Walls of Persqopi Castle as seen from below, taken 2018-03-27

The Persqopi Castle is a 4th century BC era Illyrian ancient city, located near modern

Tirana Tirana ( , ; aln, Tirona) is the capital and largest city of Albania. It is located in the centre of the country, enclosed by mountains and hills with Dajti rising to the east and a slight valley to the northwest overlooking the Adriatic Sea ...

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 ...

History

The Persqopi settlement can be dated to the second half of the 4th century BC. No ancient author mentions it by its ''Perqopi'' current name. It is thought to have been lived by the Illyrian tribe of the

Parthini The Parthini, Partini or Partheni were an Illyrian tribe that lived in the inlands of southern Illyria (modern Albania). They likely were located in the Shkumbin valley controlling the important route between the Adriatic Sea and Macedonia, whi ...

. The ancient city is on one side of the Vila Mountain, which is the last peak of the

Krrabë Krrabë is a town and a former municipality in the Tirana County, central Albania. At the 2015 local government reform it became a subdivision of the municipality Tirana Tirana ( , ; aln, Tirona) is the capital and largest city of Albania. I ...

mountain range. At 590 m over the level of sea, its strategic position facilitated the control of a large territory of the roads around the mountain. Its fortifying wall is one of the best preserved in the Albanian territory, and is 60 m long and 7 m high. There are 10 lines of stones. The entrance is 2.6 m large and is the only one that can still be seen today. There are two adjacent walls (an external and an internal one). The external wall is 2m thick and the internal one 1m thick. The connection of the two walls to one another is through perpendicular additional walls, built at a 5.6 – 6.1 m distance from each another. The empty spaces created between the walls are filled with soil and stones of different dimensions, which creates an ''emplecton'' type of wall. Besides the ancient walls, in Persqop are conserved traces of multiple dwellings, as well as remains of an ancient tomb. In addition, there is an aqueduct, which provided water from the Vila Mountain.

Preservation efforts

Funding became available to the Albanian Fund for Development in 2011 for a feasibility study to build a road to the site, as well as to make the site an archaeological attraction, however until now neither project has been completed.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Persqopi Castle Buildings and structures completed in the 4th century BC Castles in Albania Buildings and structures in Tirana 4th-century BC establishments in Albania Illyrian Albania Archaeology of Illyria