naissus road. It is near the Black Drin Valley in a region where a line of late Roman forts is found and of which Grazhdan is the largest.[2][1][3] The walls encircled a surface of 34 hectares and were built of irregular stonework and bricks. They were 3.2 m thick and reached a length of around 3 km. There were 3 large gates and 44 towers of various shapes. One tower was turned into a small church in the Middle Ages. A cemetery was built in the former gate area and functioned in the 11th-12th century period.[1]
Johann Georg von Hahn was the first to write about the castle. Later in 1975 Apollon Baçe made a survey, and Luan Përzhita in 2001 started excavations.[1]
The castle has been connected to various settlements attested in ancient writings, specifically Dobera, Deuphracus mentioned by Procopius and Uscana.[1][3]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e Zindel, Christian; Lippert, Andreas; Lahi, Bashkim; Kiel, Machiel (2018). Albanien: Ein Archäologie- und Kunstführer von der Steinzeit bis ins 19. Jahrhundert (in German). Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht. pp. 450–451.
- ^ Winnifrith, Tom (2021). Nobody's Kingdom: A History of Northern Albania. Andrews UK Limited. pp. 63, 78.
- ^ a b Winnifrith, Tom (2021). Nobody's Kingdom: A History of Northern Albania. Andrews UK Limited. p. 152.
 Castles in Albania | |
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| Northern Albania | |
| Central Albania | |
| Southern Albania | |
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