Castle of Kruja

Krujë, Albania, Albania

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The Castle of Kruja (Kalaja e Krujës) is a historic fortress perched on a rocky hill about 557 meters above the town of Krujë in Albania, and it is one of the country’s most famous and symbolic castles.

Built in the 5th–6th centuries, the fortress has an elliptical shape covering about 2.5 hectares and is surrounded by strong walls reinforced with nine towers that once allowed defenders to watch and signal with other fortresses such as Petrela and Durrës.

For centuries it was a strategic stronghold, and its greatest historical importance came in the 15th century when the Albanian national hero Gjergj Kastrioti Skanderbeg used it as his main base in the rebellion against the Ottoman Empire, successfully resisting three major Ottoman sieges in 1450, 1466 and 1467 with garrisons of only a few thousand men. 

Today the castle is a major tourist attraction that preserves the memory of Skanderbeg and Albania’s struggle for independence, and inside its walls visitors can find the National Skanderbeg Museum, an ethnographic museum, a Bektashi shrine (the Teqe of Dollme), the remains of a 15th-century mosque and minaret, a small clock tower, and even a 15th-century Turkish bath (hammam).