Grazhdan Castle

The Grazhdan castle is found near Peshkopi in northern Albania.

Description

The castle is located around 15 km southeast of Peshkopi, on a terrace between the streams of Grazhdan and Maqellara. 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. 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.

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.

The castle has been connected to various settlements attested in ancient writings, specifically Dobera, Deuphracus mentioned by Procopius and Uscana.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 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.
  2. ↑ Winnifrith, Tom (2021). Nobody's Kingdom: A History of Northern Albania. Andrews UK Limited. pp. 63, 78.
  3. 1 2 Winnifrith, Tom (2021). Nobody's Kingdom: A History of Northern Albania. Andrews UK Limited. p. 152.

41°36′22″N 20°27′57″E / 41.60611°N 20.46583°E / 41.60611; 20.46583