History
The tower is thought to have originally been dedicated to Saint George. This tower, located outside the monastery walls, remains partially preserved today, with ruins reaching up to four or five meters in height, along with sections of the surrounding wall.
In the year of 1426 the Albanian Lord Gjon Kastrioti either donated the villages of Radostusha and Trebisht, or the rights to the tax revenues from these villages, as well as possibly donating the Church of Saint Mary, located in one of them, or its associated income to Hilandar Monastery. Between 1426 and 1431, Gjon Kastrioti and his sons, Reposh, Kostandin, and Gjergj with the exception of Stanisha, acquired four adelphates for 60 fiorints. They were granted the right to reside on monastic land and receive subsidies from monastic resources, including ownership of the Albanian Tower and additional properties within the monastery. In Gjon's honor, the Saint George Tower at the Hilandar Monastery became known as the Albanian Tower (Arbanaski pirg). It is possible that Gjon Kastrioti played a role in the construction of the tower.
An inscription at Hilandar, referencing Reposh's death in 1431, suggests that he, and possibly his father Gjon, utilised their adelphates to retire to the tower, where Reposh ultimately spent his final days as a monk.
According to documents preserved in the Hilandar archives, the Moldavian ruler Stephen the Great and his wife, Maria Voichița, also made donations to the tower. Historians have interpreted this patronage as a honorific of Maria Voichița's maternal Albanian heritage, inherited through her mother, Maria Despina.
Image of the Albanian Tower from the south
East elevation diagram of the Albanian Tower
Plan of the Albanian Tower from above
Plan of the Albanian Tower from the front
Copper engraving of Hilandar Monastery in 1757. (arrow pointed at the Albanian tower).png)
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