Palokastër ( sq-definite, Palokastra), is a village in the administrative unit of

Cepo Cepo is a municipal administrative units, formerly known as communes in the Gjirokastër County, southern Albania. At the 2015 local government reform it became a subdivision of the municipality Gjirokastër. The municipal unit administrative cent ...

Gjirokastër Gjirokastër (, sq-definite, Gjirokastra) is a city in the Republic of Albania and the seat of Gjirokastër County and Gjirokastër Municipality. It is located in a valley between the Gjerë mountains and the Drino, at 300 metres above sea le ...

, southern

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 ...

. The village is well known because in its vicinity is the Paleokastra castle. The site was first discovered by British Major

William Martin Leake William Martin Leake (14 January 17776 January 1860) was an English military man, topographer, diplomat, antiquarian, writer, and Fellow of the Royal Society. He served in the British military, spending much of his career in the Mediterrane ...

, who said that locals called the site Drinopol. Albanian archaeologist Apollon Baçe worked on an expedition from 1974 to 1976, highlighting the size of the site. He dug into the Castle in the shape of a trapezoid with an area of about 1 hectare. During the excavations of 1974, mainly in the western part, in August of that year the foundations of the soldiers dormitories, a Paleo-Christian basilica and 8 tower premises were discovered. A year later in August 1975, the east and south sides were cleared and 16 graves were discovered. In August 1976, the north side was cleared and consolidation and conservation works for towers, churches and tombs began. The castle had four entrances and 14 towers. The main entrance was discovered in the middle of the Castle where the main road passed during Roman-Byzantine rule.

References

Administrative units of Gjirokastër Villages in Gjirokastër County {{Gjirokastër-geo-stub