Islamization Of Albania
The Islamization of Albania occurred as a result of the Ottoman conquest of the region beginning in 1385.. "The Ottomans first invaded Albania in 1385. A second Ottoman force was sent to Albania 1394-96, occupying the country. Given both the Ottoman disposition to tolerate religious diversity among loyal subjects and the generally bellicose traditions of the Albanians, Ottoman authorities adopted a conciliatory policy toward Albanian Christians in the early decades of occupation. Still, although conversion to Islam was not required, a Christian Albanian lord could count on winning favor if he converted. If the Ottomans did not believe that religious reasons could compel a Christian to convert to Islam, they nonetheless looked askance when a Muslim converted (or reconverted) to Christianity. This happened in 1443 when Gjergj Kastrioti (called Skenderbeg), who had been reared as a Muslim in the sultan's palace, abandoned the Islamic faith and publicly reverted to the creed of his fo ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Albania
Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares land borders with Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, North Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south. Tirana is its capital and largest city, followed by Durrës, Vlorë, and Shkodër. Albania displays varied climatic, geological, hydrological, and morphological conditions, defined in an area of . It possesses significant diversity with the landscape ranging from the snow-capped mountains in the Albanian Alps as well as the Korab, Skanderbeg, Pindus and Ceraunian Mountains to the hot and sunny coasts of the Albanian Adriatic and Ionian Sea along the Mediterranean Sea. Albania has been inhabited by different civilisations over time, such as the Illyrians, Thracians, Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Venetians, and Ot ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Skanderbeg
, reign = 28 November 1443 – 17 January 1468 , predecessor = Gjon Kastrioti , successor = Gjon Kastrioti II , spouse = Donika Arianiti , issue = Gjon Kastrioti II , royal house = Kastrioti , father = Gjon Kastrioti , mother = Voisava Kastrioti , birth_name = Gjergj ( see Name) , birth_date = 1405 , birth_place = Principality of Kastrioti , death_date = 17 January 1468 (aged 62) , death_place = Alessio, Republic of Venice , place of burial = Church of Saint Nicholas, Lezhë , religion = Islam Catholicism , occupation = Lord of the Principality of Kastrioti, , signature = Dorëshkrimi i Skënderbeut.svg Gjergj Kastrioti ( la, Georgius Castriota; it, Giorgio Castriota; 1405 – 17 January 1468), commonly known as Skanderbeg ( sq, Skënderbeu or ''Skënderbej'', from ota, اسکندر بگ, İskender Bey; it, Scanderbeg), was an Albanian feudal lord and military commander who led a rebellion ag ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Shkodër
Shkodër ( , ; sq-definite, Shkodra) is the fifth-most-populous city of the Republic of Albania and the seat of Shkodër County and Shkodër Municipality. The city sprawls across the Plain of Mbishkodra between the southern part of Lake Shkodër and the foothills of the Albanian Alps on the banks of Buna, Drin and Kir. Due to its proximity to the Adriatic Sea, Shkodër is affected by a seasonal Mediterranean climate with continental influences. One of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the Balkans, Shkodër was founded under the name ''Scodra'' upon the traditional lands of the Illyrian tribes of the Ardiaei and Labeates in the 4th century BCE. It has historically developed on a hill strategically located in the outflow of Lake Shkodër into the Buna River. The Romans annexed the city after the third Illyrian War in 168 BCE, when Gentius was defeated by the Roman force of Anicius Gallus. In the 3rd century CE, Shkodër became the capital of Praevalitana, due to ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Lezhë
Lezhë (, sq-definite, Lezha) is a city in the Republic of Albania and seat of Lezhë County and Lezhë Municipality. One of the main strongholds of the Labeatai, the earliest of the fortification walls of Lezhë are of typical Illyrian construction and are dated to the late 4th century BC. Lezhë was one of the main centres of the Illyrian kingdom. During the conflicts with Macedon, it was captured by Philip V becoming the Macedonian outlet to the Adriatic Sea. The city was later recovered by the Illyrians. It was subjected to Rome after the Roman-Illyrian wars and the fall of Gentius' realm. Lezhë was the site of the League of Lezhë where Skanderbeg united the Albanian lords in the fight against the Ottoman Empire. Name The city is mentioned in ancient sources as ''Lissós'' (Ancient Greek: Λισσός) and ''Lissus'' (Latin: ''Lissus'', ''Lissum''). It is also attested in numismatic material. The ''ethnicon'' ΛΙΣΣΙΤΑΝ /LISSITAN/ is found on coin inscriptions ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Portrait Of Pope Clement XI Albani (Vatican Museums - Musei Vaticani, Vatican)
A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expressions are predominant. The intent is to display the likeness, personality, and even the mood of the person. For this reason, in photography a portrait is generally not a snapshot, but a composed image of a person in a still position. A portrait often shows a person looking directly at the painter or photographer, in order to most successfully engage the subject with the viewer. History Prehistorical portraiture Plastered human skulls were reconstructed human skulls that were made in the ancient Levant between 9000 and 6000 BC in the Pre-Pottery Neolithic B period. They represent some of the oldest forms of art in the Middle East and demonstrate that the prehistoric population took great care in burying their ancestors below their homes. The skulls denote some of the earliest sculptural examples of portraiture in the history of art. Historical portraitu ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Bektashi Order
The Bektashi Order; sq, Tarikati Bektashi; tr, Bektaşi or Bektashism is an Islamic Sufi mystic movement originating in the 13th-century. It is named after the Anatolian saint Haji Bektash Wali (d. 1271). The community is currently led by Baba Mondi, the eighth Bektashi Dedebaba and headquartered in Tirana, Albania. Bektashism began as a Shia Islamic Sufi order in Anatolia, during the Ottoman Empire. In 1876, a Salih Nijazi was appointed as the "''baba''" or leader by prominent Bektashi members. After the foundation of the Turkish Republic, Kemal Atatürk banned religious institutions that weren't part of the Directorate of Religious Affairs. After this, the community's headquarters relocated to Albania. The order became involved in Albanian politics, and some of its members, including Ismail Qemali, were major leaders of the Albanian National Awakening. Bektashis believe in the Twelve Imams, Fourteen Innocents and the modern-day Dedebabas. In addition to the spiritua ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Red Mosque, Berat
The Red Mosque ( sq, Xhamia e Kuqe) is a ruined mosque in Berat Castle, Berat, Albania. It is a Cultural Monument of Albania since 1961. History According to Ottoman explorer Evliya Çelebi (1611-1682), the mosque was built under the reign of Bayazid II. It was probably built in the 15th century and was one of the oldest mosques in the country. It was probably built shortly after the conquest of Berat by the Ottomans in 1417. The oldest written record dates from 1431/32. The original names were ''Mosque of the ruler'' and ''Mosque of conquest''. The mosque was used by caravans crossing the continent, and later by the Ottoman army. Description The mosque is located just outside the citadel within the Berat Castle. The basic dimensions were 9.9 to 9.1 meters and had a wooden roof. It was built with red bricks and limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of th ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Fatih Sultan Mehmet Mosque
The Fatih Sultan Mehmet Mosque ( sq, Xhamia e Sulltan Mehmet Fatihut), also known as the Fatih Mosque ( sq, Xhamia e Fatihut), is a 13th-century building. It is within the Rozafa Castle near Shkodër, Albania. It was built by the Ottoman Empire, when they were ruling Albania. History According to archaeological studies conducted in the 1980s, the building was a church, built around year 1300, and was named after St. Stephen. The studies base the construction year on typical construction techniques of the era. The transformation into a mosque occurred in 1479 and the object was renamed after Mehmed the Conqueror, or Fatih Sultan Mehmet. The ruins of this church-mosque feature a Dikka, a Mihrab, and the remains of a large Minaret. The Fatih Sultan Mehmet mosque is one of the few buildings from the Middle Ages in Shkodër and is the only mosque that partially survived in Shkodra during the dictatorship of Enver Hoxha, who destroyed all 36 mosques in Shkodër. A planned at ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Arbëreshë People
The Arbëreshë (; sq, Arbëreshët e Italisë; it, Albanesi d'Italia), also known as Albanians of Italy or Italo-Albanians, are an Albanian ethnolinguistic group in Southern Italy, mostly concentrated in scattered villages in the region of Calabria and, to a lesser extent, in the regions of Abruzzo, Apulia, Basilicata, Campania, Molise and Sicily. They are the descendants of Albanian refugees who fled Albania, and later some from Morea between the 14th and the 18th centuries following the Ottoman conquest of the Balkans. During the Middle Ages, the Arbëreshë settled in the Kingdom of Naples in several waves of migration, following the establishment of the Kingdom of Albania, the death of the Albanian national hero Gjergj Kastrioti Skënderbeu and the gradual conquest of the Byzantine Empire by the Ottomans. Their culture is determined by the main features that are found in language, Byzantine Rite Catholic religion, traditional costume, customs, art and gastro ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Elbasan
Elbasan ( ; sq-definite, Elbasani ) is the fourth most populous city of Albania and seat of Elbasan County and Elbasan Municipality. It lies to the north of the river Shkumbin between the Skanderbeg Mountains and the Myzeqe Plain in central Albania. Etymology The Albanian name is derived from the Ottoman Turkish ''il-basan'' ("the fortress"). is also the Aromanian name of the city. According to Saliaj the name in antiquity ''Scampa'' is derived from the word ''Shkamba'' ("The Rock or Cliff") in Albanian. Comparing with the name of the river of Elbasan ,''Shkumbini'' ("Scampini in Antiquity"). History In August 2010 archaeologists discovered two Illyrian graves near the walls of the castle of Elbasan. In the second century BC, a trading post called '' Mansio Scampa'' near the site of modern Elbasan developed close to a junction of two branches of an important Roman road, the Via Egnatia, which connected the Adriatic coast with Byzantium. It was one of the most imp ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |