The Peqin Castle ( sq, Kalaja e Peqinit) is a

castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

Peqin Peqin (, sq-definite, Peqini) is a town and municipality in Elbasan County, central Albania. The municipality was formed at the 2015 local government reform by the merger of the former municipalities Gjoçaj, Karinë, Pajovë, Peqin, Përparim an ...

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 ...

. In the Roman times the city was known by the name of Claudiana, an

Illyria In classical antiquity, Illyria (; grc, Ἰλλυρία, ''Illyría'' or , ''Illyrís''; la, Illyria, ''Illyricum'') was a region in the western part of the Balkan Peninsula inhabited by numerous tribes of people collectively known as the Illyr ...

n-inhabited territory. The foundations of the castle are thought to date from the Roman period, the time of the construction of the

Via Egnatia The Via Egnatia was a road constructed by the Romans in the 2nd century BC. It crossed Illyricum, Macedonia, and Thracia, running through territory that is now part of modern Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . of ...

. Its walls at one point had a height of around . The castle was later rebuilt and expanded during the Turkish occupation of Albania, at which time it was passed into the control of the

Sipahi ''Sipahi'' ( ota, سپاهی, translit=sipâhi, label=Persian, ) were professional cavalrymen deployed by the Seljuk dynasty, Seljuks, and later the Ottoman Empire, including the land grant-holding (''timar'') provincial ''Timariots, timarli s ...

(lord) of the local fief, who added a palace and a

harem Harem (Persian: حرمسرا ''haramsarā'', ar, حَرِيمٌ ''ḥarīm'', "a sacred inviolable place; harem; female members of the family") refers to domestic spaces that are reserved for the women of the house in a Muslim family. A hare ...

. The last resident of the castle was Demir Pasha. The 17th-century historian

Evliya Çelebi Derviş Mehmed Zillî (25 March 1611 – 1682), known as Evliya Çelebi ( ota, اوليا چلبى), was an Ottoman explorer who travelled through the territory of the Ottoman Empire and neighboring lands over a period of forty years, recording ...

mentioned the fortress in his writings:

...the walls of this castle reach about 12 m in height. Within resides the ''
dizdar {{for, people with the surname, Dizdar (surname) Dizdar ( fa, دزدار, translit=dizdār; tr, dizdar, kale muhafızı) was the title given in the Ottoman Empire to a castle warden or fortress commander, appointed to manage troops and keep the f ...
'', along with 70 soldiers. There are five cannons in the castle, and ten small houses roofed with tiles. There is also a small mosque with no minaret. On the left side of the castle, connected to a wall, is a prayer chapel (''namazgja'')...

The castle was equipped with tunnels which served as exits several km away from the city in difficult times. Similarly, clay pipes have been found in the walls of the castle, which archaeologists believe is an indication that water was supplied from outside the castle during wartime.

References

Castles in Albania Buildings and structures in Peqin Roman fortifications in Macedonia {{Albania-castle-stub