Kruja

Krujë

Municipality

Seal

Krujë

Coordinates: 41°30′N 19°48′E / 41.500°N 19.800°ECoordinates: 41°30′N 19°48′E / 41.500°N 19.800°E

Country

Albania

County

Durrës

Government

• Mayor

Artur Bushi (SP)

Area

• Municipality

339.02 km² (130.90 sq mi)

Elevation

600 m (2,000 ft)

Population (2011)

• Municipality

59,814

• Municipality density

180/km² (460/sq mi)

• Administrative Unit

11,721

Time zone

CET (UTC+1)

• Summer (DST)

CEST (UTC+2)

Postal Code

1501

Area Code

(0)511

Vehicle registration

Website

Official Website

Krujë (definite Albanian form: Kruja) is a town and a municipality in north central Albania. Located between Mount Krujë and the Ishëm River, the city is only 20 km north from the capital of Albania, Tirana.

Krujë was inhabited by the ancient Illyrian tribe of the Albani. In 1190 Krujë became the capital of the first autonomous Albanian state in the middle ages, the Principality of Arbër. Later it was the capital of the Kingdom of Albania, while in the early 15th century Krujë was conquered by the Ottoman Empire, but then recaptured in 1443 by Skanderbeg, leader of the League of Lezhë, who successfully defended it against three Ottoman sieges until his death in 1468.

The Ottomans took control of the town after the fourth siege in 1478, and incorporated it in their territories. A 1906 local revolt against the Ottoman Empire was followed by the 1912 Declaration of Independence of Albania. In the mid-1910s Krujë was one of the battlefields of the conflict between the short-lived Republic of Central Albania, founded by Essad Toptani, and the Principality of Albania. In 1914 Toptani managed to seize the town but during the same year it was reincorporated by Prênk Bibë Doda in the Principality of Albania. During World War II it was the center of the activities of resistance leader Abaz Kupi.

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Wikipedia