Petrelë is a village and a former municipality 15 km south of

Tirana Tirana ( , ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in Albania, 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 ov ...

, in central

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

. It is part of

Tirana County Tirana County (), officially the County of Tirana (), is a county in the Central Region of Albania. It is the tenth largest by area and the most populous of the twelve counties, with more than 912,000 people within an area of . The county border ...

. At the 2015 local government reform it became a subdivision of the municipality

. The population at the 2011 census was 5,542.2011 census results
It is known for its castle and history.

Castle

According to Moikom Zeqo, Petrela was previously called Petralba, and that name evolved from Albanopolis, a Roman-era city mentioned by

Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; , ; ; – 160s/170s AD) was a Greco-Roman mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were important to later Byzantine science, Byzant ...

. The name Petrelë comes from the fact that the town and its castle are built on a huge stone on top of a small mountain. Halfway up the hill on which Petrela is situated are the remains of defensive walls which comprise terracing operations on the S, E, and W sides; above each section is a level area. On the best preserved, which is on the W side, rises a building to a height of 5 m and to a length of 20 m. The walls form a double ring, of which the outer section is built of square blocks which form a pseudo-isodomic structure strengthened by buttresses. In the vicinity, fragments of Hellenistic pottery have been discovered.PETRELA Albania
entry in The Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites. The tower in the center was built in the 5th century AD, although most of the remainder is Byzantine, dating from between the 11th and 14th centuries. The castle was used mostly to watch for Ottoman troops marching towards inner Albania. In Ottoman times, the castle was the house of

Scanderbeg Gjergj Kastrioti (17 January 1468), commonly known as Skanderbeg, was an Albanians, Albanian Albanian nobility, feudal lord and military commander who led Skanderbeg's rebellion, a rebellion against the Ottoman Empire in what is today Albania, ...

's sister (Mamica Kastrioti). The town and castle were also very dear to

, and he used to take time off to come and rest in the area. The castle has views of the Erzen valley, the hills, olive groves, and surrounding mountains.

Gallery

File:Albania_petrela_castle.jpg, Petrelë Castle, near

, Albania File:Castillo de Petrela, Petrela, Albania, 2014-04-17, DD 02.JPG, Rock on which Petrela castle was built File:Vista de Petrela, Albania, 2014-04-17, DD 12.JPG, View from Petrela Castle

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Petrele Former municipalities in Tirana County Administrative units of Tirana Villages in Tirana County

Castle

See also

Gallery

References