Durrës Castle

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Cultural heritage monument in Durrës, Albania

title: "Durrës Castle" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["buildings-and-structures-completed-in-the-5th-century", "castles-in-albania", "byzantine-military-architecture", "buildings-and-structures-in-durrës", "tourist-attractions-in-durrës-county", "roman-fortifications-in-macedonia", "city-walls", "5th-century-fortifications", "archaeological-sites-in-albania"] description: "Cultural heritage monument in Durrës, Albania" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Durrës_Castle" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Cultural heritage monument in Durrës, Albania ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox military installation"]

Field	Value
name	Durrës Castle
Kalaja e Durrësit
location	Durrës, Albania
map_type	Albania
coordinates
map_size	280
image	[[File:Torra_ne_Durres.jpg
caption	Venetian Tower of Durrës
built	1st century BC (final form in 5th century)
builder	Final form created by Emperor of the Byzantine Empire Anastasius I Dicorus
ownership
controlledby	Byzantine Empire
[[File:Arms of Jean dAnjou.svg	20px]] Kingdom of Albania
[[File:Stema e Karl Topisë.png	20px]] Principality of Albania
Republic of Venice
Ottoman Empire
The Big Four (World War I)
Albania
battles	Battle of Dyrrhachium (1018), Battle of Dyrrhachium (1081), Battle of Durrës (1939)
events	Miss Shqipëria 2009
::

Durrës Castle () is the fortified old city of Durrës, Albania. It is enclosed by city walls built in the late 5th century, and repaired and reinforced in the Middle Ages and early modern periods.

History

The castle was built by the Byzantine Emperor Anastasius I (r. 491–518), a native of Durrës (ancient Dyrrhachium), who was born into an Illyro-Roman family. At the time, Anastasius made the city one of the most fortified cities on the Adriatic. During this time a second, smaller castle was built 7km north of Durrës, modern day "Porto Romano" (The Roman's Gate). The ancient walls were devastated in an earthquake in 1273, and had to be extensively repaired.

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7d/Durrës_Pinargenti_1573.jpg" caption="Durrës Castle in 1573"] ::

After the Venetians seized Durrës in 1392 from Gjergj Thopia, they set to improve the castles already impressive fortifications, reinforcing it with several guard towers. The walls are quoted as early as the 11th century by Byzantine princess and historian Anna Komnene in her Alexiad as having been so thick, that "four horsemen could ride abreast on top of them". The castle remained under Venetian sovereignty until 1501, when Durrës fell to the Ottoman Empire, which would end up holding the city until 1912. During Ottoman Rule, the walls were again reinforced. Currently the medieval walls stand at nearly 15 ft in height and the three entrances of some of the fortification towers are preserved in nearly one-third of the original length of the city walls.

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b7/Medieval_Durrës.jpg" caption="Durrës during the middle ages"] ::

On 7 April 1939, Albanian patriots fought the Italian invasion of Albania. In Durrës, a force of only 360 Albanians, mostly gendarmes and townspeople, led by Abaz Kupi, the commander of the gendarmerie in Durrës, and Mujo Ulqinaku, a marine official, tried to halt the Italian advance. Armed only with small arms and three machine guns, they succeeded in keeping the Italians at bay for several hours until a large number of light tanks disembarked from the latter's naval vessels. After that, resistance diminished and within five hours the Italian forces had captured the entire city.

Modern

In February 2022 it was announced that The Durrës Castle would begin Restoration on the Main Durrës Tower by the EU4Culture Group In Albania. This Restoration project is presumed to take 6 Months to Complete and the cost of investment for the project is 675,000 Euros. This Project will Conserve and Upgrade the Infrastructure of the Tower and will add a new digital and classic interpretation of the tower and many other things that will go beyond just a regular Infrastructure Repair. This Restoration will turn the Durrës Tower into the first heritage interpretation center in Albania.

Gallery

File:07Durres01.jpg|Durrës Ancient City Wall Entrance File:Durrës city wall.jpg|Durrës city wall in 2009 File:Torra Veneciane.jpg|Venetian tower File:Sheshi Liria, Durrës, Shqipëri 14.jpg|Liria Square

References

(1988). "The fragments of late antique patria". University of Gottingen.
Croke, Brian. (2001). "Count Marcellinus and his chronicle". Oxford University Press.
Norwich, John. (1988). "Byzantium: the Early Centuries". Penguin..
{{EB1911
LISTA E MONUMENTEVE: RRETHI I DURRËSIT
(1 January 1994). "The Late Medieval Balkans: A Critical Survey from the Late Twelfth Century to the Ottoman Conquest". University of Michigan Press.
[http://www.dancealbfest.com/guide/htmlalbania/qarku/kalaja.htm Kalaja e Durrësit] {{Webarchive. link. (2018-10-16 , Durrës Guide (in Albanian))
Albania and King Zog: independence, republic and monarchy 1908-1939 Author Owen Pearson Edition illustrated Publisher I.B.Tauris, 2004 {{ISBN. 978-1-84511-013-0, {{ISBN. 978-1-84511-013-0 p. 444-445
(21 February 2022). "Venetian Tower, restoration interventions 6 months and investment 675 thousand euros".
"18 February 2022 – Kick start of the restoration works in Venetian Tower".

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