FORTRESS OF PREZA
Byzantine fortress dominated by a mosque. Beautiful views over the Tirana plain and bar-restaurant.
This medieval fortress (Kalaja e Prezës) is dominated by a mosque of the 16th century. Surrounded by crenellated walls, it forms an irregular pentagon 80 m long and 50 m wide, while the walls of 1.30 to 1.40 m thick reach up to 6.50 m high. They are reinforced by four circular towers, a fortified house and a guard tower. Built in the 6th century by the Byzantine Emperor Justinian, the Preza fortress was considerably strengthened in the 14th century to cope with the Ottoman invasion. According to some sources, it is here that the marriage between Mamica Kastriot, younger sister of Skanderbeg, and Lord Muzaka Thopia was celebrated on January 26, 1445, allowing the two great families of the region to join forces against the Ottomans. But there is a debate around this episode. Indeed, other sources such as the great local chronicler Marin Barleti assert that the fortress was already in the hands of the Ottomans and/or in ruins at that date. In any case, the thinness of the walls did not allow to endure a long siege anyway. The fortress of Preza would have been taken between 1430 and 1466, then its fortifications reinforced in the sixteenth century (1528-1547). Its mosque, known as the Fortress Mosque (Xhamia e Kalasë), was erected in 1547 at the level of the main entrance gate, to the southwest. To extend the visit, the courtyard now houses a bar-restaurant that offers a beautiful view of the plain of Tirana around.
